Playing the middle class School Admissions Game has been going on for years. But what if it didn’t matter how close you lived to your local Ofsted outstanding school? That’s exactly what happens in Central Bristol. There are four Ofsted Outstanding secondary schools in Central Bristol. All but one has created an admission policy which keeps out local children and selects through the back door.<\/p>\n
Getting a place at a Central Bristol school is literally a lottery or a matter of faith. And this is an incredibly unfair way of allocating school places. Central Bristol houses some of the most deprived areas and lowest income families in the entire city. With the abolition of catchment areas and the setting of admission policies, this not only affects the poorer and less aspirational families but is a future echo of what might be once all schools become academies and may set their own entrance criteria<\/p>\n
These are the Schools closest to the central BS1 & BS2 areas of Bristol<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Cathedral Choir School – Ofsted Outstanding<\/strong><\/p>\n Former private school now academy Admission policy<\/em> How\u00a0does it discriminate against local people?<\/strong> Savvy and pushy parents could also take advantage of the chorister and music specialism<\/p>\n <\/p>\n St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School – Ofsted Outstanding Admission policy<\/em> How\u00a0does it discriminate against local people?<\/strong> Approximately two thirds of the students are white British. Yet the Bristol School Census of 2014 shows that the highest proportion of Somalian school children live in Lawrence Hill Ashley and Easton.<\/p>\n Only 16 places are allocated to children living within 500 metres of SMRTS and only 4 places allocated to children who are not Christian.<\/p>\n Admission to SMRTS is a box ticking exercise. Parents who are able to attend church regularly from at least 2 full school years prior to application year are in with a good chance of securing a place. There is no commitment to continue church going afterwards. This means single parents, parents who work on Sundays, those of different faiths or those with a disability which affects their church attendance will not make it through the application process successfully.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Colston’s Girls’ School – Ofsted Outstanding Over subscription criteria<\/em> How\u00a0does it discriminate against local people?<\/strong> <\/p>\n Cotham School – Ofsted Outstanding<\/strong><\/p>\n Former grammar school now academy<\/strong> No Sen! Playing the middle class School Admissions Game has been going on for years. But what if it didn’t matter how<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":25968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-its-never-boring-in-st-judes"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWard – Cabot<\/span> (Central BS1)
\nAdmission number 2016: 120
\nSeptember 2015 on time applications – 785
\nSeptember 2015 Allocations:
\n<\/strong>9 SEN
\n3 Looked After\u00a0Children
\n8 Probationer\u00a0Choristers
\n12 Music\u00a0specialists
\n43 Siblings,
\n1 Medical and Social
\n3 Children of staff
\n41\u00a0Random Allocation<\/p>\n
\nWith BCCS named on an EHC plan
\nLooked after or previously previously looked after\u2019 children
\n8 places to\u00a0cathedral choristers
\n10 per cent as part of the ‘music specialism’
\nsiblings which would be full, half, adopted or a step brother or sister
\nOne place allocated on a medical or social need
\nChildren of the employees of Bristol Cathedral Choir School working 28 hours or more per week for two or more years
\nFinally, a random allocation will take place to children living in Bristol postcodes – more details on the website.
\nRandom Allocations are made using a mathematical formula with names not identifiable during this process.<\/p>\n
\nEntry is done through a lottery system. There is every chance a family could live opposite the school yet not get a place and have to bus miles away to the next under subscribed school.<\/p>\n
\nState school
\nWard – Lawrence Hill<\/span> (Central BS1)
\nAdmission number 2016: 216
\nSeptember 2015 on time applications – 628
\nSeptember 2015 Allocations:
\n<\/strong>7 SEN
\n3 Other Faith
\n16 Local children
\n8 Children in Care
\n182 Christian<\/p>\n
\nChildren with an Education, Health and Care Plans) where the school has been named
\nLooked After Children or previously Looked After Children and must meet the church attendance conditions
\n<\/span>196 places allocated to children who attend church in attendance priority where children who attend more than three times a month for three years being given top priority
\n<\/span>Other Looked After Children or Previously Looked After Children without church attendance
\n<\/span>16<\/strong> places to children who live within 500 metres of the school
\n<\/span>Up to 4<\/strong> places for children who are\u00a0Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism
\n<\/span>Other applicants<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSt Mary Redcliffe and Temple School (SMRTS) is in the ward of Lawrence Hill. That is the most deprived area of Bristol. It’s Ofsted report in April 2015 noted that the school is below national average for its number of disadvantaged students in receipt of free school meals.<\/p>\n
\nFormer private school now academy<\/strong>
\nWard – Ashley<\/span> (Central BS6)<\/strong>
\nAdmission number 2015 – 140 places<\/strong>
\nSeptember 2015 on time applications – 583\u00a0<\/strong>
\nSeptember 2015 Allocations:<\/strong>
\n4 SEN
\n2 Children in Care
\n14 Foreign Language
\n25 Siblings
\n1 Child of Staff
\n94 Random Allocation<\/p>\n
\nFrom 2017 Colston\u2019s Girls\u2019 School will admit 140 pupils moving from its primary year 6 to year 7
\nChildren with Colston’s Girls’ School named in an\u00a0EHC Plan
\nLooked After or Previously Looked After Children
\n10 per cent with a foreign language specialism
\nSiblings, full, half, step or adopted sister
\nChildren of staff who have been employed for two or more years
\n75 per cent of places go through Random Allocation to those who sat a Non-Verbal Reasoning assessment in BS1-BS16 – applicants will be chosen on the basis of the results of this assessment to create a representative ability range for the school with an equal number in each band.
\n25 per cent to those in an outer catchment area
\nRemaining places offered to others<\/p>\n
\nColston’s Girls’ School does give local children who can speak a second language an advantage, but only by 14 places. The rest have to win through lottery allocation again. Further selection takes place through a non-verbal reasoning assessment rather than selecting from the entire community on a local basis.<\/p>\n
\nWard – Cotham (BS6 10 minutes on bus from central Bristol)<\/strong>
\nAdmission number 2015 –<\/strong>
\nSeptember 2015 on time applications – 662<\/strong>
\nSeptember 2015 allocations: 216<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n23 In Area Siblings
\n79 Area of First Priority
\n45 Outside Area Siblings
\n69 Outside Area
\nFurthest Distance 1.751 km<\/p>\n
\nChildren with Cotham School named in an EHC Plan
\nLooked after children or previously looked after children
\nSibling in the first area of priority area (Area of first priority is central Bristol, Clifton and Cotham)
\nChildren living in the area of first priority
\nSiblings out of priority area
\nOut of priority area children<\/div>\n
\nHow\u00a0does it discriminate against local people?<\/strong>
\nActually it doesn’t. It awards places on areas of priority. Though this area does stretch towards central Bristol, it doesn’t do enough to encompass the number of children who are fighting for a school place not being able to get into their nearest schools. It is also takes from the more affluent areas of Clifton, Cotham and Bishopston families.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n