For most of the County there was no change over the arrangements recommended at the Schools and Learning Committee, which you can find in my report from the 13th of February.

Arguments and negotiations went on up to the very last moment for the Howard of Effingham school. At the Executive meeting on the 26th of February the new catchment area was clarified and finalised, and feeder schools identified, so that the fourth priority after Looked After Children, Exceptional arrangements, and siblings, is:

‘Those children who both live in the catchment area and who attend one of the following partner/feeder schools: Oakfield, Eastwick, St Lawrence, The Raleigh, and The Dawney’.

This is similar to the arrangement for Oxted, and in both cases an extra, fifth criterion was added: ‘Those children who live in the catchment area but do not attend one of the partner/feeder schools named in (1v) above’.

For children living within the catchment area for the Howard of Effingham School (but not for Oxted) the tie-breaker is ‘those who live furthest from the nearest alternative school as measured by a straight line’.

For Oxted, the tie-breaker is the same, except that it applies to all applicants and not just within the catchment area.

The standard tie-breaker over the rest of Surrey remains home to school distance, measured in a straight line.

These proposals were all finally passed, despite an attempt by Councillors representing areas on the Fetcham side of the Howard of Effingham school to change the tie-break to the standard home-to-school distance.

There is a fundamental problem of too many children wanting to go to the same, good school here, and no obviously fair solution. All the way along, negotiations and compromises came in late. There is a potential problem in that children, particularly on the Fetcham side, may find that if The Howard of Effingham is their nearest school, but they are excluded on the ‘next-nearest’ rule, they will then come lower in the ranking of priorities at the ‘nearest alternative’ than children for whom that school is their closest.  And, indeed, most other LEA schools to which they may apply.

This could in theory leave some children travelling long distances to schools in which their parents have little confidence. In my opinion, some arrangement should be made to make sure that children from the Fetcham area can be assured of a place at Therfield if they are not offered a place at The Howard of Effingham.

I suggested it would take the wisdom of Solomon to settle this, but that Solomon’s answer might be to close The Howard of Effingham down, and that would also take the autocratic power of Solomon. The response from the other side of the Chamber was that what we need is the riches of Solomon. There is sense in that: what we really want is a good school within easy reach of every child.

A practical few words on appeals -

Parents have the right to appeal. They have to do so by 28 March for Primary Schools, and 18 April for secondary schools. They can get the necessary forms and information from the Surrey Contact Centre, on 08456 009009. (There are extra staff on at the moment to cope with the additional calls, so it should not be too hard to get through.)

The new School Admission Appeal Code says: ‘Parents must be advised that their friend or adviser at a hearing cannot be a member of the local authority, a member of the admission authority concerned, or a local elected politician, as this may lead to a conflict of interest and place undue pressure on the panel.’

The most County Councillors can do directly is write a letter of support for parents to submit, and even then we are advised to ‘carefully consider the content and how it could be perceived.’

Parent can get support from:

Advisory Centre for Education - ACE. Tel 0207704 9822, www.ace-ed.org.uk

Surrey Partnership with Parents  Tel 01737 737 300 e-mail pwp.ses@surreycc.gov.uk

Choice Advisor (for secondary admissions) Sharon Oliver, tel 01737 737314, www.pwpsurrrey.org/choiceadvice  e-mail sharon.oliver@surreycc.gov.uk

- or directly from the School Appeal Service, where Angela Bridgman is the Manager. Tel 020 8541 9029