News and Comment
The Government has given final approval for the new scheme for secondary school transfer for entry in September 2009. The main changes are: (1) grammar school assessment will take place in September 2008, full details below (2) there will now be four schools named on form. Full details are posted here. The new scheme is good for families and for children, as confirmed by the effective operation of a similar scheme in Medway this year. Parents can now look forward to a far more transparent and fair scheme than KCC has been able to operate in the past.Please feel free to suggest items of news, or areas where comment is needed to: peter@kentadvice.co.uk.
I have recently been overwhelmed with work and other activities and whilst I try to keep this website up to date, have fallen behind. My apologies. Please let me know if I have missed something important or that you would like to be informed of.This website will not be updated further until the beginning of September (14 Aug).
To assist visitors, given the large amount of news posted here, older items (often important) are recorded in the second section of the page.
I have this week learned that I have won four further complaints to the Ombudsman on behalf of clients, securing fresh appeals or in one case a direct place. That makes a total of 11 successes out of eleven so far, with other complaints in the pipeline. Further details later.
News on Academies is coming thick and fast. Please let me know the latest if its not on this website. There is further information on the City Academy Page about Ashford here .
The Schools Adjudicator has ruled on the new Sheppey Academy (13 Aug). This will open in September 2009, and children going into Year Five this September will now stay in their First Schools (now Primary Schools). Parents and children have been kept on tenterhooks because the Governors of Cheyne Middle School sought to challenge the new system. I don't believe they stood a chance and so all they have achieved is this dreadful delay which has thankfully now been resolved. Whilst I have serious reservations about the whole Academy concept, I think this is the best solution for Sheppey, where the Upper School, Minster College has been in difficulties for many years, having been placed in Special Measures and seen a considerable turnover in headteachers and staff. It really does need a fresh start, as the people of Sheppey have lost confidence in the school, even though the Middle Schools have done a good job.
I have just won a complaint to the Ombudsman on behalf of seven families at Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Rochester. Medway Council has admitted major faults in the process, coupled with further faults by the Independent Appeal Panel and has now offered all those boys who had passed the Medway Test, but turned down on appeal, places at the school. This is the third time in six years I have secured places at the school through complaints to the ombudsman on behalf of groups of parents, representing a total of 27 families over this time, along with many others who were successful at appeal in the first place!
Because there was a local settlement, not all issues were consdered by the Ombudsman, but he expresed considerable concern over the operation of the Medway oversubscription distance criteria for oversubscription. A number of parents were never given details of why their sons had been turned even after the Panel Chairman instructed the Council to provide these before individual appeals. The Council was criticised for not providing the correct paperwork for the appeal and for introducing new evidence (actually just assertions) at the appeal, without notice. The Council neither provided details of the school capacity, not any evidence there would be prejudice if additional pupils were admitted. The council presenting officer did not know that secondary school rolls were falling in Medway. The previous headteacher (now retired) stated at his Open Evening that in the past all parents whose sons had passed the Medway Test and persevered in their applications to the school had eventally been offered places. This is now true over every one of the past six years!
I am dealing with another nine ombudsman cases and am happy to advise on the likelihood of success for new ones. My recent success rate with the ombudsman is now 39 out of 45 cases.Please note that if your child has now secured three Level Fives at SAT Level 2, this is not grounds to complain to the ombudsman for a grammar school appeal as the Panel did not know the results at the time. There have to be additional grounds of maladministration to win a fresh appeal.
Another of my ombudsman complaints concerns a non selective school in Medway, the key issue once again being faulty distance plotting. I have won several appeals on these grounds in previous years. Surely it is now time for Medway Council to sort this matter out; it is causing too much distress and unfairness to too many children.
My recent article in Kent on Sunday on "failing schools" as determined by the 30% 5 GCSE criteria, has created considerable discussion. You can still read it here.
Appeal results for Maidstone Grammar are now out. Just 7 out of 45 appeals were successful and, as distinct from last year, the Panel appear to have carried out a sound job, although many appellants will be unhappy with their individual decision. At present, I can see no justification for an ombudsman complaint for most appellants. I am pleased to report that the majority of my clients' appeals were successful.
This boosts my success rate for the season to 82%, including grammar, non selective, primary and places secured through ombudsman complaints. Very pleasing in a season where the number of vacant grammar school places has been smaller than in most years.
The new Code of Practice for School Admission Appeals appears to be causing considerable problems for appeal panels, especially with grammar school appeals. I am currently dealing with twelve cases for the Ombudsman where I believe there is a good likelihood of success, with other enquiries coming in. I am happy to advise on whether there may be a case.
Medway Council has announced plans to merge the oversubscribed Chatham South School with Medway Community College which is in Special Measures, into a new City Academy on the MCC site. Parents from Chatham South have already phoned me asking about the procedure for applying for another school as this is likely to be another very unpopular decision with parents. The announcement follows the decision to merge the popular Chapter School with the failing Temple School that produced massive parental protests, but the Academy juggernaut sweeps away all in its path. Of course this would leave the Chatham South site empty and with falling rolls in Medway, another merger could soon be on the cards. The site is adjacent to Chatham Grammar School for Boys and with falling rolls here and at Fort Pitt Gramamr School, I hear there are discussions about merging the two schools on the combined Chatham Grammar/chatham South site. Watch this space. Ther is a growing concern that good schools are being destroyed to assist in the problems of failing schools and being replaced with an uncertain future. More information about academies here.
At the Chatham South Appeals, the Panel decided there would be no prejudice if additonal pupils were admitted, so all appeals were upheld.
Appeals at Rochester Maths School have now been heard. The Panel put through seventeen boys who had passed the Medway test but turned down another seven, on grounds that the school was full. I consider that the appeals process contained significant fault, and so am taking on several ombudsman cases.
I was featured in a recent Radio Kent interview on the proposals for the new Axtane Academy. Some parents are concerned about the details of the proposals, although these are along familiar lines. It is planned that the new school be federated with Leigh Academy, under a joint executive head and board of governors. The new Academy will not be accountable to KCC but to its sponsors who invest several million pounds to attract funding of £25 million from government. With commitments to other building projects in Kent (Building Schools for the Future) there is unlikely to be any alternative source of funding for a much needed replacement building in the foreseeable future, so this appears the only option for the school if it is to move forward. Parents should pay close attention to proposed admission criteria. The original proposals were for traditional oversubscription criteria, but new ideas centre around banding by ability and then choosing the closest children to the school within each band. Whilst this is an improvement on the Leigh model of banding by ability and then random selection within bands, my own view is that in a rural area like Longfield admission rules should give absolute priority to local children and I recommend that parents say so through the consultation. The area still has a major imbalance in school numbers with four grammar schools in Dartford/Wilmington, one girls non selective school and one mixed non selective, alongside the Leigh Academy. As a result, each year a number of children from Dartford are already directed to the comprehensive Axton Chase School because of pressure on places. You will find more on City Academies here.
Latest news and advice on the confusion in Medway over the new Code of Practice for Admission Appeals is here. Kent parents have been given false advice about its effects on Kent appeals in the forum of another website, in spite of advance warning to the moderators by me which has been ignored. There are NO Kent issues. Sadly some Kent parents appealing have been misled by this advice and have either withdrawn their appeals or have spent time worrying and then arrived prepared to argue the issue, when it is not a factor in the appeal. Medway grammar school admission appeals are more difficult for parents to win following publication of the new Code. These regulations mean that Independent Appeal Panels will reject appeals for grammar school places if there has been a local Review, unless they consider the process has been unfair! Where there is no Review, they can consider all circumstances. YES, THIS IS CORRECT. As nearly all Medway families considering an appeal will have been to Review, their situation could have been difficult. However, clients have mine have successfully demonstrated to appeal panels for each of the Medway grammar schools (except Rochester Grammar) that the Review process was unfair and have subsequently won places at these schools. The Appeal Panel for Rochester Grammar School concluded the process was fair and I currently have complaints going to the Local Government Ombudsman with every expectation of success.
I now have the 2008 primary school admission data for Kent. it identifies worrying increases in the proportion of parents not being offered their first choice school, and those not offered any school of their choice. Further details are on the Primary School Page, here.
I have been interviewed on Radio Kent and by Kent on Sunday regarding the following item on secondary school admissions, which has attracted considerable interest amongst parents across the county.
- Headlines from a breakdown of March 2008 Admission Figures from Kent County Council obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Further details can be found HERE.- The most oversubscribed Kent School is Leigh Technology Academy in Dartford. 235 children who put the school as first choice were turned away.
- Most popular Grammar School was Judd School. 121 boys who passed the Kent Test and had the school as first choice were turned away.
- 12 non selective schools each turned away more than 50 children who put them first choice.
- 14 grammar schools each turned away more than 15 children each who put them as first choice.
- Just 9 Kent grammar schools had vacancies (appeal Panels may award places in others if they consider there is room)
- 9 Kent schools have over 40 vacancies, these numbers may increase following appeals at other schools.
- 2 Kent schools are less than half full
- All appeals for Gravesend Grammar School were turned down, including a number of oversubscription appeals where the candidates lived in Gravesend, close to the school and had passed the 11 plus. From descriptions of the process, I consider there are good grounds for a complaint to the Ombudsman and am happy to take these on.
- Other key grammar school appeals due shortly where there are oversubscription issues are Gravesend Grammar Girls, Simon Langton Boys and Girls, Maidstone Girls, and Tonbridge Grammar. I am confident there are opportunities for succcessful appeals at some of these although as always, it is the Independent Appeal Panel that has the final word.
- The headline news for Kent is that the number of children being allocated their first choice secondary school has fallen to 70% from 74% last year, whilst the number of outcounty applicants has increased from 1589 to 1795. The number of children who have been offered a school not on their list has risen from 4% to 5%. I suspect one reason for the fall in both these statistics is because of a further increase in oversubscription at some grammar schools and will report on this as soon as possible. I would be grateful for information on this isuse as soon as parents begin to receive offers later today.
- In Medway it is 85% reflecting the successful new admission system including grammar school test results before applications are made. There is considerable information about take up in Medway secondary schools at Medway.
- The Kent test pass mark is the same as last year: children need to achieve two scores of at least 120 and one of at least 115 to achieve success, or be awarded a place through the headteacher assessment. Out of some 1200 assessments carried out, around half were successful.
- The Judd School pass mark is 411 (maximum 420); Skinners School is 404; Tonbridge Grammar School (in Area) is 405.
Older (but relevant) news items
- Maidstone Grammar School has at last published its proposed admission criteria for entry in September 2009. Whilst watered down on the original controversial proposals, they are now the most complicated grammar school criteria I can recall and will still cut out some local boys. Details are here.
- I continue to be taken aback by the large amount of urban myth being generated by the appeal process as I am frequently asked to dispel confidently asserted untruths and rumours. Don't believe all you are told about the process, or people who have found easy ways through it, or stories that it is impossible to win appeals by fair means. Remember that in the case of Foundation or Voluntary Aided Schools, each will organise the appeals in a diffirent way and may have a different influence on the outcome, so don't assume that what happens for one happens for others. Check out with the Local Authority or your school. Sadly, not all admission authorities for Foundation schools are innocent. Headteachers of Community (county run) schools have no input into the process unless, as happens in Medway, called as a witness in cases of oversubscribed schools.
Figures for Kent Appeals, March - December 2007. The following figures are solely for appeal Panels organised by KCC. Many Foundation and VA Schools organise their own Independent Appeal Panels and are not included. Be very careful how you interpret the following, as circumstances very enormously amongst Kent schools (it was ever thus!). The secondary school success rate is over a third higher than the previous year, for reasons which are not obvious and so is unlilely to be a good guide to 2008, especially with the new Code.
Local Authority Schools
| Appeals | Successes | % success | |
| Grammar | 633 | 295 | 47 |
| Non Selective | 34 | 17 | 17 |
| Primary | 218 | 73 | 33 |
Grammar Appeals include both children who have been unsuccessful in the initial tests, and oversubscription issues.
Foundation & Voluntary Aided Schools
| Appeals | Successes | % success | |
| Grammar | 414 | 173 | 42 |
| Non-selective | 70 | 47 | 67 |
| Primary | 32 | 9 | 28 |
- Scores for a Kent grammar school pass were, as this year: at least 120 in two tests, and at least 115 in the third.
- This website has now been operating for a full year and when set up, I was not sure how popular it would be, given its specialist target audience. I am pleased to announce that the website recorded its ten thousandth visitor in January (searching for "in Kent headteachers appeal against 11 plus decision"). I hope the information was helpful. Update: four months later, the number has risen to over 25,000 and hit numbers are rising daily.
- There has been considerable recent discussion on school exclusions in the media. You may have caught my interviews on BBC South East and Radio Kent.
- The Medway test pass mark is 525. Do not be
alarmed because it was higher than previous years; this is just an
outcome of the way Medway calculate results to let 23% of Medway
children through. It is no more difficult to pass than in previous
years.
- There are now proposals to build a new federated grammar school on the site of Chatham House Grammar School, combining it with Clarendon House Grammar School. KCC has also published proposals to amalgamate Hereson School and Ellington Girls' School in Thanet on the new Ellington site with effect from 1st September 2009 achieving the best use out of the new buildings erected on the girls' site under a PFI Scheme. I understand that the proposals have run into difficulties. You will find further details here. These both appear very sensible proposals given falling rolls in Thanet.
- The Local Government Ombudsman published Reports in the summer severely criticising the school Admission Appeals arrangements for Skinners School and the Judd School. To put these into context, he only published seven reports nationally last year. Amongst the concerns are that a number of panellists had close connections with the school. Further details are here. A summary of the Report is at: Ombudsman.
- Medway Council has proposed closing the successful Chapter School and the struggling Temple School, both in Strood, replacing them with a new City Academy built on a fresh site. Parents at Chapter have contacted me as well as bombarding Radio Kent with their very reasonable concerns which may outweigh fine new buildings and facilities. Those who chose Chapter specifically because it was an all girls' school are amongst those with a real sense of grievance. To date the record of City Academies remains mixed, and there is a fear that it will pick up the standards of the lower performing school. As the roll of the new school will inevitably be lower, many girls may in any case find themselves denied places at the new school . Whilst Medway Council is under pressure to resolve the problems of falling rolls and vacant spaces, it does not seem sensible to close an oversubscribed and successful single sex school to achieve this. There is further information on City Academies elsewhere on the site.
- A new poll commissioned by The Children's Society reveals that half of respondents (51%) agreed that they would be prepared to
move house to get their child into a good school. One in seven
(14%) agreed they would go as far as giving false information, such
as lying about their faith or where they live. If a parent is found to be lying to secure a school place, the place will be withdrawn. I am aware of several such cases each year, although I remain very conerned there is no requirement on Kent schools to check details.
- KCC has published proposals for considerable changes in intake across Kent Secondary Schools. The Strategic Plan indicates future plans for every secondary school in the county. I have included a summary of key issues at Summary.
- As some
of our regular readers will know, I am Chairman of Governors of Ifield
Special School in Gravesend, a role I carry out with considerable pride. I
am therefore delighted to announce that our Headteacher, Pam Jones, has been presented with the award for Kent Headteacher of the Year, an
award sponsored by Kent County Council and the Kent Messenger Group. you will find the website for the school at Ifield.
- I have recently had considerable success supporting Medway parents living on the Hoo Peninsula to win transport costs to Medway grammar schools, although their nearest school is Hundred of Hoo.
- I am pleased to report that the success rate of my clients for secondary admission appeals averaged 84% across selective and non selective schools in 2007, although I only take on clients where I consider there is a chance of success.
- My Primary school appeals averaged 60%, again, I only took on clients where I considered there was a chance of success.
- The Local Government Ombudsman published an important Report on eight cases where I secured places for children at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham last summer. These were with a KCC Panel. See here for further details. Parents were very complimentary about the courteous and professional process carried out by a non KCC Panel at Queen Elizabeth's for 2007.
- Figures for 11+ applicants in Kent. In the selective areas of Kent, 51% of boys and 55% of girls took the Kent 11+ tests in 2007. A total of 26% of boys and 25% of girls out of the whole cohort were found selective after Headteacher appeals. This excludes children living in 'comprehensive' areas or outside Kent who took the tests.
- Figures for 11+ applicants in Medway in 2007 (obtained under the Freedom of Information Act). The number of Medway children in the Year Six cohort was 3275. The number of Medway children who took the Medway tests for entry in September 2008 was 2199.