ePetition - Give our Children a Secondary School Place in Catchment
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ePetition details
Give our Children a Secondary School Place in Catchment
147 children across the city did not receive any of their 3
preferences for secondary school.
To quote Brighton and Hove Council, "We have always tried our best
to ensure that parents are offered a place in their catchment area
if they apply for one".
For the council to fully honour this committment we are asking the
council to offer those 147 families a place in a catchment
school.
If these children are entered into the re-allocation process, they
must be given priority over children who already have a place in
their catchment.
The current system automatically places all children that did not
get first choice into the re-allocation pool including those that
already have been given a preference choice within their catchment
area. This is totally unfair and further reduces the chance of the
unlucky 147 children of being placed in a catchment school, going
against the council's claims.
On reaching 1 signatures An officer will investigate the matter further
This ePetition ran from 21/03/2017 to 05/04/2017 and has now finished.
1446 people signed this ePetition.
Council response
Response provided by the Chair of the Children, Young People & Skills Committee at their meeting on 19 June 2017:
“Thank you for your petition.
I completely understand the concerns that you have raised having
taken the decision as Chair to give time to an emergency deputation
at the Children, Young People & Skills Committee in March
shortly after school allocations were made on National Offer
Day.
It is understood that behind the processes and headlines there are
real children and families who are affected by the decisions made
when school places are allocated. The council has to ensure that
there are sufficient school places for all those who need them and
have admission arrangements which serve all the city’s
schools. Whilst every effort is made to offer a place at a
child’s catchment school this cannot be guaranteed. Careful
consideration must be given to the capacity of a school to admit
additional children.
Whilst admission appeals for September 2017 are still on-going, the
committee will be interested to learn that of the 57 pupils living
in the Dorothy Stringer/Varndean catchment area 22 pupils have been
offered Dorothy Stringer or Varndean either through the
reallocation pool or appeals process, 8 pupils have been offered a
place at an alternative preferred school.
Officers have spent time ensuring the affected families have
understood why the allocation of school places and the management
of the reallocation pool had to be run in a prescribed way and
those affected have had the opportunity to make an appeal to an
independent panel”.