Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Consultation on School Admission Arrangements
School Admissions Consultation
This only applies to primary schools at the moment. I would have though the issue is even more pressing for secondary schools?
I don't get how this is a consultation though. I have heard nothing via the schools my children attend.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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Thanks for this. I am slightly torn myself, but given the number of cars you see delivering kids to school it is a wonder how many are actually 'in the area'. I know of folks who have got around the processes for getting their kids into a school of their choice (folks renting at the right time for the address) and I dislike it intensely.
So anything that helps make sure schools are as open as possible to kids that are local to that school the better.
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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One of my friends over in Crouch End had a consultation letter and form from her school earlier this week, but we haven't had anything from our school in N15.
I did manage to find it on Haringey's website though: http://www.haringey.gov.uk/children-and-families/schools-and-educat...
It looks like Hornsey School for Girls are changing their entry criteria.
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Permalink Reply by Pembysingsong on
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This sounds like a long overdue change in admissions. But why not for Secondary? Surely as pressing, if not more? The documentation says the consultation started 13 November, but where and via what channels? Nobody seems to have been aware of it until this eve via HoL!
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Permalink Reply by DavidJ on
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That looks like a big change proposed for Hornsey. Thus far they have had quite complicated arrangements that mean that the school has a cross borough intake. Besides the obvious gender issue - the school is probably about the most socially mixed in the borough. The shift towards the reliance on proximity to the school looks like a real shame - and given where the school is located a shift towards a more middle class intake. No doubt it will be good for their league table position.
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Do you think the Hornsey change will make much difference in practice though? It's so under-subscribed that i'm sure everyone will still get in who wants to. I went to an Open Day there recently and a parent living by Seven Sisters asked if they would get in and the Head was prepared to say that they'd have no problem. I guess maybe further down the line the change may be felt...
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Permalink Reply by Angela on
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I'm not sure it will make much difference either.
As for league tables, last year Hornsey was in 3rd place iirc (for GCSE results).
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Yes - but the point is that Hornsey have not had a distance criterion (the proposal is for 2017 intake) - they have had a complicated system that has meant that they had to draw from across the borough. What that has meant in practice is that if you really wanted to go there you could. This has resulted in a genuine social mix. Other schools in the borough are far more socially stratified.
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As the only all girls school in Haringey obviously they accept applications from the whole borough (and beyond) but it is an odd allocation system.
I'm still not convinced the new admissions criteria will change the intake that much as not everyone wants to send their children to an girls school - you either do or you don't. But then again I don't have any info re the social mix of Hornsey compared to other schools in Haringey; but it doesn't seem that different to the secondary school my other child is at (or the schools their friends go to)
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Permalink Reply by Malcolm on
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I think you're mistaken about Hornsey school for girls.
The council consult on the existing arrangements each year. As a girls school, HSG always has different arrangements, with the word "child" replaced by "girl". That's why there is an explicit section for HSG in this document.
If the council were proposing to change the criteria, the change would be explicitly called out in the overview which it isn't. Having just been through the secondary admissions process I see no change for HSG here.
So I believe this consultation is proposing everything stay the same except for primary sibling preferences.
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The selection criteria for the 2016 intake are here:
http://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/secondary-scho...
As you will see Hornsey's was very different (on p29) from that now being proposed. Hornsey's league table 'provisional' results for 2015 GCSEs have seen quite a big fall. I wonder if this is prompting the change?
It is hard to evidence social mix but as my daughter went there, my son elsewhere and both have friends in different local schools I think it was the case that Hornsey had a wider social mix. It was definitely more geographically spread and a school where West met East. It might take a few years but I predict that it will become a school of the West and the GCSE results will improve.
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Yes, there was a fall in this year's GCSE results (as there was for a few of the schools, at least the ones I know of) but they are in level with national results. And each year's intake will be different; it's the overall progress that counts not just results. Terms like value added and the newer ones I have heard bandied about such as Progress 8 and Best 8 are meant to show how well a school is doing but I doubt many prospective parents look beyond the GCSE results - and who can blame them/us tbh?
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"I doubt many prospective parents look beyond the GCSE results - and who can blame them/us tbh?"
It is a fair question [looking only at GCSE results], but in many ways it is the wrong metric to focus on, or certainly not the only one. And it is not the parent's fault at times that this is what is focused on, as it is often the only piece of verifiable/comparable information available.
Pretty much any school can churn out kids with high grades if they get the right intake. The reason Value Added is so critical is that is shows what a school added based on what the intake was that year. That is, if a child comes in at [level 1] and the national average is for a child to progress 5 levels then you would expect your child to at least progress to level 6. However, if your child leaves at level 7 then the school has added value above and beyond what would be the norm/expected. In many ways, this is also a critical measure of how good a school is at taking a cohort and getting the best from them.
I am sure you know this already, but it is interesting many schools talk about Valued Added, but I see little information about it when it comes to the time to select what school your child may ultimately end up at. This is a big shame as I think it is a valuable piece of information.
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