A WATCHDOG has upheld Kirklees Council’s objections about the admissions policies of two schools.
They are Heckmondwike Grammar School and Mirfield Free Grammar and the objections were sent to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
The OSA is independent from the Government and decides on issues of school organisation and admissions.
Adjudicators look at a school’s admission policy as a whole in response to objections from authorities, other schools and sometimes even parents.
Kirklees said a ‘supplementary form’ used by the Mirfield school would affect parents who did not realise they needed to complete it as part of their child’s admission application.
The form is used to take additional information about pupils and their families, such as religious background or interest in specific subjects.
The adjudicator, Andrew Baxter, upheld the council’s objection against Mirfield Free Grammar.
He said it was needless and complex for parents to have to submit the extra form.
The school’s governors did not agree that having to fill in the form would disadvantage parents.
But the school has agreed to source the information it needs from the council instead of using the form.
Mr Baxter also said the school must remove the criteria giving priority to children with special needs statements.
Mr Baxter partly upheld the council’s complaint about Heckmondwike Grammar.
It had said the school was asking for unnecessary information in its registration form.
The form asked questions which covered pupils’ ethnicity, which primary school they went to and whether they had special needs.
The school said it needed this information to make arrangements for pupils to take entrance exams. It also said it used information about ethnicity to help with its equal opportunities policy.
Mr Baxter said the form could be used to find information needed for the administration of entry exams, but the name of the form should be changed to Registration for Entrance Examination from September next year.
He said that from that date the school also has to delete a question on the form relating to siblings and has to remove criteria saying children with a statement of special education needs will be given priority.
He also said the form should define the term sibling as ‘a child’s brother or sister (including half-brothers and sisters, stepchildren and fostered children living with the same family at the same address)’.
Mr Baxter said: “I judge that the school is justified for the time being in using the form to seek the information it needs for administrative purposes, but that the limited purpose of the form needs to be made clearer.”
