landsberger

These things can be attached to any bank machine, so I guess if it was a busy branch with multiple terminals, it would certainly be theoretically possible. Normally they have someone outside "supervising" operations and removing the device if it gets noticed.

Presently yes, although Wandsworth Council recently changed this rule for primary and I believe Southwark are looking at it for its community primary schools. They (W/W) limited the sibling rule to people living less than a mile from the school. Unbelievably, parents were actually renting flats near popular schools and putting that down as an address. If you can afford to do that, you might as well go private.

They will still expect exactly the same documentation from a sibling application, unfortunately...

>I[...]would like to know why there's an absolute need for sibling priority in secondary allocation There isn't and indeed some schools, like Bacons and Kingsdale, do not use it. There is an argument for the kind of hysterical parent who delivers the child to the school gate every day would be inconvenienced in having to do that to 2 separate schools The axe I have to grind personally are schools that pretend to be 'comprehensive' and are not. And that parents are quite happy to have selective (or covertly selective) schools to keep the riffraff/non-English speakers/low-achievers out unless and until their child isn't admitted - then they scream like a bat that it's "unfair". The whole system is unfair.

Bear in mind that Charter School governors are the admissions authority for the school, NOT the LA. Complaints to the LA about Chartern admissions will result in a referral back to the school. The EFA would probably be your first port of call if you felt Charter were being unreasonable.

And if the school DIDN'T prioritise siblings, do you imagine that the parents of kids with siblings would be happy ? Bulge classes are introduced where there's a local need and yes, one of the side effects is occasionally an increase in siblings, but, them's the breaks. There are 70-odd schools in Southwark, and people insist on going just to one. "the illusion of choice created by the current allocation system" - yes, that's what happens when you have religious schools and academies choosing kids. It's nothing to do with how the council operates the system. The council doesn't 'actively promote choice' - it doesn't promote anything at all ! It just tries to find places for kids and if there are more applicants than kids, what are they supposed to do ? "Our daughter, no sibling priority, not looked after, no 'medical' condition, has been told she's been allocated to the school that was her least favourite choice. She's also been told that she is number 100+ on the waiting list for the top three on her list. But even so, she's lucky compared to many of her classmates who were allocated to schools that weren't even on their lists". I do feel sorry for people in that situation. There is a chicken and egg situation though, I was reading some stats for an adjacent council and loads of people didn't bother using all 6 choices. They somehow imagined that putting less schools would somehow mean they would get the schools concerned. I was also listening to conversations on the bus about people selecting schools that were some way distant, and religiously based. If you're not of the faith, the chances of admission are slim. Worst of all are the parents who say "I'm going to home school unless you offer my child Bacons/Charter/Michael Faraday". It is of no consequence whatsoever to the council and actually helps them out if you take your child out of the system. Do they SERIOUSLY think the Council will respond to this kind of emotional blackmail ? I hear what people are saying, but ask yourself - how would you do it differently ? And, when you have devised a method, think how it would affect other people. Catchment areas (real ones, not those defined by distances from schools) are one method promoted by some advocates, but there was a school in Ealing that attempted to socially engineer its intake by missing out the Council estate slap bang next to the school, saying "they've got their own school to attend". It was a middle class attempt to keep Staceys and Kevins out of the nice little enclave they'd built up.

It was big enough, but Harris have lost interest. They know when they are not wanted. Councillor Barber has his own political axe to grind, and the figures produced were mainly ones produced by the council and interpreted by himself. Most people just want what's best for the area. It IS a done deal, there will be (subject to planning permission) a Charter School on this site.

>I've heard that kids within 1100 metres only got into the charter this year Who controls the admissions to Charter ? The Governors at Charter.

I do wonder if people ever consider that perhaps it's the system that's broken, not the Council? If more people apply to a school then there are places, and there is a finite physical space that school can expand onto, then there are always going to be people who do not receive their first preference. Have they considered that all the secondaries and a good proportion of the primaries conduct their own admissions procedures (and NOT the Council) - the council just provide them with a list of applicants ? I often hear people moan about not getting their first preference, and then find out that it's a tremendously oversubscribed religiously based school, and they are not of the religion of the school and/or live some way distant from it. What on earth were they expecting? Or they then allege some vast conspiracy theory that children further away have been chosen - not thinking for 10 seconds the admission could be based on a "sibling" or a "looked after child" or "medical" admission? No, better gossip at the school gates and concoct that some corruption or undue preference has been exercised, or the vast incompetence of the council. And with regard to school expansion - everyone wants to expand popular schools, don't they...? Er, no. Certainly not local residents, who will whinge about parking and rubbish increasing? Or existing parents who will complain their child will be swamped or bullied in a bigger school. Or academies, who will refuse to expand because it doesn't suit them, irrespective of need or financial inducement. Never was the credibility gap so large, and the myths and legends of school admissions written so big.

Brandnewguy There's no chance of Harris opening on the Dulwich Hospital site now. There's no way 2 schools from 2 different sponsor groups could share a site. It isn't big enough for an 8FE secondary and 2FE primary anyway.

> I have yet to see the evidence that any consultation was done specifically of the opinion of Nunhead parents That's because it wasn't, however Harris and the Fib Dems spin it > The representatives from Harris admitted that there was opposition rather than support so far during this > consultation process. Probably didn't help that they didn't engage AT ALL with the community, and told huge great porky pies on their website. Which is the usual operating procedure for Harris > Thanks Landsberger for posting these facts. K?sz?n?m, Renata. I wonder when the application to Planning Committee for the East Dulwich Harris Academy comes to pass, whether Harris will be quite as combative as they have been. And whether locals will be supportive of the build of the 4 story building and consequential disruption, traffic issues, and parking on a busy road with a narrow pavement. http://planbuild.southwark.gov.uk/documents/?casereference=14/AP/4580&system=DC

> The birth rate is stable at all time high. Actually, GLA birth projections show a distinct drop in the Dulwich area Year Births 2009 697 2010 691 2011 692 2012 648 2013 651 Looks like a drop to me, James Percentage of Dulwich kids resident as a percentage of kids attending a primary there are all over the place 2011 58% 2012 67% 2013 58% 2014 63% 2015 72% There's no evidence of need there at all. "I'm seeking to meet the person coming up with these forecasts because something smells fishy" - why don't you ask the GLA (who provide the stats to Southwark) for a chat ?

And not a moment too soon. Secondary places are desperately needed in the locality, and whether Habs or Charter provided them was irrelevant. Both excellent potential sponsors. I presume the EFA chose Charter probably because they are a (more local) local provider. Harris were/are pathetic. They never actually consulted on having a school in Nunhead, just as a by product of their East Dulwich consultation. And the new site for the latter is an utter disaster (but that's for another thread...). I am/was completely mystified by Councillor Barber's comments about Labour being against the hospital site - since when ? As to his comments about a missing 1334 kids from births - they go to other boroughs, they go to private schools, they get home schooled. The average is about right - actually, if you do your homework, you will see more parents choosing Southwark secondaries than in previous years.

The School is scheduled to open on the 1st September 2016; otherwise will remain where it is at present.

If the school doesn't actually own the freehold of the place where it is - I'm not sure what else could be done. Surely the funding agreement the school has with the EFA requires them to have signed a long term lease with Dulwich Estates (unless Dulwich Estates plans to relocate the school?) OR the existing site is a temporary one and the school are looking to (eventually) relocate. That's what the agreement below seems to suggest http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=139907&downloadfs=pdf&numfile=1