Introduction
The Frank Field Education Trust is the admission authority for the schools named below:
The Ellesmere Port CofE College
Birches Head Academy
Handforth Grange Primary School
As admission authority, this means that The Frank Field Education Trust are responsible for the admission arrangements for these schools. When an admission authority wishes to make changes to their admission arrangements, they must consult to ensure all views are heard.
The Frank Field Education Trust is consulting on changes to the admission arrangements for the 3 schools within its MAT. This consultation invites you to give your views.
All schools must have admission arrangements that clearly set out how children will be admitted, including informationabout what happens if there are more applications than places available (oversubscription criteria.)
All admissions authorities must include the oversubscription criteria in their arrangements. The criteria must be reasonable, clear, objective, procedurally fair and comply with all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation.
It is for admission authorities to decide which criteria are most suitable for the school according to the localcircumstances.
Proposed changes to the oversubscribed criteria:
Introduce a criterion for children of staff employed at the Frank Field Education Trust
Introduce a criterion for children who attend a nursery/pre school which is based on the school site commencing the Autumn Term of the admission period preceding their year of entry to reception.
Revise the Looked After Children criterion to include children previously in state care outside of England
To annually increase the Pupil Admission Number (PAN) at Handforth Grange Primary School from 45 to 60 on a rolling basis starting in September 2023 with the Reception intake and increasing from 45 to 60 in subsequent years in Years 1,2,3,4,5 and concluding with the increase of the Year 6 PAN to 60 in September 2029
Why are we proposing these changes?
The school wishes to retain and recruit the very best teachers for our students, to deliver high quality lessons and support. However, the recruitment and retention of staff is increasingly difficult against a backdrop of a national shortage of teachers. To help attract skilled and knowledgeable staff to key positions and to retain staff for the medium to long term, we wish to add children of staff to our oversubscribed criteria.
As the Frank Field Education Trust has become more popular in recent years, families well known to the school have been disadvantaged as they are unable to secure a reception place. As a school rooted in the community, we wish to continue our work with families and continue to build upon the learning within the school’s setting. Therefore, we wish to change our oversubscribed criteria in relation to children attending the school’s nursery.
Government guidance asks all admission authorities to consider including children previously in state care outside ofEngland in their Looked After or Previously Looked After Children criterion and we wish to fully support this request.
Who are we consulting with?
Admission authorities must consult with: a) parents of children between the ages of two and eighteen; b) otherpersons in the relevant area who in the opinion of the admission authority have an interest in the proposed admissions; c) all other admission authorities within the relevant area (except that primary schools need not consult secondary schools); d) whichever of the governing body and the local authority is not the admission authority; e) anyadjoining neighbouring local authorities where the admission authority is the local authority;
How can you respond?
We would like to hear your views on these proposals. Please send any comments regarding the above proposedchanges by emailing to: steveg@ffet.co.uk Please mark your email FFET PRIMARY AND NURSERY CONSULTATION
The consultation takes place between 20th December 2021 and 31st January 2022
What happens next?
After the consultation closes the responses will be collated and presented to the Admissions Committee at the Frank Field Education Trust who will decide whether or not to proceed with the proposed changes and determine the admission arrangements. The outcome will be published on the school’s website by 15 March 2022.
This consultation document applies to all Academies of the Frank Field Education Trust
