Click Here For Information Relating to the Proposals for a Voluntary Aided Promary School in Ventnor
Voluntary-aided schools
Voluntary-aided schools are mainly religious or 'faith' schools, although anyone can apply for a place. As with foundation schools, the governing body:
· employs the staff
· sets the admissions criteria
School buildings and land are normally owned by a charitable foundation, often a religious organisation. The governing body contributes to building and maintenance costs.
Voluntary-controlled schools
Voluntary-controlled schools are similar to voluntary aided schools, but are run by the local authority. As with community schools, the local authority:
· employs the school's staff
· sets the admissions criteria
School land and buildings are normally owned by a charity, often a religious organisation, which also appoints some of the members of the governing body.
(Source:DCSF)
There are three distinct kinds of Church of England school in partnership with local authorities (LAs):
Admissions: who goes where? Messages from the statistics
Chamberlain, T., Rutt, S. and Fletcher-Campbell, F. (2006). Admissions: Who Goes Where? Messages from the Statistics (LGA Research Report 4/06).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which schools’ populations reflect the profile of the local communities in which they are located, to support the development of policy and debate around school admissions and parental choice. The investigation also aimed to examine the effect that one school’s intake has on another local school, by comparing the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) admitted to schools situated within the same communities.
Key findings
Geographical admissions areas
Both the primary and secondary schools admitted pupils from a number of different communities (using postcode sectors and districts to identify ‘communities’ — see ‘About the study’ section for further details). This is worth highlighting, particularly because of the large area covered by just one postcode district.
On the whole, both the voluntary-aided primary and secondary schools were admitting fewer pupils from the local community compared to the other school-types.
At secondary school level, the voluntary-aided schools were admitting pupils from a wider geographical area than voluntary-controlled and community secondary schools. This finding might be expected if the voluntary-aided schools need to serve a wider geographical area in order to admit pupils of a particular religious affiliation.
Overall, academy schools appeared to be situated in areas where the community populations included higher proportions of children eligible for FSM, with special educational needs (SEN), of black or ethnic minority (BEM) origin, and of lower key stage 2 (KS2) ability.
Proportion of pupils eligible for FSM in different types of schools
The voluntary-aided primary and secondary schools admitted slightly lower proportions of pupils eligible for FSM, compared to the proportions in the local communities. It is possible that these differences could be explained by the wider geographical area that voluntary-aided schools served. However, the proportion of pupils who attended the schools who were eligible for FSM and who lived outside of the local communities was still lower than the proportion of pupils eligible for FSM and living in the local communities. Even by compensating for the wider geographical area that such schools may serve, it does not explain the reason for the lower proportions of pupils eligible for FSM admitted to voluntary-aided schools.
Academy schools were found to admit higher proportions of pupils eligible for FSM than the proportion living in the local postcode districts.
Proportion of pupils with SEN in different types of schools
All types of primary schools admitted similar proportions of pupils with SEN as there were living in the local postcode sectors.
At secondary school level, the analysis showed a different picture to the primary school SEN analysis. Academy schools admitted higher proportions of pupils with SEN compared to the proportions living in the local postcode districts and voluntary-aided schools admitted slightly lower proportions of pupils with SEN from the local postcode districts. The examination of the school intakes from outside the local postcode districts revealed that the academy schools also admitted higher proportions of pupils with SEN from outside of the local district and the voluntary-aided schools admitted a lower proportion.
Proportion of pupils of BEM origin in different types of schools
The findings suggest that pupils of BEM origin travelled outside their local communities to school more than ‘white’ pupils, because all types of schools admitted higher proportions of pupils of BEM origin from outside the local communities.
Proportion of pupils with KS2 level 4 or above in different types of schools
At secondary school level, using both KS2 maths and English level 4 and above as indicators for expected ability at KS2, the analysis showed that the academy schools admitted a lower proportion of pupils of higher KS2 ability compared to the proportion living within the local postcode districts. Both voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled schools tended to admit slightly higher proportions of pupils of higher KS2 ability than the proportions living in the local postcode districts.
The effect of one school’s intake on another local school
The findings were similar in both primary and secondary schools in local authorities in rural and urban areas where there was more than one school serving the same community. There were differences both within school-types and between school-types in terms of the proportion of pupils eligible for FSM admitted to schools from within the local communities. Local authorities may want to examine individual school admissions policies in this light.
Voluntary-aided schools are under attack
Daily Telegraph 16 Mar 2008
By Judith Woods
A random selection of 570 faith and selective primary and secondary schools in three local authorities - Northamptonshire, Manchester and Barnet in north London -stands accused of breaking the law by demanding that parents make a financial contribution as a condition of admission; 119 voluntary-aided faith and foundation schools received warning letters in which they were accused of alleged infringements of the new statutory school admissions code.
Given that the majority of these schools are voluntary-aided and need to make up their 10 per cent annual budget shortfall somehow, (voluntary) donations are wholly necessary.
Religious schools 'show bias for rich'
· Middle class favoured, study shows
· Faith schools deny selection claim
Anushka Asthana, education correspondent
Sunday March 2, 2008
The Observer
Damning new evidence that faith schools are siphoning off middle-class pupils can be revealed today, as research shows they are failing to take children from the poorest backgrounds nationwide.
Even when they are situated in deprived inner-city areas, religious schools have fewer poor children than local authority secondary schools.
New figures show that religious schools, in
The research, by Rebecca Allen, an academic at the
'The purpose of the paper is to compare the type of pupils who go to community and religious secondary schools to the type of pupils who live in the immediate neighbourhoods of these schools,' said Allen, who has not yet published the results. 'Faith school intakes are more affluent than the areas in which they are located.'
That is despite the fact that schools are expected to reflect the social make-up of the communities they serve. Other research by Allen suggests that some of the schools are using the fact that they can select by religion as a way of picking out middle-class pupils.
Barry Sheerman, the MP who chairs the Children, Schools and Families select committee, said he believed head teachers were trying to boost their league table positions. 'It astonishes me that faith schools are so good at making sure they have fewer children from poorer backgrounds and fewer children with special needs,' he said.
Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said it was better for children from different backgrounds to study together. 'All the evidence is that when you get pupils from different social classes mixing together, it is a real positive and when you get children of different abilities mixing, it is a real positive. It does not disadvantage the highest achievers, but it does advantage the lowest. Social segregation is not only bad for community cohesion; it is also bad for learning.'
But those running faith schools rebutted the claims. 'We reject all suggestions that there is a conscious or unconscious policy of creaming off middle-class children,' said a spokesman for the Church of England. Andy Hibberd, co-founder of The Parent Organisation, said he had never come across a C of E school that rejected children because of their background, but added: 'I'd be surprised if you could find one Roman Catholic school that could categorically prove it did not [covertly] select parents based on their socio-economic background.'
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families pointed out that all schools had to adhere to a tough new admissions code that outlawed any unfair practices that could lead to social segregation, and had a duty to promote community cohesion. 'We are absolutely clear that any test of faith membership or practice is in line with the law,' he said.
Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged of tricks used by schools to select through the back door despite the new code. Researchers found headteachers who asked parents to come in to collect a prospectus, attend pre-admissions meetings and write letters of reference for their child.
'It does look as if some schools are using practices that might enable them to select in or select out ... some children,' said Professor Anne West of the London School of Economics, who is carrying out the research for Rise (Research and Information on State Education).
She said some of the practices would be 'problematic in relation to the code' that bans heads from interviewing parents or asking for unnecessary supplementary information. However, she stressed that the work was in the very early stages.
Fiona Millar, a high-profile education campaigner and former aide to Cherie Blair, said headteachers could use the methods to limit who applied to the school.
The cases were only investigated, she added, if someone complained to the schools adjudicator, which often did not happen: 'Unfair practices do not become fair just because no one complains,' said Millar.
Winning a place at their school of choice will be on the minds of hundreds of thousands of parents this weekend. Tomorrow is National Offer Day, when letters will be sent out informing them of decisions. Many who fail to win a place at their first choice will turn to a plethora of websites and consultants for help on how to appeal. Some will pay £2,000 for a team of experts to support them.
Last week, it emerged that as many as half the children in some areas could miss out on their first choice of secondary schools. Now, figures obtained by the Tories suggest parents could also struggle with primary schools. It showed that 44,859 pupils would not get their first preference.
Ministers insist that parents have the choice as to which school their child will attend. But a poll released yesterday by the think-tank Policy Exchange found that 42 per cent of state school parents felt they had little or no choice.