The county council has yet again betrayed people in St Albans by failing to provide enough school places for primary age children. In all 133 children did not get any of the primary schools their parents asked for.

Some children aged as young as four will now be bussed around the county to find the few available places in the system. One in ten children are this morning without a proper place – despite frequent warnings from the Liberal Democrats in recent years that a new school would have to be built.

Chris White commented: ‘When we last had a briefing, it was clear that a year had gone by without any work being done by the wholly incompetent Children’s Schools and Families Department – a part of the county council that puts the laughable Herts Highways in the shade when it comes to poor service and inefficiency..

‘This is children’s lives. Heads must now roll. The Conservative councillor presiding over this mess must now step down and the CSF department needs to be reorganised from top to bottom.’

Chris adds: ‘Parents should protest to county hall and mount appeals. I am happy to receive any correspondence from angry parents so that I can show the county council chief executive what this council has done to local people.’

The return to school could be a major problem this week as staff on holiday may well be stranded in foreign parts with no prospect of flights.

Chris White comments:
‘The County Council has to be as imaginative as possible to keep schools open, especially where specialist subjects are involved and get schools to work in partnership with each other. Students have this year already missed days due to the heavy snow fall and lack of emergency planning and road clearance. To miss more due to a volcano erupting would be detrimental to their education.’

In its press release on secondary school places, it was announced that 95.48% of children had been allocated one of their ranked schools – up 2.63 per cent from 2009.

In reality nearly 2,500 children age 10 or 11 living in Hertfordshire did not get their first choice of school and approximately 500 of those did not get any school of their choice.

Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Mark Watkin said: ‘The County Council needs to remember that this is about children, children that have been in their education system for the last 7 years. The county fails on this year after year.’

The figures also masked an East-West divide. While the highest percentages were in the East (except one – Dacorum) with over 97 percent of children having success, the least successful four districts were all in the West. Watford with a percentage of 92.15% and Three Rivers with a percentage of 90.29% were at the bottom of the list.

Even more striking was the comparison between the children who achieved their first ranked choice. In Welwyn Hatfield, the percentage was 82.26%, while in Watford it sank to 67.56%, and in Three Rivers on 64.31%.

Lib Dem Spokesperson Ron Tindall said: ‘These figures clearly prove that there is the need for a new secondary school in the Watford and Three Rivers area now, not as the Tories put it “in the long term”. The county council really must get its act together: it is quick to close schools, even in the face of dubious evidence. But when the figures show that a new school is needed, they dither and delay.’

He added: ‘The situation in St Albans – with one in five parents is not getting their first choice – is nearly as bad. Yet again the county council is dragging its feet over the chronic problems suffered by parents in Wheathampstead, Colney Heath and the city.’

The consultation on Hertfordshire school admissions arrangements for 2011/2012 opened on January 4.

The county council is looking for feedback from parents, carers, schools and community groups on a proposed change to the existing admissions rules, to move from the ‘shortest designated route’ method of measuring home-school distances for admissions purposes to ‘straight line distance’ measurement.

Feedback is also requested on:

• The nursery admissions oversubscription criteria
• The full set of admissions arrangements for all community and voluntary-controlled schools
• Schemes of co-ordination in operation
• Sixth-form admission arrangements
• Published admission numbers

The consultation period opens on January 4, 2010 and runs until February 26, 2010. The admissions arrangements for all Hertfordshire schools, together with the full consultation document are available to view online at www.hertsdirect.org/csfconsultations.

The county council is at last admitting that it has a problem with secondary school places in the district of St Albans. Papers coming before county councillors today say:

‘A shortage of places is forecast from 2014-2015 [ie in four years’ time]. Together with demand in Harpenden…and allowing for some surplus capacity to meet parental preference an additional 14 forms of entry (420 places) will be required up to 2021.’

Action so far? Next to nothing. STAGS admission numbers will go up from 178 to 196 plus some expansion of Harpenden schools.

Oh: by the way, fourteen forms of entry equates to no less than two secondary schools!

Diana Johnson MP
Department for Children Schools & Families
7th Floor, Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
Tel:
01992 555704
Fax:
01992 555719
E Mail: john.harris@hertscc.gov.uk

My ref:
JH/rd
Your ref:
Date:
8 July 2009

Dear Minister

St Albans Hertfordshire: School Admissions

I am writing on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council following the meeting with you on 24th June 2009 to consider local concerns regarding school admissions in St Albans. As you know, the meeting was requested by Anne Main MP following an Early Day Motion debate in Parliament on May 20th. The County Council was pleased to take part in the round table discussion that you facilitated with your officials, and to listen to the perspectives of the local MPs, St Albans District Council and, most importantly, the representative of the parent group that has been set up to press for local improvements in fair access to schools. The County Council takes their views and concerns seriously, and we always seek to work in partnership to achieve local solutions. This letter outlines our policy approach to school admissions and the next steps that we will be taking to respond to the issues raised at our meeting.

Our Overall Approach
Through its school planning policies the County Council seeks to promote diversity and choice in the schools available to parents in Hertfordshire. Our support and challenge to schools ensures that they are of high quality. A large proportion of our 528 schools are good or outstanding and the one school currently in an OfSTED category will become an Academy in September. Through our school admission arrangements we seek to promote fair access and to maximise parental preference in a diverse county with twenty seven major communities and extended rural areas. We recognise the importance of ensuring that parents have swift and easy access to information and services. Working in partnership with DCSF, Hertfordshire led the very successful national scheme to develop on-line admissions. We are currently working with the Department in leading the Gateway to Education Services (GES) programme to develop on-line access for parents to a wider range of services.

Local Solutions for St Albans

Regarding school admissions in St Albans, the County Council provided a full briefing to DCSF officials in advance of the parliamentary debate on May 20th. I have provided with this letter the latest information about the proportion of children that have been allocated one of their ranked schools. For the St Albans District, 94.57 % of children have been allocated a place at one of their preferred primary schools (as at 8th May) and 98.34 % have secured a ranked school place at secondary school (as at 1st July).

In responding to the local concerns raised at our meeting last week, the County Council will be focusing on four key issues:

Identifying and securing a suitable site in central St Albans for a new primary school
The County Council is working closely with the District Council to ensure that the need for a new primary school is built into local town planning assumptions for future development. Two sites are currently under consideration.

Improving the parental esteem for Francis Bacon School
Francis Bacon School was removed from special measures following an inspection on June 17th. In the past few years it has been identified by the local authority as a school causing concern, with relatively low pupil attainment and falling pupil numbers. Working closely with the local authority over the past twelve months, a strengthened governing body has driven forward major improvements. The parental and community perception, however, is that this continues to be an under performing school. The County Council will be supporting a major initiative with the governing body and community leaders to promote a more positive view of the school, backed by strong support and challenge to the school to continue to improve. We will also be working with those secondary schools that are currently assessed by OfSTED as satisfactory to help them achieve a good rating, in line with the County Council’s priority to “secure a good education for all”.

Reviewing the impact of current admissions arrangements on villages in the St Albans area as part of the County Council annual review programme
The County Council undertakes a formal programme to review its admissions arrangements in the autumn each year, prior to formal consultation on its determined admissions arrangements. We will look specifically at the issues for villages in the St Albans area and model options for change, consulting as necessary if there is evidence that any changes to the current arrangements would be beneficial in promoting fair access for children from the villages, whilst not resulting in arrangements that could compromise the fair access for other localities or social groups.

Reviewing the effectiveness of information for parents to assist them in expressing appropriate school preferences and understanding the admissions procedures as a whole
We will review the information that we provide for parents in our school admissions booklets and other published materials.
As we take forward this work we will continue to work closely with the District Council. We will draw on the views of local parents and fully involve local elected Members and the two Members of Parliament to ensure that there is a strong foundation of local support for the way ahead.

Yours sincerely

John Harris
Director of Children, Schools & Families

Chris will be meeting the Leader of the County Council on Monday to try and see whether there is a workable solution to the school places crisis.