West Sussex school placement chaos: Academy finds temporary solution but huge challenges remain

‘Positive negotiations’ between West Sussex County Council and Sir Robert Woodard Academy in Lancing have resulted in an additional 70 secondary school places being made available for year seven intake in September 2024.

Sir Robert Woodard Academy principal Kieran Scanlon said this was ‘due to an unusually large year 11 cohort’ leaving the academy this year.

He added: “Discussions will continue with West Sussex County Council about longer term options but the need to give greater certainty locally is something we will continue to engage with the council about.”

Jacqueline King, who has a daughter in year eight at the academy, said the announcement was great news for her son in year six.

"It was an incredibly strange experience to do the school open days, thinking they had absolutely no chance of accessing those schools. It was really sad,” she said.

"We could see them getting excited about the local schools but we had to try to manage their expectations. We felt hopeless.

"The news this week was really exciting for everybody in year six in our postcode. We've gone from no hope to having quite a good chance overnight, so that's very welcome news.

“It was a brilliant thing to find out because we really believed that, this year, there was nothing that could be done.”

The mum-of-two said she harbours some concerns that children are being ‘stuffed in’ to the school with ‘no increased facilities’, adding: “It's already very busy in the common areas so it's certainly going to be a challenge to manage those extra numbers. It's not ideal but it's the best we could have hoped for. It was the only real solution.”

The announcement came after an independent review of the secondary school placement chaos in the Adur district was published, amid heightened fears from parents for their children’s future. The report stated that problems are likely to persist until 2028.

Dozens of Shoreham primary pupils were not offered a place at any of their three preferred schools in Adur this school year, with more than 2,000 people signing a petition against the decision.

The county council said it ‘remains committed’ to ensuring that all children and young people receive education and learning which ‘helps them fulfil their potential’. Click here to read more.

Jade Sowa, who led a campaign for change, said the new agreement was ‘great news’ for families of children starting secondary school in 2024, adding: “It must be some relief for them that there is some opportunity to get a space, especially if you live in the black hole of BN43 5.

“But we really need to recognise that, in real terms, nothing has changed. This is the same solution the council have used the past seven years which is there's no forward planning or building extra capacity.

"They are forcing schools to overfill. There are no extra resources. The school will be the same size, there's no extra classrooms.

"These two local schools are filled past their capacity. It's really just good fortune that a large year 11 group is leaving.

"We really need to refocus on making progress on building extra capacity. Our goals still stay the same. They are cramming kids in and won't address any of our problems past 2024.

"It's another sticking plaster. This isn't fixed yet, we need a real solution."

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said this is a ‘good start’ but the county council ‘still has a lot to do to make up for the upheaval’ experienced by many of his constituents and their children in Shoreham.

“The news that Sir Robert Woodard Academy has agreed to take a further 70 pupils for the next school year in September 2024 is very welcome and should hopefully address the immediate shortfall in Adur places for pupils coming from west Shoreham,” he said.

"Shoreham councillor Kevin Boram and I have been involved in a series of meetings with education ministers, Department for Education officials, the regional schools commissioner and the county council to put pressure on West Sussex to find an urgent solution to the mess that is of their making.

"This is only a breathing space solution which should also enable SWRA time to consult on changes to its catchment area which will address the problem of the ‘black hole’ experienced repeatedly by pupils from west Shoreham schools, especially Swiss Gardens.

"In the longer term we still favour the expansion of Shoreham Academy on the Middle Road site as used to be the case with Kings Manor so that Adur pupils have a realistic choice of Adur schools."

The MP said he is still working with the council on a ‘transport solution for pupils forced to go to Worthing as well’.

Explaining how the school will cope with the extra challenges next year, Mr Scanlon said: "This year's year 11 group, that are leaving us, is relatively large. It was the first bulge year group that we took.

“Last year, we took closer to our PAN of 245. The year before, we took 300 into year seven.

"Next September, we've got the wiggle room. It just about creates that bit of space in the school. It means we can take additional students without the numbers changing too much overall [but] we won't be able to do it the following year.

"It's a one-year temporary gap. I looked at it after going through 80 appeals last year, which was very hard. We watched a lot of families have zero choice whatsoever.

“Everybody is watching it really closely. I am confident we can safely manage this bulge, this year. One is leaving, so we are going to take another one.”

The academy headteacher said two long-term solutions are being looked at.

"We are working with independent consultants and local authority around admission criteria to see if anything can be done there to remove the 'black hole' there,” he said.

“That’s a work in progress but the other long term solution we are engaging with is a feasibility study for expansion. It takes serious time so won't happen anytime soon.”