Advice on dealing with Secondary School waiting list problems 

Background

Towards the end of January parents living within the borough of Kingston are advised of the initial placement in secondary schools.  Having a selective education policy this leads to a very anxious period for many parents and local children.

When the then Conservative Government broke up the Greater London Council, their policy did not take into account that some London boroughs had a different mix and concentration of schools than neighbouring authorities.  Schools prior to that time were set up to serve local communities in natural boundaries and not political borough boundaries.  At the end of the GLC this meant that in some boroughs there was a much better mix of schools than in neighbouring boroughs.  Some parents found it difficult to get children into schools of their choice and so took legal action.  This action lead to a court ruling that became known as the Greenwich Judgment, the result of which is that boroughs cannot reserve places for only children living within the borough.  Instead places are awarded on published criteria that may include selection, if applicable, the distance from the school and if other members of the family are CURRENTLY at the school (in some parts of the country - not in Kingston - this includes a strong family connection, so can include past family members in attendance), or religious faith where a school serves a particular community group.  In the case of Community schools, it is the LEA that establishes the admissions criteria; in voluntary and foundation schools the governors do so, as they are their own Admissions Authority.

Because Kingston has a shape that is much longer than it is wide, this often means that families living in the south of the borough find it difficult to enter schools that are in the north.  Kingston could apply a criterion based on distance from school to its selective schools, however because of the shape it would be likely that parents living in Richmond, Merton and Surrey would have an advantage, while it would leave some Kingston residents excluded.  This is because if one has the school at the centre of the circle (one cannot legally use borough boundaries - because of the Greenwich Judgment), families at the other end of the borough would live further than out of borough families.  This is particularly important when one considers the northerly location of the selective schools.

Selective schools such as Tiffin Girls will probably take around 44% of their intake from Kingston families.  The vast majority will come from out of the borough.  However local residents believe that selective education is right and so the Council maintains the system.

Because of the Greenwich ruling more out of borough residents are applying for Kingston schools.  Those Kingston pupils who would have normally taken places at selective schools have now been displaced into the non-selective schools such as Tolworth Girls, Coombe Girls, Southborough Boys, etc.  The overall problem has thus spread.

To complicate things the Conservatives chose to close some schools like Tudor Secondary school and not take into account the impending rise in school children numbers.  This has added to the crisis.

Why does the Council not fight the Greenwich Judgment?

Nationally the only political party to speak out against the Greenwich Judgment is the Liberal Democrats.  Locally in Kingston both Labour and the Conservative parties are appreciative of the problems though and Kingston Council has twice challenged the ruling.  Locally all parties have agreed to stress the problems caused in Kingston and have asked both Conservative and Labour governments to allow Kingston to be a special case.  Both governments in the past have failed to allow this.

Can I make the Greenwich Judgment work for me?

While the Greenwich Judgment can work against Kingston residents, it is important to consider applying for neighbouring borough schools in areas such as Wandsworth, Merton, Richmond, Epsom and Ewell and Sutton.  However be aware that because these boroughs have a different geographic shape, it makes it much simpler to limit applications on the grounds of distance and so it is important (as with every school application) to check the entry criteria set by the Governing Body for the school.

Why does not the borough build more schools?

When Kingston was under Liberal Democrat control, there was a program of building renovation in schools.  Additional primary classes were created.  30 additional secondary girls places of entry were created at Tolworth Girls and a further 30 additional places were created at Coombe Girls.  A selective stream was also created at Holy Cross school, to match the extra places at the then Grant Maintained Tiffin Boys school.  Meanwhile 100 extra Sixth form places were created to be shared between Coombe and Tolworth (Sep 1998 figure).

Based on this past work, there should now be sufficient places to accommodate every Kingston child.  However until parents accept the places they are offered, the other places that they will discard may not filter down quickly.

My son or daughter has not been offered a place, what can I do?

First of all do not panic.  It is important that you have applied to more than one school.  It is also important that you are realistic in your application.  While selective schools produce higher range examination results, remember that they should, given that they get to have first choice of pupils.  However if you have a normal able child, it may be that going to an academic hot house may cause them to be unhappy and put them off education.  Consider also the daily commuting distance to and from school.  A long commute can cause children to become very tired and perform less ably at school and at home with homework.

Next look at your refusal letter.  While the letters from the council (for RBK schools) or from the Governors of a non RBK school (eg Richard Challoner and Holy Cross Catholic schools) may initially inform you that you have not been offered a place, there will be changes in the offer rate.  

Consider a typical application that may include Tiffin Girls, Holy Cross Selective Stream, Coombe, Tolworth Girls, Chessington Community College and Hollyfield.

A pupil doing well in the 11+ and living in New Malden may have been offered places at Tiffin Girls, Holy Cross Selective Stream and Coombe.  However they will turn down two places.  Say they opt for Tiffin Girls, then they will free up places at Holy Cross and Coombe.  There will be other parents out of the borough that will also decide eventually on more local options and also free up places.

Alternatively a pupil applying for: Holy Cross Non-Selective, Coombe, Tolworth Girls, Chessington Community College and Hollyfield, may be offered Coombe, Holy Cross and Hollyfield.  By choosing Holy Cross, they will free up the places at Coombe and Hollyfield.

The consequence of this is that additional offers are later sent out.  Remember that the borough as an educational authority has an obligation to send every child to a school, so eventually a place will be found before the start of term.  Problems only really happen when parents are focused on only one school.

What is the real chance of getting into a particular school?

Kingston Council, in sending out letters informing parents their child has not been offered a place at a school, will include important information.  Namely the distance your home is from the school and the position on the waiting list.

These pieces of information will give you a good indication of your chances of getting a place eventually within a school.

Consider Coombe Girls as an example:

At Coombe there are now 210 places.  Typically for this school Coombe will receive around 500 to 600 applications.  Families living in the New Malden area will obviously apply to Coombe and may apply to other schools like Tiffin Girls and Holy Cross.  To speed up the inevitable the council will not only send out 210 offers for Coombe, but will also send out an additional 30 or so definite offers, since it believes that at least 30 pupils will not want to accept a Coombe offer and will choose another school (perhaps out of the borough or a selective place).  However the real number of those who will accept another school will be much higher than 30.  In the case of Coombe last year the council sent out an additional 116 extra offers.  Schools like Tolworth (where the housing is more densely packed) may have only another 40 to 50 extra offers sent out.

However while the council is waiting to send out additional offers, families will be accepting other schools and so will be withdrawing from the waiting list.  Hence while you were 160 on the waiting list at the start, you find that you have moved to number 40 before those extra 160 letters offering places have been sent out.  There will also be those who will accept places and then switch to another educational authority, so the waiting list will also shorten because of that.

Consider distance from the school:

On the standard letter that is sent out from the borough, it will include your distance from the school.  This is measured using a computer now.  You can check distances using the ISIS web package.  This is however only accessible from a Kingston Library connected to the Kingston Web Server.  You cannot access ISIS through another internet service provider.

The information sheets will also provide you with information that suggests an initial cut-off distance and a final cut-off distance.  If you are living within a radius of the past cut-off distance then you may be in with a good chance for that particular school.  However this is not a guarantee as each year will be different.

Consider points on the 11+ score:

Tiffins places will be filled fairly quickly.  However those who applied for Tiffin Girls will have probably also applied at Holy Cross selective.  Initially there will therefore be a large waiting list at each school.  However when the acceptance of offers come in, the waiting lists will settle.  In the case of Holy Cross selective while initially offers may be made to pupils with a score of 242, last year by the time places settled down this had dropped to 192.  In the case of Holy Cross school they will award extra places to the selective stream if there is a tie in the cut-off score.

However do remember that Holy Cross also has a non-selective stream and in that stream the entry preference criteria are first Baptised Catholics, then Baptised Christians (ie have a strong affiliation to another Christian denomination e.g. Baptist, Methodist, Church of England, etc), then children of other faiths, then those that have a sister at the school and then other applicants.  In the case of the non-selective stream if there is a tie then proximity to the school is considered.

Should I appeal against not being awarded a place?

Initially one would want to wait and see what happens after the initial flurry of offers has settled down. However you may want to check that your house to school distance is correct.  This is measured as the safest walking distance.  Programs like ISIS can help, however you can usually get an indication of the approximate distance by looking at a map.  The computer program that the council actually use is more sophisticated than ISIS and will pinpoint your house by post code and street number.

If you wish to pursue an appeal, then you can appeal successfully if you can prove that the LEA or Governors' selection criteria were not applied to your child fairly.  If you have reasons based on special educational needs then you should have mentioned this in the original application in the "other information" section of the application form.

Having said this there may be last minute changes in circumstances and this should be made clear.

Typically LEA or Governors' criteria include:

• Selection test score for selective schools

• Distance from school

• Does the family have another member CURRENTLY at the school

• Does the family have an affiliation to a religious faith.  Typically church schools will give preference  based on children within the same religious denomination and living within a diocese, then those from another diocese and then Christians from other denominations.  They will then consider those from other religious faiths.

Getting a reference from a Minister or a Priest

When applying to a church school it is usual to attach a letter from your priest or minister to say that you are in regular attendance.  Some people attend services for a very short time and then seek to get a letter before dropping out.  The clergy are aware of this and if you have recently moved into an area, then you may want to get a letter from your previous Minister, Priest, or Church Secretary and then ask a member of the clergy in your new place of worship to endorse that previous letter.

Should I contact my Councillor about obtaining a place?

By all means, any Liberal Democrat Councillor will be happy to give advice, however the appeal is between you and an independent appeal tribunal.  A Councillor can give a letter of support, however a better approach would be to seek other support, for example an educational psychologist (if special educational or emotional needs are important), a member of the clergy (if there are appropriate reasons), a doctor, health worker, your child's previous primary school (in certain circumstances).

Your appeal at Secondary school is looked at in 2 ways.

1. The Education Authority will put the case as to why granting an additional place at the school will prejudice the other children there.  This is putting the case not only of overcrowding class rooms, but also in terms of school equipment - it may be that there will be more equipment sharing and this impacts on other children's hands-on experience, it also means that a teacher's time is more divided.  More crowded classrooms can also mean more disruptions to lessons.

2. The parents also put their difficulties and frequently this can be access to the school, commuting problems, or special needs.  It helps if your special circumstances were previously declared in your original application.  If appealing on the basis of not having entry criteria correctly applied, please remember to read and understand them, as they do differ from school to school.

The appeal tribunal will then look at both cases and make a judgment.

In contrast, for primary (Junior and Infants schools) your appeal is based on not having entry criteria correctly applied so please remember to read and understand them.  The appeal tribunal will also judge your appeal against what you submitted on your initial application.  You may want to check what you wrote on this before appealing.

What if I disagree with the appeal?

In certain circumstance you can raise this with the Head of Legal services.  If a member of the tribunal acts improperly, for example they know you and do not stand down from the panel, or they fail to read your submission, then you may have a case.  However it is important that you raise objections at the time so that these can be sorted out before the appeal.  Appeals are very rarely successful and one should be aware of this and not put all one's hopes on this.

Who are the governors of a school?

Governors are members of the local community who look after the running of the school.  Governors are responsible for the school budget, and for appointing the Head Teacher and senior teachers.  They set the entry criteria of the school and ensure that it is implemented correctly.  There are four types of Governor on a school governing body:

1. Parent Governors, elected from the parents of the school

2. Teacher governors, elected from the teaching staff of the school

3. Local Educational Authority appointed governors.  These are appointed by councillors from the local community to work in a school as a governor.  Sometimes an LEA governor can be a Councillor, however not necessarily.  Each of the political parties appoint governors.  The number that they appoint is reflected by a party's representation on the council.

4. Co-opted governors, which a school can appoint from local businesses etc to help bring in particular expertise.

Councillors can accompany you to an appeal hearing (a very formal event) however remember that you will only be seeing a small number of the Governors and you may not want a politician of any flavour in case there appears to be a political bias.  However if you are the type of person who needs someone to speak up for you then that can be arranged.

What if I do not like the place offered to my child?

First of all, think why.  Often parents judge schools on gossip and rumour.  First of all visit the school for yourself.  It is not uncommon for parents who are very set in a view to be pleasantly surprised.  Bad reputations can befall a school due to one or two children and reputations can stay around long after the child has left the school or moved to another school after being expelled. It is also not uncommon for a parent to avoid a pupil by sending their child to another school, only to find that the problem child is later expelled and sent to the same school as their own child.

Remember that teachers these days have to have a degree (or equivalent) and a teaching qualification in a state school.  Teaching qualifications are not necessarily required in private schools and it may even be that you do not need a degree.  Having said this private schools will have a quality process for selecting staff and one would need to check this.

Further remember that teachers will train in the same universities and teacher training colleges so just because one school obtains better results due to the intake of pupils it does not mean that the teachers are better.  

If having reconsidered an offer and you still do not wish to accept it, then remember the following:

1. Your chances of a place at another school may be lower.  Find out your revised waiting list position before making up your mind.

2. The educational authority have to find you a place at a school, but not at a specific school.

3. You can make a late application to another educational authority, however you will join the bottom of the list and may not stand a chance of a place in the most popular schools.  Check the entry criteria and make an application as early as you can.

4. Most importantly talk with the borough's education department at the Guildhall.  They can offer you advice and suggest if you are being realistic in your hopes.

FINALLY DO REMEMBER..

Changing schools is an anxious time for children and you will want to avoid transferring your own anxiety onto them.  Once settled children do make friends very easily.  The important time is the first week when new friendship groups start to form and so one would want to avoid getting into a situation where last minute changes are made. 

Letters to the Educational Department should be addressed to:

The Director of Education and Leisure Services Mr John Braithwaite

For the attention of School Admissions
Guildhall 2
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 1EU

Phone 020-8547-4610, Fax:020-8547-5235 and request school admissions.

If contacting the Liberal Democrats then you do not need to write to every Councillor.  Instead write to either your local Councillor or to:

The Liberal Democrat Group Rooms
Guildhall
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 1EU

Phone: 020-8547-5141

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