How the decision affects parents in our area

The Children, Families and Schools Committee decided, by a tight margin of one vote, to support the new proposals on secondary admissions.

That means all children in year 5 or below will go to schools according to a fixed catchment system. You can see a map of the new catchments on the Argus website.

Map of new fixed catchments

The Falmer catchment sits to the East of the Lewes Road, and runs all the way from Falmer village down to Bear Road taking in the areas of Moulsecoomb, Bevendean and Coombe Road on the Falmer School side of the Lewes Road.

For those of us in the Falmer catchment, you will be first in the queue, i.e. get priority, for a place for your child at Falmer. However, if you want a place at a different school then your child will be second in the queue. Some children will be able to get past this on the sibling link, i.e. they have a brother or sister at a school and so get priority at that school, as this link will continue until 2013.

The trouble is that as the number of school places across the city is so tight there is not much flexibility in the system. The dual catchments, i.e. they contain two schools, are for Dorothy Stringer/Varndean and Blatchington Mill/Hove Park. The Dorothy Stringer/Varndean catchment looks as if it will overflow as there are not enough places for children in the catchment and for the continuing sibling link. That means that any child from outside that catchment will not get a place in one of those schools, unless people inside the catchment decide not to send their children there. None of us think this is likely as these schools are so popular. The same is likely to be true of the Hove Park/Blatchington Mill catchment.

Those of us from this area campaigning against the proposals have been doing in part because, although we are constantly told we an still express a preference, the preference doesn't mean much when you are shut out of these schools. As these schools are the ones that get the best results - and folks, Ofsted and the League Tables were put there to help us to make a CHOICE about which school our child should go to - then, of course, many of us would like the opportunity to choose these schools.

BE FAIR TO FALMER
See the article on achieving a more balanced view of Falmer here.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE ARE TOO MANY PUPILS FOR PLACES
If a school is oversubscribed there will be a lottery to decide which children get the places at the school. Children might have to go through several lotteries before they get into a school if all the schools listed on their admissions forms are popular. They might even end up without getting one of their preferred schools.

You can still express your preferences, and you should still list your preferred schools on your admissions form and not just write "Falmer" alone if you are in the Falmer catchment. If you want Falmer School, you may find the school is oversubscribed and should list other options as well.

DIFFICULT TO PREDICT
It is very difficult to predict what the results of the new admissions system next year for our children - and this is partly what we have been saying in our arguments against the proposals. One thing that is predictable is that Blatchington Mill and Dorothy Stringer will be oversubscribed and there will need to be a lottery to decide on places. The popular schools are more likely to have to have lotteries to decide on places.

POTENTIAL ACADEMY AT FALMER
See the blog article here.

WE WILL FIGHT ON
We are continuing to fight against the decision taken at the Children, Families and Schools Committee to get the decision reversed. Until it does, we have to prepare for the single Falmer catchment and what this means for our children. If the decision is reversed, we need to start thinking about ways the city might produce a fairer system for ALL the children who live in Brighton & Hove.