Bristol City Council admissions and school place planningFollowing parental concern about the way applications for primary school places were dealt with, Bristol City Council commissioned a full independent review of its school admissions.Cambridge Education was appointed to investigate how the authority was managing school place planning and admissions. This work included surveying parents and carers’ views on the admissions procedures for primary schools. The Council asked to the team to focus on what happened in the 2009 admissions round, during which needed to provide extra places for reception year pupils. The final report made 28 recommendations on improving admissions and school place planning in Bristol. The Council has adopted an Action Plan as part of their response to Cambridge Education’s report. “The school admissions system is often the very first experience a family will have of their child's education in Bristol. This makes it even more important that it is both straightforward and positive… Forward planning is a continuous process to provide the right number of places in the right parts of the city. [Cambridge Education’s] report is helping us improve the service for future generations.” Annie Hudson, Strategic Director, Children, Young People & Skills, Bristol City Council The report found that there was a need to improve the management of the services under review in a number of ways. These included:: - Changes to internal Council organisation and management structures to ensure clear responsibility for planning school places and managing the admissions process, and good communication between teams;
- Better collection and use of data to plan admissions numbers and to aid communication with parents and carers;
- Improved admissions information for parents and carers with clear and easy to follow guidelines; and
- Work to improve the Council’s relationships with schools admissions staff, with better communication and a more collaborative approach to admissions planning.
Cambridge Education also reviewed the pattern of primary school provision and schools’ related services in the south of the city, making recommendations on developing schools’ capacity and linking education services to regeneration activities in the area. “We are pleased our report has been so helpful to the City Council. The Council has shown itself willing to change and to adopt our recommendations very quickly… The new systems will take some of the pressure out of what can be a very anxious process.” Philip Wells, Cambridge Education Principal Consultant |