Children’s Services

Fair Access Protocol 2014

This protocol replaces the previous Headteachers’ Protocol and sets out the objectives to ensure fair access for all pupils resident within Barking and Dagenham.

Introduction

This protocol has been established to meet the government’s expectations that local authorities agree a protocol with the schools in its area to ensure that, outside the normal admissions round, unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable are offered a school place as quickly as possible. Further guidance on this requirement is provided in the School Admissions Code 2012, published in February 2012.

This protocol has been consulted on with the Behaviour and Attendance Partnership.

Aims of the Protocol

Fair Access Protocols exist for those children who cannot obtain a place through normal admissions procedures, as outlined in the In Year Coordinationarrangements, to ensure that:

•Access to education is secured quickly for children who have no school

place but for whom a place at a mainstream school is appropriate

•All schools in an area admit their fair share of children with challenging

behaviour, including children excluded from other schools (please see below)

•Local Authorities and schools work together in partnership to improve

behaviour, tackle persistent absence and help support improving

behaviour partnerships

•Balance is struck between finding a place quickly, when the place

might be in an undersubscribed school or one facing challenging

circumstances, and finding a school place that is appropriate for the

child

•No school, including those with places available, is asked to take a

disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from

other schools or who have challenging behaviour or who are known to

have a history of behavioural problems.

Main Principles

All applications made for a school place outside the normal admissions round must be considered as a matter of urgency. A formal decision either to offer, or to refuse, a place must be made and notified to the applicant, within 10 working days, unless specified differently within this protocol document. All parents must be advised of their statutory right of appeal when a place cannot be offered.

It is a legal requirement, under the School Admissions Code, for all schools to participate in their Local Authority’s Fair Access Protocol in order to ensure that unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. This includes admitting children above the published admission number (PAN) to schools that are already full. Oversubscription cannot be cited as a reason for not admitting a pupil under the In-Year Fair Access Protocol, and schools must respond within 3 working days following a request from the Local Authority (LA) to a request for admission so that the admission of the pupil is not delayed.

The Code also states:

  • 3.9In agreeing a protocol, the local authority must ensure that no school - including those with available places - is asked to take a disproportionate number of children who have been excluded from other schools, or who have challenging behavior
  • 3.11There is no duty for local authorities or admission authorities to comply with parental preference when allocating places through the Fair Access Protocol.
  • 3.12Where a governing body does not wish to admit a child with challenging behaviour outside the normal admissions round, even though places are available, it must refer the case to the local authority for action under the Fair Access Protocol. This will normally only be appropriate where a school has a particularly high proportion of children with challenging behaviour or previously excluded children. The use of this provision will depend on local circumstances and must be described in the local authority’s Fair Access Protocol.

Vulnerable Children

The School Admissions Code has identified as ‘vulnerable’ the following

categories as a minimum:

•Children attending a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) who need to be

reintegrated back into mainstream education;

•Children who have been out of education for longer than one school

term

•Children whose parents have been unable to find them a place after

moving to the area, because of a shortage of places

•Children withdrawn from schools by their family, following fixed term

exclusions and unable to find another place

•Children of refugees and asylum seekers

•Homeless children

•Children with unsupportive family backgrounds, where a place has not

been sought or have never been to school

•Children known to the police or other agencies

•Children without a school place and with a history of serious attendance

problems;

•Traveller children

•Children who are carers

•Children with special educational needs (but without a statement)

•Children with disabilities or medical conditions

•Children returning from the criminal justice system

•Children of UK service personnel and other Crown Servants.

The full list for Barking and Dagenham criteria for Fair Access is in Appendix 1.

Each local authority must also ensure the following:

  • That no school will hold a waiting list
  • That all schools will inform the LA of any informal requests for places made by local or out-of-borough parents
  • No school will use the interview of parents/children as a basis for selection
  • That wherever possible the allocated school receives the student’s prior history to ensure appropriate programmes are put in place as necessary for successful integration, however this information must not be used as a basis for selection
  • That the receiving school gets a copy of the additional form requesting information for in-year admissions (that has been accurately completed as much as possible by the school previously attended and returned by the parent to the Admissions team)
  • That all criteria and admission arrangements are objective, transparent and consistently applied
  • That the use of specific criteria, procedures or related policies that are demonstrably unfair is prohibited and must be reported to the school’s adjudicator
  • That the Admissions arrangements and other school policies do not disadvantage directly or indirectly a child of a particular social or racial group, disability or Special Educational Need.

Therefore account will be taken of the:

  • Pupil preference
  • Placements will be made on a rotational basis
  • Distance.
  • Size of school
  • Numbers in each year group
  • Impact on the efficient use of resources should additional pupils be taken on roll.

Schools that meet the following criteria will not be expected to admit children under FAP:

  • A school that requires special measures or has recently come out of them (within the last two years)
  • A school that has been identified by Ofsted as ‘requires improvement’
  • A school that is subject to a formal warning notice by the local authority
  • A secondary school where less than 40% of children are achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSEs including English and Mathematics, or a primary school where fewer than 65% of pupils are achieving the floor standard in reading/writing and maths at Key Stage 2

The Process

The Education Placements Panel (see details below) meets every two weeks with a representative headteacher in attendance. Admissions will bring details of pupils to be allocated places under FAP and such allocations, based on a fair distribustion between the schools, will be discussed and agreed in a session attached to the end of the meeting. Follwoing the agreed allocations the following will happen.

  1. A letter will be sent to the school requesting a place for the child under the FAP protocol (Appendix 2).
  2. The school will be expected to respond to the letter within 3 working days. If the school has any objections they need to complete the Fair Access Admissions Form explaining their reasons for the refusal. This will then be discussed at Educational Placement Panel (EPP) for a direction for the school to admit or for alternative provision.
  3. Appendix 3is a flowchart showing the 10 day timescale to allocate children under FAP.
  4. Appendix 4is the rota for the distribution of the FAP students across all of the secondary schools,including the date of the last FAP allocation and the breakdown of FAP categories. This will be distributed to schools with appendix 2.

Education Placements Panel

The panel has been in operation since 2003/04 and is successful in working with headteachers and key partners to place pupils who may have otherwise been without educational provision for significantly longer than necessary.

Currently this panel is the LA body which acts with Director’s discretion and allocates individual pupils to schools under FAP and alternative provision within the authority.

The remit of the panel is:

  • To maintain high-level multi-agency representation: membership of the panel is restricted to senior managers and headteacher representatives
  • To act on behalf of the Corporate Director of Children’s Services with an independent Chair
  • To allocate pupils who are without school places who qualify for allocation under FAP
  • To allocate taking account of parental preferences, nearest schools, information from receiving schools, previous allocations to schools etc.
  • To receive from caseworkers/other professionals as much prior information as possible for all referrals or a statement from the previous school/caseworker stating why this is not possible. This information should be included within the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) A CAF will be started for those matching the criteria if one is not already in place
  • Decision from Panel will state a) the proposed school or provision, b) the agencies that should be present at the induction planning meeting, c) whether the child is ready to return immediatelety to mainstream school and whether a period at the PRU would be appropriate and d) the lead pane member/casewoker for the case
  • The lead professional will hold responsibility for monitoring and for ensuring that further multi-agency work is in place if this is required to meet additional needs.
  • To discuss any refusal by a school to admit a young person under the FAP criteria and agree an action.

Provision for children not ready to return to mainstream school

Barking and Dagenham provides a full-time education for children deemed not ready to return to mainstream school at its Tuition Centre (PRU)

Pupils with Statements of SEN/EHC plan

On occasions pupils with a statement of SEN are either excluded and/or managed moves are recommended. Admissions arrangements for SEN pupils must be dealt in accordance with the requirements of the 1996 Education Act. This involves the Complex needs/SEN Panel carrying out a consultative process with Governing Bodies and with LA SEN officers.

New arrivals in Years 10 and 11

Pupils arriving within the borough during KS4 can be hard to place, especially if they have additional factors such as gaps in previous education, behavioural issues, English as an additional language.

In such situations the Education Placements Panel may give consideration to short term individualised packages delivered by key partners both in and out-borough where appropriate service level/commissioning agreements have been reached. This work can sign-post these students to full time courses of study as and when they are ready to engage effectively with such provision. Work with Connexions and the FE colleges has been effective in this area.

Pupils arriving in the borough in Years 10/11 will have the same rights of appeal if a place is not available at their preferred school.

Pupils with additional or complex needs may be referred to the Education Placements Panel and then to the Tuition Centre (PRU) for a period of assessment before being allocated a school. It is also helpful if a CAF has been completed, and if not then consideration should be given to completing one.

Eastbrook Comprehensive School has agreed that up to 20 Key Stage 4 pupils, new to the LA, having never attended school in the UK, where English is not an official language of the country they came from, arriving after September of year 10 and before January of year 11, will be admitted to the new Eastbrook School Provision.

Eastbury Comprehensive school EAL would be able to accommodate up to 15 ( fifteen) Key Stage 4 pupils, new to the LA, having never attended school in the UK, where English is not an official language of the country they came from, arriving after September of year 10 and before January of year 11 to the Eastbury Comprehensive School Provision

Review Arrangements for this Protocol

The effectiveness of the protocol will be reviewed annually by the LA, and in order to do this, it is essential that the admission of children identified as vulnerable are co-ordinated by the LA Admissions Team. An assessment of the operation and effectiveness, and a statement about how well the protocol has worked, including how many children have been admitted to each school in the area under the protocol, must be included in the Local Authority Annual Report to the Schools Adjudicator. This data will also be reported termly to the Education Improvement Partnership

The protocol should be reviewed every 12 months and the agreement of all headteachers and key senior officers sought in terms of the operational effectiveness of this protocol, identification of any barriers to access and efficient working and the evaluation and subsequent improvement of the procedures keeping the best interest of the child at the heart of the protocol.

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