Agenda item

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:

(A)       Petition in respect of Wolvercote Primary School

Mr C. Lang, Hands Across Wolvercote submitted a petition on behalf of the 16 children and their families not given a place at Wolvercote Primary School. He stated that the petition was signed by 600 local residents deeply concerned at the impact on the children and the community. The shock of being excluded from the school was compounded by the distances they were being asked to travel to the schools allocated. He recognised that the rules were changed from next year but that this was little comfort to those affected this year. He felt that there had been a failure to implement the changes in time. He added that Wolvercote Primary School was over subscribed but that Governors had proposed solutions. Finally in stating the view of the petitioners that the proposals were detrimental and that the welfare of the children should come first he hoped that the funding could be found to fund the proposals that had the backing of Governors.

Councillor Michael Waine replied that he was looking forward to meeting with those concerned this evening at a meeting that had already been arranged. Roy Leach, Strategic Lead , School Organisation & Planning had worked extremely hard to find a solution and the rules changes had gone through the proper processes for reviewing the Code for admissions. The changes proposed came into the system once the year process had begun.

He referred to reports in the local press which had been misleading. Oxfordshire was above the national average for meeting preferences but there would always be some parents who got none of their preferences. Other wise there would be excess capacity in the school system which central government was keen to minimise. He accepted that there were hot spots that meant real issues for parents. He referred to the situation in Banbury which was another hot spot. Of 19 cases there 10 had not chosen a Banbury school, 3 made a single preference and 2 a double preference. Parents putting only one preference that could not be met went to the bottom of the list in terms of allocating places. He added that the current allocations were an offer and were not an attempt to tell parents what they should do. There would be a full appraisal after 26 March and he expected that the position could change significantly. He hoped that the local press would be able to support parents by underlining these messages.