Agenda and minutes

None were received.

That Councillor Pantelic be appointed Chair for the remainder of the 2009/10 municipal year.

Councillor Bains was appointed as Vice-Chair for the remainder of the 2009-10 municipal year.

Resolved - That the minutes of the last meeting be agreed as a correct record.

Tony Browne informed the Forum that as the new Membership had now been approved by Council the new representatives and the methods for their appointment should be agreed by the Forum.

It was noted that the local authority, Foundation and Voluntary Aided positions had already been filled. It was agreed that the other school posts should be agreed by the relevant head teachers associations to include both a primary and secondary representative for each type of school. It was agreed to write to each diocese for Roman Catholic and Church of England representation. Members undertook to seek nominations from the Primary heads group for the Islamic and Sikh Schools. Representation from the Academy was already in place. The Forum would seek a parent representative from the Governors Forum. Members of the Forum suggested several different avenues for a community representative including the Council for Voluntary Service and Community Champions. It was agreed that if these avenues were not successful then a representative would be sought through advertising the position.

Resolved: That Members be sought for the Forum as detailed above.

The Forum were informed that the Adjudicator had upheld the objection made by the Slough Admissions Forum to the admission arrangements determined by the governing body of Slough Grammar School. However the adjudicator was not making any further changes to the admission arrangements in addition to those already made by the school governors. It was noted that the Adjudicator stated that these admission arrangements would apply for three years, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

A Member raised a query about the admission arrangements for pupils with SEN.  It was noted that this was addressed in section 5 of the school’s admissions arrangements. This section also takes into account written evidence from a recognised professional for pupils with SEN in taking the test or where they have failed to gain the pass mark.

The Adjudicator stated that the school had been responsive throughout the process and the school governors had made the required changes.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

Details of the primary school pupils without places for September 2009 admission were provided to members by the Head of School Services. Members were informed that the locations for the bulge classes to be added in January needed to be agreed with schools.  There was considerable fluidity in the numbers of pupils without places; mainly due to late applications being received on a nearly continuous basis. However at the current time there were 40 or so additional reception places required and 45 year 1 places. Finding sites for these places would prove more difficult than choosing the locations for the previous additional bulge classes as the number of pupils without places was spread across the borough and not mainly in the south as was the case previously. 

A member reported that the parents were continuing to contact schools regarding reception places. The officer confirmed that the local authority needed to be aware of all children who were without a school place in order to accurately monitor demand and ensure that places were found. There was pressure on reception and year 1 with the possibility that two additional classes would be needed in January for each year group.

The officer noted that many families arriving in Slough were from outside the UK. For example some Polish children did not arrive in the Borough until June, when the school year finished in Poland and therefore did not apply for a school place until that time. Other parents, despite efforts from schools and the local authority, remained unaware of the deadlines for submitting applications or simply didn’t apply for a school place until their child was already due to be in school. It was agreed that an update on the situation would be brought to the next meeting.

Resolved – That the report be noted and that an update be provided to the next meeting.

Start time for future meetings: It was agreed to continue with the 4.30 p.m. start time as this was convenient for most members.

-  Tuesday, 9^th March, 2010

-  Wednesday, 9^th June, 2010

It was agreed that the date for the next meeting would be 9^th March 2010 and that a further meeting would be scheduled for 9^th June 2010.

NB: Please note that due to a conflict the meeting date has since been rescheduled for 3^rd March 2010.