Impact of Priority Area Size
on Secondary School
Allocation Planning Process
Jim Wharton
Year 5 Parent
Presented to Scrutiny Topic Group
7th June 2006
Objective
Every child should have
the opportunity to attend
a local school,
preferably within their
local community
Current Picture
Non-faith Co-educational Secondary Schools
Under-subscribed following initial allocation in March 2006
Fully-subscribed following initial allocation in March 2006
Non-faith Boys School
Non-faith Girls School
Faith School
Examples of 2006
allocations
Approx. boundary
of Priority Areas
Problem
• Within the Harpenden area, the demand for school
places, has exceeded supply for the last few years,
and this problem is expected to continue/grow.
• Within other surrounding areas (eg. Hemel
Hempstead, Welwyn & Hatfield), supply exceeds
demand.
• Result: Suboptimal allocation of school places,
with a number of children in the Harpenden area
initially denied a school place within their home
town, and even within their Priority Area.
Impacts
HEMEL
HEMPSTEAD
PRIORITY AREA
BOUNDARY
HARPENDEN
Children (being denied a school place in their home town) :
–
–
–
–
Separation from peer group at a sensitive time of life
Less opportunity for social interaction/development both inside and outside school
Longer journeys mean less able to benefit from walking/cycling to school
No chance of younger siblings being allocated to preferred school via sibling rule
Schools : Less opportunity for support from the local community
Local Community : Less integration with schools within the local community
Taxpayer : Higher cost to taxpayer for ‘free’ transport to distant schools
Environment : Longer average school runs adds to congestion and pollution
Solution
•Based on the location of available school places,and the distribution of
children allocated to Harpenden schools, the simplest way to ensure that
every child has the opportunity to attend a school within (or close to)
their local community, is to reduce the size of the Harpenden & St Albans
Priority Area.
•Given that the catchment area for Harpenden schools is heavily weighted
to the western side of the Planning Area, and that the villages on this side
are also closer to more alternative, undersubscribed schools than any
other villages within the Planning Area, this is where any changes would
result in the biggest overall benefit.
Secondary school allocations within both the Harpenden
and Hemel Hempstead areas affected can be optimised by
moving the western boundary of the Harpenden & St
Albans Priority Area towards the M1, to the point where
demand within the boundary matches the supply of
Harpenden school places.
Solution
Non-faith Co-educational Secondary Schools
Under-subscribed following initial allocation in March 2006
Fully-subscribed following initial allocation in March 2006
Non-faith Boys School
Non-faith Girls School
Faith School
Approx. boundary
of Priority Areas
Conclusion
HEMEL
HEMPSTEAD
HARPENDEN
PRIORITY AREA
BOUNDARY
This will ensure that schools in both Harpenden and Hemel Hempstead area are
populated from the local, or nearest communities
– Schools will be an integral part of the local community
– Schools will be supported by the local community
– This will provide the most firm foundation for future development and improvement
of the schools
This change would be to the overall benefit of the
children, the schools, the local communities, the
taxpayer and the environment
Appendix
Source: http://www.hertscc.gov.uk/infobase/docs/pdfstore/secavail.pdf