Super priority area for school admissions likely to be scrapped in favour of alternative arrangements

Warwickshire County Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee this week recommended that the authority’s cabinet does not pursue the proposed priority area, which was meant to be pioneered in Warwick schools next year before being rolled out across the county in 2016.

Cllr Bob Hicks, committee chairman, said: “Based on the recommendations of the super priority area task and finish group, the committee has recommended that cabinet does not proceed with the super priority admission area for Warwick. The committee also recommended that when the council consults on the admission arrangements for September 2016 it should consider a two-year pilot for different arrangements in Warwick and Leamington.

“These recommendations will be taken to cabinet on September 18.”

The pilot, which would run during the 2016-2017 academic year, would give admission priority to children with special educational needs and children who are in the care of the authority or adopted.

Next on the list would be children with older brothers or sisters at the same school and then those with a sibling at partner junior schools.

Children living within the priority area and those living outside the priority area would be fourth and fifth priority respectively.

Parent Hayley Hindle, of Siblings at the Same School, has campaigned for a change to the admissions system because of the growing problem of families having to send young children to different schools due to the increasing demand for places.

She said: “We are pleased the recommendations were ratified by the committee to go forward to full cabinet. Having viewed all the available data, the group decided to propose a policy that promotes sibling unity within Warwickshire. We hope now that the cabinet members will trust the merit of their own process and vote through the recommendations so that they can be subject to consultation this autumn.”