Page 15 - link magazine

The Link Magazine • October 2002 15
New school admissions guide
aims to give parents clear expectations

After much confusion in the past about the way primary and secondary school places are allocated by
Swindon Borough Council, new admissions procedures are being introduced to give greater clarity and
transparency to the process. Peter Fox, a member of the Tribal team working with Swindon education GREEPDOW11
department, outlines the changes aimed at lifting suspicions of Swindon.
Swindon Council will publish a particular school. But the booklet expected to he admitted next Sep- Will your child
revised guide for parents whose does explain in full how parents tember, the number who applied enter secondary school
children will be admitted to in- should apply in order to have the last year and number who were
fant, junior, primary or secondary maximum chance of being offered actually admitted. in September 2003?
schools in September 2003. The a place for their child at their pre- Parents considering which
guidance is now available from ferred school, and what they can school they will want their child to If so, we invite you
schools and from the Education do if they are not offered a place. attend are advised to visit the
and Community Service at Sanford The Borough Council is respon- schools concerned and obtain their to Greendown's
House, Sanford Street. sible for admissions arrangements individual prospectuses, but this open evenings on
The new booklet contains sev- for community schools in Swin- guide is intended to help them
eral important changes. For the don. But for other types of school - through this whole process. Wednesday 23 October
first time there will be a single foundation or voluntary aided - While next September may seem & Thursday 24 October
publication covering admissions the individual school's governors a long way off, parents should be 6.30pm to 8pm
to both primary and secondary control the admissions process. thinking about school places now
schools. This means that, apart from neigh- - the deadline for applying for sec- Please contact Ms A Proctor on
The content has been revised, bouring LEA, there are thirteen ondary school places is 15 Novem-
with the help of school and parent separate admissions authorities in ber 2002 and for primary places 21 874224 for further details.
representatives, to make the ap- Swindon taking decisions on January 2003. Greendown Community School
plication process as clear and school admissions. The guide for The school's admissions team Grange Park, West Swindon
straightforward as possible, and parents is invaluable in showing can be contacted on 465789.
also to ensure that Swindon's ad- how applications should be made
missions procedures are in keep- in each case.
ing with education law and the The guide gives full details of Private • Infant & Junior New
Government's Code of Practice on the different types of school and • Key Stages 1-4 teachers
Admissions. the key features of the admissions Tuition • GCSE & A Level wanted
anted
One significant change for par- policies operated by each one. Par- • Special Needs
ents is the key point that there is no ents can also find information, ^^- in all subjects • 11+ & 13+ preparation
automatic right to a place in any school by school, on the numbers & levels
Call 01672 539368
Personal Tutorials 01793 542738 or 07785 532085
Greendown bids to become
a Business and Enterprise College
Greendown School in West Swindon is rising to the government's CIRENCES
challenge for more schools in England and Wales to achieve special-
ist school status. i COLLEG
On 14 March the school
will deliver its first bid to R E iV t,1'u Wt
the Department for Educa-
tion and Skills to become a
Business and Enterprise
College.
This will be a detailed
plan of how all students will
benefit, plus a solid com-
mitment to working with
its partner primary schools,
other secondary schools
and local businesses. GCSE results will be released in early Novem-
When successful the herbut Greendown boys are understood to have
school will be able to imme- bucked the national trend and performed better
diately invest an additional than the girls during this year's exams. Early
£150,000 in students' edu- entry successeses were Chris Lawrence who
cation. There will be a fur- passed Maths GCSE with A* in year 9, passed
*
ther £300,000 funding over statisties with A in year 10 and is working
the following three years. towards A level Maths next su inmer and Fryea
The school has to find Keane who passed French GCSE three years
£50,000 of the initial early with an A`
£150,000 through a mixture
of sponsorship from business and events planned are the setting up
fundraising. This began last term of a 500 club, student rock concert,
with the raffling of a signed Eng- race night, fashion show and prom-
land football shirt at the highly ise auction.
successful Sports Award evening For information about sponsor-
held at Swindon Town FC. ship and to suggest fundraising
A similar raffle will take place schemes, contact Evelyn Wheeler at
this term: first prize a Harry Potter Greendown on 874224 or mail:
special edition bicycle. Other [email protected] k