06 Nov 2024
More needs to be done to ensure children living in Colney Heath and surrounding villages receive their first choice of secondary school.
Parent Gavin Prime, whose son ended up having to choose an alternative school to Beaumont, said too much emphasis is being placed on the volume of applications and the number of available places at local schools.
He argues that what is really needed is a fairer and more equitable admission process.
Gavin was speaking up in the wake of the decision to permanently increase the number of places at Beaumont School to eight-form entry, something he feels does not address the real issue at hand.
“Families need to be within 600m of Beaumont currently to gain admission, despite the fact that it is the nearest priority school for children much further than that in areas such as Sleapshyde and Colney Heath.
“There is no nearer non-faith option for families on that side of the priority area. And this is where there doesn’t appear to have been consideration, because increasing the numbers will still have no effect on these children.
“It is clear and obvious that children based on one side of the school (the east) are less likely to gain admission, because it is mainly green space. This is supported further by Colney Heath ward children having the lowest statistics for first place school acceptance in comparison to ALL other wards in St Albans. Even non-Christian children are being forced to apply to a Catholic school nearby.
“We can throw funding at the school, and increase places at the school, but I’m afraid that for all the discussions and agreements bring made to that effect, pressure on admissions and councillors will continue, and the reason is because it is unfair.
“This year 119 of the available places went to siblings, it is a reasonable deduction that these higher-ranked places will also not be from Colney Heath ward, reducing the likelihood further.
“A solution to this issue is already in place for other schools and would make the entire admissions process fairer, reasonable and equitable, with a simple adjustment. The solution is to award allocations of places to each priority ward of which Beamont is the nearest school in the same way single sex schools do.
“This solution steers towards equity and fairness and doesn’t discriminate if you live in areas with more green space. This ensures there is an allocation of children in all priority areas Beaumont School serves as the nearest priority, not just the few.
“Let’s do the analysis and make the admissions process fair for all children where Beaumont is their nearest school. We should do it because we can, and an entire ward of neglected children deserve it.”
County councillor John Hale said: “The current method of allocating school places is inequitable, severely flawed and needs changing.
“Throwing money at Beaumont, or the other existing secondary schools, will not solve the problem as they already have too many students on their sites. I have been told by local secondary schools that they are so overcrowded their corridors are unsafe and their dining facilities inadequate.
“I am meeting with officers at HCC later in the year to discuss this matter and to see what can be done to accelerate the construction of a new school, as well as whether the council can put pressure on schools such as Beaumont to adopt more equitable policies.
“Unfortunately the county council cannot simply build another school, it needs Government approval and developer funding as well as a trust to agree to run it. So it is going to be a battle to get the facilities needed.”
