Council to consult on school catchment area changes for 2019

The proposed changes are to 'reduce pressure' in certain catchment areas, including the Dorothy Stringer and Varndean catchment, as well as the Blatchington Mill and Hove Park.

The council's children, young people and skills committee, which meets next Monday (September 18), will be asked to approve plans to consult on the proposals during the autumn.

The proposals include three measures aimed at the Dorothy Stringer / Varndean catchment area:

· An area north and east of Elm Grove would be incorporated into the Longhill High School catchment

· An area at the northern end of the catchment area would be incorporated into the Patcham High School catchment area

· Two areas to the west of the catchment area would be incorporated into the Blatchington Mill / Hove Park catchment area.

With regards to the Blatchington Mill / Hove Park catchment area:

· A section to the west of the catchment area would be incorporated into the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy catchment area.

The proposals under discussion would run for two years, starting for Year 7 starting in September 2019. In 2019, new catchment area proposals would be drawn up for the school year starting in 2021, the council said.

In a joint statement, Cllr Dan Chapman, chair of the children, young people and skills committee, and Cllr Vanessa Brown, lead committee councillor for the opposition, said: “We want to be able to offer families greater clarity about which secondary school their child may go to.

“Our catchment area based system has largely served the city well since it was introduced in 2008. However, increases in secondary pupil numbers mean some catchment areas no longer have enough places for each child in their area.

“Until the new school opens we need to make light-touch temporary adjustments to our catchment areas to make things work better.

"Whatever proposals are put forward by the forthcoming committee will be subject to extensive public consultation before a final decision is made in the new year.”

The proposals have been recommended by the city’s cross-party working group on school admissions following detailed discussions by all three political parties. They have also been considered by a working party of local headteachers and school governors.

The cross-party group is suggesting a temporary change to the catchment areas because of the decision by the Education and Skills Funding Agency to delay the opening of the new secondary free school.

The University of Brighton Academies Trust is expected to open the new Brighton and Hove Academy at the Brighton General Hospital site in September 2019.

It is anticipated that this school will open without a catchment area in the first instance, using home to school distance instead as a tie-breaker to prioritise applications if they are oversubscribed.