Fortismere School - Review of Admission by Musical Aptitude - Update

[Calouste]

Review of Admission by Musical Aptitude - Update
At its meeting on the 25 March, the Governing Body decided to end admission by musical aptitude at Fortismere. The final cohort of MA students will join Fortismere in September 2013. This means that there will be no admissions by musical aptitude after the 2013 year 7 intake. The Governing Body took the view that our first commitment as a comprehensive school is to our local community and to an admission process which accepts local children without any form of additional ?selection?.

Our commitment to existing MA students remains unchanged. MA students and their families are an important part of life at Fortismere and, together with the staff, we are committed to ensuring that they and our other music students continue to flourish and have their musical talent supported by the school. The music department has done a great deal to foster musical talent both in the school and the wider community in recent years and this is something we all want to see go to from strength to strength.

Interesting and not a surprise.

I think it's the right decision for Fortismere and the local community it serves.

How many students did they used to admit on MA per year?

Up to 24, so not that many and not all places are taken/filled. The catchment area is currently 0.5232 miles. I think this will reduce even further rather that increase due to the extra 24 places. I know plenty of parents who will temporarily rent in the area in order to gain a place.

The problem with the students who were admitted on MA was that it also allowed for their siblings to enter the school as well, meaning more places were taken than just the MA places.

Obviously this was not popular with non MA parents trying to get their children into an ever decreasing catchment.

Fair comment - soonbesailing. We are not in a catchment area for any oversubscribed secondary schools in our area and were hoping to have a shot at the MAT for entry at Fortismere in 2014.

By our own choice we will not be moving into the catchment area of any of our preferred schools. We shall just have to wait and see what happens with regards to the prospective State/Grammar/Independent applications bring us in 2014!