School being set up by wealthy city types "snubs" poorer children

[ISNT]

I saw this headline in the shops today - article is here. If what it says is correct it's terrible, surely. Does anyone know anything about it? Aren't there any rules about how these new schools can choose their pupils? It all seems very strange.

That has been the fear all along.

No shit, Sherlock.

People just sleepwalk into these disasters - it's really depressing!

I'm just trying to find out if there is anything written into the rules about whether they have to admit anyone or not.

If this is true it certainly seems that wealthy individuals are being allowed to fix it so they and their friends can get exclusive private school type educations and the taxpayer pays for it. The money coming from less well off people, schools and children.

There must be rules to prevent this? If not, well I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed that the tories would be so open about what their agenda is and be allowed to get away with it.

From here

"Feeder primary schools are schools formally linked to a secondary
school (and are set out as feeder schools within the admissions
arrangements). The Code says that ?feeder schools must be selected on
an objective and consistent basis. Admission authorities must ensure
that such arrangements do not unfairly disadvantage children from
more deprived areas near the school"

So it looks like what they have done breaches this rule?

Will be interesting to see if anything is done about this.

This piece of legislation is asking to be abused and it is a scandalous waste of public resources whether this article is true or not. I hate our government for the way they are attempting to (re)distribute public resources.

There's an awful lot of privatisation going on, and no-one seems to mind or care

Interesting link to the free schools guide. Hopefully local people will be challenging this then?

In Scotland catchment area determines entry to school (although you can apply outwith but there will be no guarantee of success). So, if you live in catchment area, you are guaranteed a place...

We're all religious round here, and oversubscribed, which leads to fun and games

I begin to wonder whether a lottery would be the fairest answer - really mix everyone up - but the travel problems with that are the rub.

There isn't a fair school entry system really. Some parents will always be more clued up than others.

I hope this school doesn't get away with what they are intending and I'd be surprised if the tories could let them with the bad press this would bring? Never know, though.

They have published a list of people involved with this school - I was a bit dubious about that TBH - but looked anyway And they're not wrong when they call it super rish/banker people - all fund managers at morgan stanley and directors at coutts, really top people. It's not like they all work in admin/branches and the paper/union have got the wrong end of the stick...

... grr it was so obvious that this is exactly what would/will happen.

I also don't understand why these new schools don't have to follow the national curriculum. I don't think the people who teach at them have to be qualified either? None of it makes sense. If those things are fine, why not make them the rules for all schools? If it's not fine, why are these schools exempt? It's a load of rubbish.

Basically new exclusive fee paying schools are being set up, with the fees for the wealthy children who attend being paid by poorer families.

It's all so depressing.

And with fuck all being done to improve things for the schools that already exist.

This government has a very clear agenda and I don't know how anyone can support it.

That's what happens when you vote Tory.

I just can't understand why people are surprised.

Are people surprised though? Really?

I think they probably are ISNT. Or at least they soon will be.

Even I've been surprised at times.

I was under the impression that free schools and academies could set their own admissions criteria within reason. Every single state secondary in our town and the next has applied for academy status.

Do bears S*it in the woods?

That Mirror article is ridiculous.

Well don't you know poverty is contagious? Can't have rich children mixing with poor ones doncha know.

The article lacks info. I'd like to hear from the HT about the nearby primary & about its admission criteria. There is another school started by Toby Young, WLFS with a very academic curriculum, afair.

The mirror article ignores local geography. Honeywell and Belleville are the closest primary schools to the new school (under 0.5 miles - Wix is 3x further away).

They are also the peak of "Nappy Valley" - just those two potential feeder schools have 90-100 pupils per year, add on High View and you have a potential intake cohort of well over 250. Given the size of the site, it may be imprudent to have more feeders.

Wandsworth had a dreadful shortfall of secondary places, and the council backs the setting up of the school. It draws the catchment for the primary schools (being introduced for the first time from Sept 2011).

onimolap that's the sort of info I was after.

Is it the case though that the one they have excluded is nearer than the third feeder? In which case surely they should have used the 3 nearest as feeders and not the one (with wealthier parents) further away.

Unless that one already feeds into a secondary and the other 3 don't?

If there were reasons like that I would have expected them to be raised in defence of the admission criteria though.