St James' Primary School, Emsworth

Published Admission Number – A Decision Received

Many of you will have been aware of the fact that, following consultation with parents, staff and governors, we have applied to have our PAN (Pupil Admission Number) in the Infants reduced from its present number of 34 to 30. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones was trying to avoid class sizes of over 35 in the juniors, where, especially in Year 3, there is simply not the room to accommodate and teach them comfortably.

I’m disappointed to let you know that our application has been turned down on the basis that the Local Authority has a responsibility to give as much choice as possible to parents.

Reducing our admission number to 30 while we have more than 30 applying for places in the school would be seen as reducing parental choice and as such cannot be sanctioned. Two governors and I met this week with Martin Goff, Hampshire County Council Admissions Manager, who explained the reasons clearly. While he understands our position, the local authority cannot agree to it.

I know how strongly many parents feel about this matter and I am thus informing you that I expect the governors will decide to appeal this decision with the Office of the Schools Adjudicator when they meet next week.

If you have strong feelings then it would be good to receive your thoughts by letter, email or in person so that we can use your opinions to bolster our case for a reduction in numbers.

I will, of course, keep you fully informed.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 January 2010 14:20 )