Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting and that Dr Agarwal was attending as an Alternative Member for Dr Bahl.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2009 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2009, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4E of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting under the provisions of Advisory Panel and Consultative Forum Procedure Rules 16, 14 and 15 respectively.

Report of Director Schools and Children’s Development

In accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the Forum received a report of the Director Schools and Children’s Development, which was admitted late to the agenda to enable consideration of the responses to the consultation within the statutory timescale.  The report had not been available at the time the agenda was printed and circulated in order to allow details of the consultation to be included.

The Forum, an independent body, considered the report, which set out the feedback received following consultation on admission arrangements for the 2011/12 academic year and the extension to the sibling link to sixth forms.  An officer reported on the responses received to the consultation and identified those responses which had been added to the draft proposals.  A representation was circulated at the meeting which supported the proposal to change the nursery tie-breaker from the 2010/11 academic year to distance from home to nursery measured in a straight line.

The Forum discussed the response from the Governors of Nower Hill High School, which supported the oversubscription criteria for High School admission at Year 7 except for the exclusion of a sibling link to students in the sixth form.  The view of the Forum was not to support the sibling link to the sixth form for the reasons outlined in the report.

Subsequent to discussion on the recommendations proposed in the report and following minor amendments the Forum agreed the report.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Cabinet)  That

(1)               the nursery criterion be amended as follows:

If more applications were received than there were places in a Nursery, places would be allocated to children in date of birth order, with older children being offered places before younger children, as follows:

First        Children, in date of birth order, who are Looked After by a local authority.

Next        Children, in date of birth order, referred by Harrow’s Special Education Needs Assessment and Review Service.

Next        Other children, in date of birth order.

If, under any criterion, there were more children with the same date of birth than there were places remaining in the nursery, the available places would be offered to child(ren) who lived closest.   Distance would be measured in a straight line from the home address to the entrance to the nursery.  Home to school distance would be measured by Harrow’s School Admissions Service.

Parents would only be able to apply to one nursery.  However, all unsuccessful applicants be advised that their child’s name could be added to the waiting list for any school.

In addition, and to ensure transparency and consistency across the borough, nursery class headteachers agree a protocol, including a timetable for nursery applications and ways of dealing with multiple applications to ensure each child is only offered one nursery place (as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report);

(2)               nursery headteachers be requested to indicate in the offer letter that a place in the nursery did not give automatic entry to the school and  that parents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 152.

Report of the Director Schools and Children’s Development

In accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the Forum received a report of the Director Schools and Children’s Development, which was admitted late to the agenda in order to ensure that statutory requirements were met. The report had not been available at the time the agenda was printed and circulated as it was being consulted upon.

The Forum considered the report, which detailed the submissions from the Voluntary Aided Schools and showed how each school met the requirements of the Code of Practice both in relation to admission arrangements and supplementary information forms (SIFS):

Moriah Jewish Day School

An officer undertook to provide guidance to the Moriah Jewish School on the criteria.

KrishnaAvanti School 

The Forum noted the advice from the Council’s Legal and Governance department that the continued use of nominations from ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor as an admissions criteria resulted in potential breaches of the Code of Practice on School Admissions.  The Legal advice considered it to be insufficiently clear, fair or objective and that it placed a limitation on parental choice by removing five places from the Planned Admission Number.  It was suggested that the Chairman attend and observe a meeting between the Director Schools and Children’s Development and representatives of the school.

The I-Foundation Representative stated that the School Governors had unanimously agreed to retain the five places beyond the three year permission agreed by the School Organisation Committee. As the faith partner for the school, ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor had been instrumental in the establishment of the school and worked in partnership with the school and Governing Body.  Legal advice obtained by the school was that the admission arrangements secured places rather than reduced the places available and that it was not unusual for faith schools to give priority to a certain place of worship.  With regard to the process being insufficiently clear, the Code put the onus on the school to consult.

In response to the concern that the extension of the three year permission for nominations from the Manor would result in places not being available to children within the locality, the I-Foundation Representative stated that this would be valid if there were several Hindu schools.  This was not the case and there were 30 places available in the country in total.

In response to a question regarding consultation, particularly with the wider Hindu community, it was stated that the Hindu Forum of Britain, National Council of Hindu Temples and Hindu Council had all verbally supported the position with regard to the ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor.  The Forum considered it important that there was a proper and sufficient paper trail of consultation and the Representative agreed to obtain declarations of support from the consultation in writing.

An officer advised that the Code of Practice required the Voluntary Aided schools to consult and the Local Authority had to independently follow the same route.

Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Schools

An officer undertook to clarify with the Diocese Representative the advice that had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 153.

(i)                 I-Foundation Representative

At the last meeting, the Forum had requested that legal advice be sought on the status of the I-Foundation as a representative of the Hindu faith on the Forum.

The Forum was advised that the representative from the religious denomination was separate to the representative for the type of school under 8(1)b) of the School Admissions (Local Authority Reports and Admission Forums) (England) Regulations 2008.  The I?Foundation was the relevant religious authority for the Krishna Avanti School and represented a branch of Hinduism that promoted Vedic culture.

RESOLVED:  That the Legal advice be noted.

(ii)               Dates of Meetings 2010/11

RESOLVED:  That meetings of the Forum be held on the following dates at the Civic Centre: