Agenda item

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Members queried whether all faith schools were part of the co-ordinated admissions scheme and were advised that there were two secondary schools who were not yet part of the scheme although agreement had been received from one of those schools and the other will be spoken to soon. With reference to primary schools, there were still a handful of schools who were not yet part of the scheme.  Members noted that the final decision rests with the Governing Body of the school.

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Members sought further information about the ‘managed move’ of pupils and the review of catchment areas.  Officers confirmed that the legislation in respect of  managed moves has not changed, but there is a fair access protocol in place which allows for arrangements where schools are fully subscribed to be allowed to admit pupils above that published admission number where there are particularly challenging circumstances.   Officers confirmed that whilst there does need to be a review of school catchment areas, Band B places need to be sorted in the first instance, no date for that has yet been set but it will happen as soon as it can do.

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Members referred to Individual Development Plans (IDP’s) and whether the provision was for those on school action plus or whether it will be for those where there is a statement.  Members were advised that the same arrangements apply to those with statements as long as those statements still exist.  They will be converted to IDP’s in due course, although Welsh Government has not yet confirmed when that is likely to happen.  The new ALN code places greater emphasis on every school making a good inclusive offer, therefore in the majority of cases you would not need to name a school in an IDP; the Local Authority could do that in exceptional circumstances, but it is expected that that would largely be for children who needed to attend a resource based school.  There will be no difference between what used to be school action and statemented; it is an equal approach for all. The admissions policy covers both systems, due to the current transition phase.