Agenda and minutes

Agreed:- That Councillor Rushforth be appointed as Chairman of the Forum for the 2007/08 municipal year.

Agreed:- That Mr. I. G. Hartley be appointed as Vice-Chairman of this Forum for the 2007/08 municipal year.

Mrs. H. McLoughlin and Mr. S. Henchley were welcomed (belatedly!) to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Ms. C. Thorpe, Mr. B. N. Sampson, Father Antony Haynes, Ms. C. Sellars, Councillors Rushforth and Whelbourn.

Agreed:- That the minutes of the meeting held on the 29th March, 2007 be received as a correct record.

- Membership (verbal report)

(a) Membership

Martin Harrop reported on efforts being made to fill the vacancies on the Forum. An item to be put in the next Governors Newsletter.

Agreed:- That the action being taken be noted and a list of the up to date membership be included with the papers for the next meeting of this Forum.

(b) Welcome Centre

The meeting was informed that Bev Booker was unable to attend this meeting to outline the role of the Welcome Centre but she would be able to attend the November meeting.

(c) Rawmarsh St. Mary’s CE School

David Hill reported that the proposal to close the above school had now been agreed and he outlined the situation in respect of the placement of pupils, the schools which they would attend and support being made available to them.

(d) Schools Affected by the Floods

David Hill informed the meeting of the situation relating to two schools which were still closed following the recent flooding :-

Kilnhurst Primary

The Willows, Thurcroft

The extent of damage to the schools was outlined, along with the remedial work to be undertaken and where pupils would be educated until they could return to the schools.

The Chairman requested that the M.P. for Flood Resilience, John Healey, be kept informed of the up to date situation in respect of schools in Rotherham affected by the flooding.

Agreed:- That the report be received.

Martin Harrop submitted the draft protocol (based on the current Hard to Place protocol) and outlined the amendments commenting in particular on the revised guidance from the DfES in respect of :-

(a) placement of a challenging child at a school which has a particularly high concentration of pupils with challenging behaviour

(b) the infant class size legislation and children classed as ‘excepted pupils’.

Particular discussion took place on (a) above, the support required for challenging pupils when admitted to schools and the need for School Admission Appeal Panels to have full information on both school and pupil situation when deliberating on a parental preference for a child with challenging behaviour to attend a specific school.

Agreed:- That the In Year Fair Access Protocol for the Rotherham Area be received and agreed.  Issues arising from discussions on its content be raised at the next training session for School Admission Appeal panellists.

Further to Minute No. 21(h) of the meeting held on the 29th March, 2007, Martin Harrop submitted a report giving an update on potential areas of new housing development in the Wath area and implications for school capacity in the area.

The report gave an update on pupil number/capacities of schools to show the position in 2006/07 and the position beyond that.

Reference was made to the surplus place situation in schools at present and how this would be affected depending upon the timing of the new housing development.

Seven areas of development had been identified and the possible effect on primary school places was set out in the report submitted. The developments were all within  the catchment area for Wath ComprehensiveSchool.

The conclusion is that although there is  no imminent problem in terms of school place provision, each of the developments identified could contribute, at some time in the future, towards a requirement for additional school capacity in the Wath area.

The situation was to be regularly monitored.

Agreed:- That the report be received and the situation noted.

Martin Harrop outlined the timetable in respect of school admission arrangements for the Admission Year 2009/10.

The new Admission Code was now in place.

Particular reference was made to advice from the DfES on the need for admission. authorities to give consideration to siblings having priority within the admission criteria.

It was clarified that the admission criteria for faith schools remained at the discretion of school governing bodies but they had to have regard to the advice from the DfES.

The Local Authority had to consider any potential changes to the admissions criteria applying to community and controlled schools before consultation takes place in the Autumn Term

A report on the matter was,therefore, to be submitted to the Cabinet Member for Lifelong Learning in July in order for consideration to be given on the priority order of siblings (and also those with a social or medical reasons) within the admission criteria for community and controlled schools.

Agreed:- That the report be received and the report to be submitted to the Cabinet Member be submitted to the next meeting of this Forum.

Marina Jordan informed the meeting of the present situation in respect of school admissions for September 2007.

There were eight secondary schools which were oversubscribed and 24 infant schools (Reception).

There were still a number of reception age children to be allocated a place.

Agreed:- That the information be received.

The booklet for 2008/09 was distributed, along with a personalised letter which highlighted important points, which were being sent to schools/parents.

A leaflet on Choice Advice, helping you to understand the secondary school admission process, was distributed. This was being sent to schools/parents.

Thursday, 15^th November, 2007 at 10.00 a.m.

This was scheduled for Thursday 15th November, 2007 at 10.00 a.m.