Sevenoaks ACE is
responding to the consultation based on the 914 responses to a survey
of predominantly primary and pre-school parents in July 2012. This survey included responses in respect of 261
children in school years 5 and 4 (starting secondary school in 2013 and 2014).
Context
Children in
Sevenoaks are de-selected from schools. Super-selective
grammar schools de-selecting based on the highest 11+ test scores, grammar
schools de-select based on the parent’s ability to fund a private education
and/or tutoring and faith schools de-select based on the absence of church
attendance. Parental choice in the area
is almost non-existent.
Due in part to
the selective system operating in Kent, and in part to the presence of a single
state secondary school servicing the communities within the Sevenoaks area, 75%
of children do not attend a local school.
Data from Kent County Council taken from its January Census 2012 shows
the number of children in each of years 7-11 living in the Sevenoaks area to be
as follows:
Respondents
indicated that more than 55% of children spend over 30 minutes a day travelling
to secondary school. The range is from
up to 15 minutes to over 2 hours.
“The Sevenoaks
Problem” as it has become known locally is that it is a commuter town. The adults commute to the city and the
children commute to school. All parties
are agreed that any new provision should have a significant impact on the
number of children that are travelling these long distances each day.
One of the
questions on the consultation questionnaire for the Christian Free School is:
Do
you agree that the Trust should enter into formal arrangements with the
Secretary of state for Education to open the school in September 2013?
When responding
to this question one has to consider alternative proposals, along with
information about factors such as available sites, funding and the impact on
other schools.
The proposed
school is a niche school. It will have a
very particular ethos that will appeal to a niche of the population. 40% of children represented in the survey
were described as having “No Religion” and of these the Christian Free School
would be first choice for just 5.4% of children. Results from the survey further indicate that
for those children who achieve an 11+ pass, a grammar education will override
personal faith when it comes to school choices.
The table
above shows the school or type of school that parents would select if their
child passes the 11+
(623 respondents representing 1142 children)
Kent County
Council is presently pursuing plans to open an annexe of a Grammar School. Responses to the survey indicate that even if
this is not successful there is considerable support for an alternative
proposal that would provide a grammar style education without the need for a
selective test, either via a grammar stream in an all-ability school, or in some
other form.
Indications are
that an annexe of a Grammar School would have on roll 99% of its students who
would otherwise have attended a school outside of the Sevenoaks area. The survey data indicates that the proposed
Free School may attract 68% of students who would otherwise have attended an
out of area school, the remainder of students would otherwise have attended
either state or independent schools within Sevenoaks.
The only state
secondary school in the area is a sponsored academy; Knole Academy which has
been in receipt of considerable government funding and is due to benefit from a
substantial government funded extension.
It is therefore concerning that responses show the proposed Free School
would see a migration of circa 30.8% of local children away from the Knole
Academy (approximately 36 of its 240 Published Admissions Number). This will do nothing to reduce the commuting
time of these children, and will serve to weaken local support for the Knole
Academy.
The most helpful
solution for the people of Sevenoaks would be for a single new “inclusive”
school of 180-240 places which could meet the needs of the majority of those
children travelling out of the area to secondary school. Unfortunately, as it stands at present,
largely due to a reluctance to embrace any new ways of thinking, neither of the
proposals on the table is likely to achieve this in its own right.
The DfE must
consider, when assessing this application whether there are sufficient
resources to fund two new schools in Sevenoaks.
Whether this be the Christian Free School and an annexe to a grammar
school (via the LA) or the Christian Free School and an alternative
proposal. The answer is yes if:
- there are sufficient sites and financial resources to achieve both;
- neither will preclude the other;
- the proposed Free School will have a positive impact on the travelling of circa 90 children;
- the impact assessment on the Knole Academy does not have an adverse outcome
If however, it
is clear that there is insufficient available land and/or funds to support two
new proposals, plus the existing Knole Academy, the best result for the wider
community would be for an annexe to a Grammar School or a more inclusive
alternative to be established.
Admissions
The consultation leaflet for the Christian Free School
states on admissions:
“We will encourage
young people of all faiths and none to attend the school. If it is
over-subscribed, half of the places will be for churchgoers and half will be reserved for children from
non-churchgoing families.”
This statement gives a strong impression that applications
will be divided into two groups, those which are from churchgoing families and
those which are not, and that places will be allocated half from one group and
half from the other.
The actual text of the Admissions Policy
states that, “after [the statutory
obligation of] allocating places to children with statements of Special
Educational Need where the school is named in the statement places will be
allocated … in the following priority order:
1. Looked after and previously looked after children
the remaining places will be split into
2. Faith Places
3. Open Places.
The Faith places will be allocated first (up to 50%), so any
application deemed to be a Faith application – ie from a churchgoing family
will be dealt with as priority 2.
The admissions policy states that “Open places are available to all applicants”. In practice this will mean that those
applications from churchgoing families which have not so far been successful,
will also be eligible for an Open Place. These applications will therefore have ‘two
chances’ of being successful.
The statement on the consultation leaflet is misleading as the Open Places are not reserved for non-churchgoing families.
If this is not the intention of the over-subscription
criteria, the wording should be changed to make it unambiguous.
Responses to the
Sevenoaks ACE Secondary School Survey in July indicate the faith schools and
Knole Academy will feel the greatest impact of the Christian Free School, and
the grammar schools will feel the impact of a Grammar Annexe in Sevenoaks.
The survey asked
respondents to indicate school choice from the options that already exist, and
then asked how this might change if both a Grammar Annexe and the Christian
Free School were available. 623
respondents answered one or both of these questions in respect of 1,146
children in Year 6 or below. Respondents
were asked to respond in each of three scenarios, without an 11+ pass, with an
11+ pass and with top marks in the 11+.
The table below consolidates
all three scenarios and summarises the responses:
Data from Kent
County Council (KCC) demonstrates that on average the number of children living
in the Sevenoaks area
and attending Kent based secondary schools outside of the area is 331 per
school year,
with an additional 116 per year attending the Knole Academy.
If the schools are
successfully established the responses indicate the following potential changes
in behaviour.
