admissions

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Henry Stewart: Time to Allow True “Fair Banding”

In response to this morning's Sutton Trust report this post calls for two key changes in school admissions: 1) Banding should be encouraged and be truly fair, in that it should be able to be based on the distribution of ability in the local area (which is not allowed at the moment) 2) Whatever the nature of the school, admissions should be ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Milos Jankovic: "The first key finding of the reference is: 'Schools were choosing to belong to a range of middle tier bod(ies) which between them provide strategic and operational functions, and a local and national perspective.' So middle tier bodies selected by schools, de ......"

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Stephen Evans: Why are children being forced into ‘faith’ schools?

When primary school places were allocated in England last week, around sixty thousand families missed out on their first choice of school. For some parents, this meant their children being placed in a 'faith' school – often against their wishes. In one of the more farcical cases, non-religious parents were unsuccessful at securing a place in any of the five community ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Tubby Isaacs: "I volunteered in a C of E school where virtually all students were Bangladeshi. It was a lovely school, but it seemed a bit funny...."

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Francis Gilbert: The Shadow Education Secretary suggests reining in the #freeschools and #academies programme

The Shadow Education Secretary, Stephen Twigg, spoke at the Education Innovation conference today and answered my question about what would happen to the academies and free schools programme under a Labour government. He responded in a relatively cautious fashion, but clearly indicated that the academies programme would be reduced, suggesting, though not stating openly, that schools wouldn't be forced to become academies. In ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by David Barry: "What has struck me several times on reading posts here is that people seem, all too often, to have bought into government rhetoric regarding "Free Schools" versus LEA "controlled" schools. So we have proponents of "Free Schools" saying they support ......"

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Henry Stewart: The Data Shows Anthony Seldon is Wrong

This week Anthony Seldon, Head of Wellington College, caused a stir by claiming that "public school students are being discriminated against" and "Positive discrimination in favour of state school people has become the hatred that dare not speak its name." There is no doubt that Seldon was reflecting a belief that seems widespread among private school parents and private schools, but ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "In October 2011, the AQA exam board issued a discussion paper suggesting a points scheme factoring in whether an A level pupil had attended a disadvantaged school. AQA suggested that all A level pupils from whatever type of ......"

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Nigel Bailey: Social engineering at King’s School, Hove

Here’s an amusing introduction to the proposed King’s School 2014 admissions policy. It states: "This admissions policy reinforces the educational vision upon which King’s Church of England School is being established. The school will be inclusive, will meet the individual needs of all learners and will be based on the principles of the Church of England." So the school, which has confirmed ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Roger Titcombe: "Most of my posts have been about the mirage of school improvement brought about by degraded curriculum. The other major school improvement smoke and mirrors tactic is the exploitation of powers over admissions policies. Any attempts at regulation to bring ......"

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Fiona Millar: Some good and bad features of the new school admissions system, according to the adjudicator.

The annual report of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator was slipped out last month, without much publicity. This is a shame as it makes some important points. The OSA has specific, but limited powers. It must ensure compliance with the Admissions Code and can receive objections to the admissions arrangements of individual schools by parents or other members of the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Fiona Millar: "Have put in the Comprehensive Future again and it seems to be working ( on my computer at least!). It contains some other useful information...."

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Dave Prodrick: The best community schools will never be given a fair judgement under this current system.

It is becoming increasingly impossible for excellent community schools to be judged fairly under this current system. Yes we need a fair admissions system, but we need to move away from this narrow academic way of measuring what makes a school good. I work in a school that is a seamless part of it's local community with a superb Head ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Dave Prodrick: "Thanks Sarah New to this site how do I go about getting your email from LSN is it through their contact us page? Dave..."

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Lilly: WLFS – exemptions from Admissions Code

Just last week Toby Young tweeted a request for the text for the Admissions Code text for 2013. Today I saw a document about the consultation for the 2013 Admissions for West London Free School. In it, the oversubscription criteria stated that children of the Founders were given priority admissions – just behind looked after children but ahead of children ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rosie Fergusson: "Regarding access to annual accounts from trusts and academies Nick Gibb has responded to a written question in Parliament ( i hadn't noticed the accounting clause in any funding agreement but haven't really looked) http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2012-01-19a.90228.h&s=speaker%3A10225 TEXT Hilary Benn (Leeds Central, Labour) To ......"

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Ian Taylor: Michaela Community School Doubles Your Chances of a School Place for September 2012

On the website of the proposed Michaela Community School it states “By applying to MCS, you will not jeopardise the secondary school place you previously chose in October. Applying to MCS will simply ensure you have two school choices on National Offers' Day - 1st March.” So why would a parent not apply to MCS? It is a free extra ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Jennifer Sandsterson: "Doing a bit of research - the new "proposed" Deputy Headteacher was head of maths a south London school for all of two years. As this was a new school he probably had little chance to show leadership and ......"

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Fiona Millar: Hallelujah! Ring the bells for a place at your (not so) local school

  The first in an occasional series looking at how school admissions work in practice... Following my post yesterday on changes to the School Admissions Code, I thought it might be interesting to start looking at how some schools manage to manipulate their intakes and whether these practices are compliant with the government’s regulations. A recent adjudication into admission at the Coloma Convent ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by rosalyn: "My own experience of this is second hand from a friend who admitted that she was an 'educational' catholic in order to get her children into local catholic schools which by coincidence had the best results in the area. I ......"

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