Concern over Rossendale schools change

5:45pm Monday 5th May 2008

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SIBLINGS could no longer be given priority for places at schools which their brothers and sisters attend.

Lancashire County Council chiefs have proposed the changes to the admission policies at the Rossendale secondary schools its runs.

Instead, priority would be given to those who live closest to the schools.

But the move has led to objections from Alder Grange Community and Technology School, Rawtenstall, and Haslingden High School.

Currently, all parents are given the choice of three preferences for a secondary school, based on certain criteria.

Children with siblings at school who live inside or outside the school's geographical priority area are currently given priority over those without, who live locally.

Now the government is proposing that all districts use the same split sibling criteria - as used in Burnley and Pendle - which gives a higher priority to local children living in the geographical area.

During the Spring Term 2008 the governors of community and voluntary controlled secondary schools in East Lancashire, were invited to comment on the proposed admissions policy and admission number for their school for the 2009/10 school year.

Alder Grange education chiefs agreed to use straight line measures when considering distances from home to school but were unanimous in their objection to changing sibling priority areas.

Governors did not agree that the change was unlikely to have any impact on admissions and that the change would be prejudicial against a number of families with students already in school, seeking to keep their families together throughout education.

The school said it had invested time in supporting and building relationships with these families who may be forced into a position of having to send their children to different high schools.

The school is oversubscribed in all year groups and consistently receives a greater number of choices for year seven than there are places available.

Haslingden High School has also rejetced the government's proposal based on the fact that a lot of the staff send their children there.

A number of the teaching staff travel some distance and a number were not offered places for their children for September 2008 entry.

They believed criteria for admission in 2009/10 should be amended to inlcude parents working at the school.