Consultation Outcome
A statutory consultation was conducted by Wildern Academy Trust between 16th December 2021 and 27th January 2022. The consultation took place to seek views on the following proposed changes to admission arrangements for the 2023/2024 academic year.
Proposal 1: An additional oversubscription criterion to be included in the admissions policy for Boorley Park Primary School.
Proposal 2: An enlargement of Boorley Park Primary School’s catchment area to include new housing developments at Boorley Gardens.
Proposal 3: A reduction of Wildern School’s catchment area to remove housing developments at North Whiteley with these houses moving into the catchment area for The Henry Cort Community College.
Key stakeholders were emailed the consultation information and letters were sent to the affected addresses. Information about the proposals and supporting documentation was published on the school’s website for members of the public to access. Detailed information pertaining to the proposal and the outcome to the consultation are listed below.
Proposal 1: An additional oversubscription criterion to be included in the admissions policy for Boorley Park Primary School.
The new criterion will state “Children living within the catchment area of Boorley Park School who at the time of application have a brother or sister (including children living as siblings in the same family unit in the permanent residence) on the roll of Boorley Park School and who will still be on roll at the time of the sibling’s admission.” The new criterion will be placed 3rd in the list of oversubscription criteria ahead of children in the catchment area with no sibling.
There were no responses to this proposal during the consultation.
Proposal 2: An enlargement of Boorley Park Primary School’s catchment area to include new housing developments at Boorley Gardens.
Wildern Academy Trust, in conjunction with Hampshire County Council and other local primary schools, has recently undertaken a review of primary school catchment areas covering Fair Oak and Botley to take account of new housing developments at Boorley Gardens. The new housing development at Boorley Gardens is currently in the catchment area of Botley Church of England Primary School and Fair Oak Infant and Fair Oak Junior Schools. However, Boorley Park Primary School is closer to the new development and its location means that children would be able to attend a local school where there is a walking route to school. The Trust is therefore proposing that the Boorley Park Primary School catchment boundary should be redrawn to include the Boorley Gardens new housing development for admissions from September 2023, onwards.
There were no responses to this proposal during the consultation.
Proposal 3: A reduction of Wildern School’s catchment area to remove housing developments at North Whiteley with these houses moving into the catchment area for The Henry Cort Community College.
Wildern Academy Trust, in conjunction with Hampshire County Council and other local secondary schools, has been in discussion with the local schools about proposed changes to the secondary school catchment areas as a result of the new homes being built for the North Whiteley housing development. For secondary education the consultation is in respect of the proposal that Henry Cort Community College serves North Whiteley. The new housing development at North Whiteley is currently in the catchment areas of Wildern School and Brookfield Community College. Hampshire County Council are running a separate consultation proposing that the new development would be taken out of the Brookfield Community School catchment area. Henry Cort Community College would give catchment priority to children in the new North Whiteley homes. This includes the area currently treated as in catchment by Wildern School. The effect of this would be that the whole of the existing Whiteley development and proposed North Whiteley housing development would be part of one school’s catchment area
There was one reply to this proposal during the consultation. The response was in relation to transition arrangements. The proposed transitional arrangements for admission to Wildern School or Deer Park School are a child starting school for the first time who has a sibling on roll at Wildern School or Deer Park School who was on roll prior to the catchment change and would still be on roll at the time of the younger child’s admission would also be given catchment priority for Wildern School or Deer Park School up to and including admission in September 2026.
Recommendation
Based on the feedback and responses from the consultation it is recommended that the Wildern Academy Trust accept the above proposed changes to the admission arrangements for the academic year 2023/2024.
