ROYAL BOROUGH of KENSINGTON and CHELSEA Family and Children's Services FAIR ACCESS PROTOCOL Background 1. the School Admission

ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA Family and Children’s Services

FAIR ACCESS PROTOCOL

Background

1. The School Admissions Code 3.44 (statutory from 10 February 2009), imposes a mandatory duty on Local Authorities to have a Fair Access Protocol in place which ensures that access to education is secured quickly for children1 who have no school place and that all schools in an area admit their fair share of the most vulnerable children, including those with challenging behaviour. All schools and academies must2 agree and participate in the Fair Access Protocol and will be expected to admit children above their published admissions number if the school is already full.

1.2 The introduction of statutory In-Year Coordination of Admissions from September 2010 will improve the mechanisms for LAs in identifying children out of school and children who may require a school placement in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol. The Royal Borough Admissions Team will be the first point of contact for parents/carers resident in the Royal Borough seeking a school place for their child. In the majority of cases, children will be allocated a school place in accordance with normal in-year admission procedures in a Royal Borough school, or more often - due to geography and the local context (para. 3.3) - a neighbouring borough school.

1.3 In accordance with 3.47 of the Code, the Royal Borough’s Admissions Forum must monitor the effectiveness of the Fair Access Protocol and consider how well existing and proposed admissions arrangements meet the interests of children and parents/carers resident in the Royal Borough.

2. Scope of the Fair Access Protocol

2.1 The Protocol will apply to all children normally resident, or who will be normally resident, in the Royal Borough. It is, in effect, a safety net or a last resort process for the minority of children where normal procedures for in-year admissions have failed and the child is considered to be ‘hard to place’

2.2 The aims of the Fair Access Protocol are to:

 be fair and transparent and have the confidence of schools;

 ensure that out of school children are offered appropriate educational provision best suited for the child and their needs as quickly as possible (where possible, within 20 school days from the date of registration with the Admissions Team);

 ensure excluded children return to mainstream school as quickly as possible where it has been assessed as appropriate;

 ensure that all schools in the area, including those that may have places available admit their fair share of children who have had behavioural difficulties.

 ensure that children who are more vulnerable to missing education, which may in turn impact in their welfare, health and safety, happiness and educational

1 The words child and children are used in this document to denote children and young people of school age. 2 The word must represents mandatory requirements of the Admissions Code

1 opportunity (e.g. Looked After children) are placed in a school as quickly as possible.

2.3 It is recognised that while some children may be vulnerable, it is not always the case that they will be ‘hard to place’ in a school and will in most cases be offered a school place in accordance with normal in-year admissions arrangements.

2.4 Taking account of the local context summarised in the next section, the Royal Borough’s Fair Access Protocol covers two broad categories.

 Children of statutory school age whose parents have moved to Kensington and Chelsea and have been unable to find a school place.

 Children or young people attending the PRU following exclusion or with a history of serious attendance problems who need to be reintegrated into mainstream education.

3. The local context

3.1 Primary Provision

The primary school provision of the Royal Borough falls into northern and southern sub-divisions of more or less equal size and population. There is rarely any difficulty in placing primary age children in North Kensington and in the area immediately to the north of Notting Hill Gate. There are always vacancies in the primary schools in this part of the borough.

3.2 There is more pressure on the primary schools in the southern part of the borough (Kensington High Street area, Earl’s Court, South Kensington, Chelsea). In autumn 2009 an additional class had to be opened at Park Walk School to cater for the increase in reception aged children. So far, there have been enough places in the south to meet demand from applicants in the older primary age groups.

3.3 Secondary Provision

The Royal Borough has five secondary schools. Only one, Holland Park, is a community school. Chelsea Academy, which opened in September 2009, has an intake which is part CE, part community and the school is its own admission authority. The other three schools are Catholic and two of them draw most of their pupils from outside the borough. No two of the RC schools are alike: St. Thomas More is mixed, Sion-Manning is a girls’ school and Cardinal Vaughan is for boys only.

3.4 All of the secondary schools are over-subscribed, with waiting lists in all year groups. None of them therefore is in the position of having to accept a disproportionate number of excluded, challenging or vulnerable children.

3.5 Because of this unusual pattern of secondary provision, a legacy from before the time the Royal Borough was an education authority, nearly half of its resident children of secondary age are obliged to attend schools in neighbouring LAs, particularly Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham.

3.6 This situation will change both when the Chelsea Academy is fully operational early in the next decade and with the opening of a new academy in north Kensington. Meanwhile, the Royal Borough has a legal responsibility for the education of residents who may be excluded or experiencing serious difficulties in schools which are outside its control or direct influence. Its policies have been devised to take account of this fact.

2 4. How the categories will be managed

4.1 Children arriving in the borough and unable to find a school place

4.2 Primary provision - A primary aged child whose parents have recently arrived in the Royal Borough and who have been unable to find a school place will be directed to the nearest community school, unless they have a preference for a faith school (see Para. 4.3). Usually it will be possible to agree with the headteacher that the child will be admitted even if that means exceeding the usual maximum class size. If agreement cannot be reached, the Royal Borough will, as the school’s admission authority, issue an instruction that the child be admitted.

4.3 Enquiries will be made about the parents’ preferences (if any) as to a faith education. If the child appears to meet the criteria for one of the local Church of England or Catholic schools, the Governing Body of the nearest school in that category will be asked to accept the child even though it will mean exceeding the usual maximum class size. If agreement cannot be reached, the Royal Borough will consider whether it is appropriate to issue a direction to the Governing Body to admit the pupil under S96 of the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998. Such a direction would be subject to the limitations and provisos set out in S97 of that Act and must only specify a school within a reasonable distance from the child’s home and one from which the child has not been excluded.

4.4 If such circumstances arise, the Admissions Team will ensure that approaches to schools are spread evenly so that no school is expected to take more than its fair share of supernumerary applications.

4.5 Only in very limited circumstances (Code. para 2.63) will a primary school be expected to exceed 30 pupils in an infant class where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6, or 7 during the school year as this would result in “infant class size prejudice”.

4.6 A primary school will not be asked to admit above its Published Admissions Number or other agreed limit to meet the preference for a child who:

 already has a school place within a reasonable distance of home;  has voluntarily given up a school place in order to seek a place under this Protocol;  is moving from a fee-paying school;  is moving from elective home education.

In these circumstances a child will be offered a school place at the nearest school with a vacancy. Parents should consider the likelihood of subsequently securing a place at their preferred school if they decide to either remove their child from school or to not seek a place at school, for example, in the normal round of admissions. No places will be held back at a school to accommodate children of parents who choose to apply later.

4.7 Secondary provision - It is not reasonable to expect Holland Park School, as the Royal Borough’s only community secondary school, to accept all such applicants.

4.8 There are usually enough vacancies in Years 7-11 in secondary schools in neighbouring LAs. Because of the nature of local geography, these may be as near or as accessible to parents as Holland Park. Parents looking for a school place will be

3 informed of the possible vacancies available in schools in neighbouring LAs and will be advised to apply to as many schools as possible to increase the chance of a place being offered. If the parent experiences difficulties obtaining a place at an out-borough school, the Admissions Team will intervene to secure a place as quickly as possible and in the majority of cases, within ten school days from the date of intervention. This process will be in accordance with the normal in-year admissions arrangements.

4.9 Difficulties are most often encountered in finding places for pupils in Years 10 and 11. Royal Borough schools are nearly always full in these year groups. Schools in other LAs may have vacancies in these year groups but can be reluctant to admit Key Stage 4 children who have embarked on a different course of GCSE studies. However, a considerable degree of success has previously been achieved in placing Year 10 pupils in schools inside and outside the borough. Where such children have emotional, behavioural or other difficulties, it may be appropriate, if the receiving school is one of the Royal Borough’s own, for help to be requested from the Pupil Support Service (PSS). Decisions on this matter will be made in the light of the child’s individual needs. The school may also prioritise the child for consultation with the Educational Psychology Consultation Service.

4.10 The statutory duty on the home LA is to ensure suitable3 education provision is provided to its resident children. A child will not be considered for a Fair Access placement if a school has been identified through the normal in-year procedures. Securing a school place at any time other than the normal phase of entry to school (reception and Year 7) will mean that the majority of schools will be full. It will often be the case that the identified school will not be the preferred school, but will be the nearest school with a vacancy.

4.11 It is the legal responsibility of the parent/carer to ensure the child in their care receives suitable education provision. If a school place has been identified but refused by the parent/carer, every effort will be made to identify an alternative school if possible in accordance with normal in-year admissions arrangements. It must be made clear that there will be little or no element of choice when seeking an in-year admission as most schools will be full. A persistent refusal by the parent/carer of a school place will be referred to the Education Welfare Service.

4.12 If, in very exceptional circumstances, a Year 11 pupil cannot be placed in a school they will be referred by the Admissions section to the PSS who will consider, in consultation with parents/carers and professionals, the arrangement of appropriate alternative provision. The PSS will not accept direct approaches from schools in such circumstances.

5. Mechanism for placement of hard to place secondary age children

5.1 Where it has not been possible to identify a school for a child in accordance with the standard in-year admission arrangements within twenty school days of initial registration, the child will be considered as ‘hard to place’ and will be allocated a school place in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol. Extensive negotiation is not part of the Protocol. The choices offered will be limited and because of the limited places available there may indeed be no choice at all. As far as is reasonably practical, the following will be taken into account when identifying the appropriate school in which to allocate a place to the child:

3 The definition of ‘suitable education’ is efficient full-time education suitable to a child’s age, ability and aptitude.

4  Parental preference including religious or cultural affiliations;  Whether the child is in care.  The number on roll at the identified school, whether the school has exceeded its Published Admissions Number, by how many and reasons why.  How many children have been placed at local schools under the Fair Access Protocol.  Whether the school has a clear and identifiable reason why it cannot meet the child’s needs.  The opinion of professionals who may be involved.

6. Procedures for Royal Borough schools

6.1 All Royal Borough Schools will be asked to admit an agreed number of children in advance and the intake of these children then operated irrespective of number on roll.

6.2 A formula is used to determine the numbers of children that each school will agree to take in during the year and monitor its use. This formula has tried and tested in Coventry and more recently Tower Hamlets and has proved successful. The initial formula includes the size of the schools, a gender weighting (since boys are more frequently excluded than girls) and weighting factors that reflect the demands on school that already take in a larger proportion of pupils with statements of SEN or have a high rate of mobility.

6.3 The formula has been capped to ensure that no school is asked to admit more than five children in each year group during an academic year. . 6.4 Whilst each LA’s Fair Access Protocol covers only the schools in its local authority area, due to the local context set out in Para 3.3, it will sometimes be necessary to approach neighbouring authorities to secure an appropriate school place under its Fair Access Protocol. Examples of instances where this would be necessary are when;

 a child presents with behavioural difficulties and a placement at Holland Park would result in a disproportionate number of children already placed in the required year group under this category;

 the child is not of the Catholic faith and the parents have expressed that a faith school is not an option;

 a child is a non-Catholic boy who has been permanently excluded from Holland Park;

 a child lives in the far north of the Royal Borough and the closest schools are located in Hammersmith and Fulham LA.;

 The parent has expressed a preference for one of these schools and has indicated social circumstances that eliminate Holland Park School as an option.

6.5 While these examples demonstrate potential cases that eliminate the possibility of placement in one of the four fully operational Royal Borough schools, there will be further scope within the Royal Borough once Chelsea Academy is fully operational.

6.6 The Royal Borough will make every effort to foster good relations with its neighbouring local authorities and to draw up a formal protocol for cross border admissions.

5 6.7 Children who have been assessed as ‘hard to place must receive priority for admission over others on waiting lists or awaiting an appeal. Schools will be expected to respond quickly to requests for admission of a child to avoid disruption to the child’s education.

6.8 Where a Royal Borough school has been identified as an appropriate placement for the child, the school will be expected to admit the child on the date specified in the offer letter from the School Admissions Team, unless, exceptionally, in the intervening period the child is assessed by the school and the LA to require additional support which cannot be put in place by the given date. In this instance, the school must notify the Admissions Team to inform the parent of the reason for delay and give a new start date. The child will be required to be on roll within ten school days.

6.9 In the event of a school refusing to accept the admission the Royal Borough will direct or instruct the school to admit. The governing bodies of schools which are their own admissions authority may refer a direction to the Schools Adjudicator who will determine which school is to admit the child. In the case of Holland Park School the Royal Borough may refer the case to the Secretary of State.

6.10 Where a parent expresses a preference for a particular school and a place cannot be offered, the parent must be informed of the right of appeal. The child’s name will also be added to the waiting list for the school in accordance with the admissions criteria for that school.

6.11 If the parent/carer rejects the school or alternative provision offered to the child, they will still have the right to appeal for a place at the preferred school(s). The appeal panel will be informed that places have been allocated accordingly to the criteria of the Fair Access Protocol which must be taken into account.

7. Refugee and Asylum seekers

7.1 Although refugees and asylum seekers often arrive in Kensington and Chelsea, they rarely form a large group in search of school places. In practice, therefore, those pupils merge with the overall group of casual arrivals whose parents have moved to the area and who are seeking a school place. Such children normally secure a school place in accordance with normal in-year admission procedures.

8. Children with a statement of special education needs

8.1 Children arriving in the Royal Borough who have special educational needs form an exceptional part of this category. Children with statements of special needs that name a school and who arrive outside the normal admissions round must be admitted to the named school even if the school is full.

9. Looked After Children

It is recognised that Looked After Children are an acutely vulnerable group because of the severely challenging life experiences that have led them to be taken into care and the often damaging effects of these on their self-confidence and educational progress. The Local Authority takes its responsibility to these children very seriously and places a high priority on ensuring their well-being and maximising their opportunities to achieve.

9.1 The Royal Borough may direct Holland Park School, Chelsea Academy and its admissions authority schools to admit a child who is Looked After. The governing body must admit the child to the school at any specified time during the year, even if the school is full, unless the Schools Adjudicator, [or the Secretary of state in the case of

6 an academy], upholds an appeal from the admission authority (Admissions Code, Para 3.47).

9.2 Under some circumstances, for example where the child experiences difficulties in accessing the curriculum, additional resources might be offered to support the placement of the pupil unless, in accordance with general policy, their circumstances meant that accepting the child on roll would have no undesirable implications for the school’s overall admission arrangements

9.3 The Royal Borough Catholic schools will not be expected to accept Looked After children who do not meet their over-subscription criteria unless Holland Park (the only community school) or Chelsea Academy had placed a disproportionate number of Looked After children and the possibility of other provision outside of the borough had been exhausted. The latter is an unlikely scenario and parental/carer preference must be taken into account before considering a faith school as a FAP placement for a non- Catholic child.

10. Excluded children or children at serious risk of exclusion

10.1 Considerable efforts are made to avoid exclusion. For primary children, the PSS is able to negotiate the provision of additional support to a school which has a pupil in danger of being excluded. That support may be given through by the PSS’s primary outreach team, the early years intervention team or by additional funding to provide a teacher assistant or playworker to support the child in school. In exceptional circumstances, short-term individual programmes of support may be provided off-site.

10.2 The success of this approach may be judged from the Royal Borough’s low rate of permanent exclusion from primary schools. On the rare occasion when one occurs there is sufficient capacity in the Royal Borough’s primary schools to provide for any pupil in this age group who needs to make a fresh start or who has been out of school for an extended period.

10.3 Placements of this kind will be made after negotiation with the school, careful preparation of the child (and parents if necessary) and with the offer of suitable support from the PSS, EWS, Education Psychology Consultation Service and other agencies as appropriate. Care will be taken to ensure that no school is obliged to accept a disproportionate number of such children.

10.4 Secondary age children referred to the PSS who are at serious risk of exclusion, or who have been permanently excluded may spend a period of time in alternative education provision made by the PSS and assessed and prepared for re-integration into mainstream school. Depending on the individual circumstances and the outcomes of any assessment undertaken, the child, in most cases, may spend no longer than six weeks with the PSS. A Pupil Placement Plan to re-integrate into mainstream schooI will begin from the first day of referral to the PSS. In most cases, re- integration to mainstream school will be processed in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol arrangements outlined in section 6, unless a school place can be secured as an in-year admission.

10.5 Managed moves can be an effective mechanism for avoiding permanent exclusion, with its damaging effects on children. Due to local context, as set out on para 3.3, managed moves have not been common practice in the Royal Borough. Where appropriate, however, a managed move may be arranged between schools, in liaison with the Head of the PSS, outside of the Fair Access Protocol arrangements. Evidence nationally shows that managed moves can work well in giving a child a new start and the Local Authority is keen to see this practice develop.

7 11. Funding

11.1 Where schools are asked to accept children above their admission number these will be funded according to the Royal Borough’s pupil-based formula. When a child is excluded from one of the Royal Borough’s schools, the remaining portion of that child’s AWPU (age-weighted pupil unit) will be recovered from the school and used for the Royal Borough’s Pupil Referral Unit or PSS to help fund alternative provision. Where the child is not an Royal Borough resident it will be paid to the home LA. When a school admits a child who was previously permanently excluded, the admitting school will receive the remaining AWPU for the child. These arrangements apply to children up to and including year 11.

11.2 These arrangements would be reviewed if it was found to be possible to negotiate a cross-border Fair Access Protocol with other LAs such as Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster.

11.3 The effective operation of the Fair Access Protocol will be for the benefit of the Royal Borough’s children and will require the full cooperation of all schools in the Royal Borough.