There is a lot of comment on here as to why we went with a feeder school admissions policy. This was by no means an easy decision as when any school becomes popular there will always be both winners and losers. Here are the main points which I hope helps those who query why we went with feeder schools:
1. Our new school will be comprehensive, non-selective and non-denominational and is open to all children in Wandsworth (and, indeed, other boroughs should there be sufficient places available). The academy’s admissions arrangements will be managed by Wandsworth Council and are subject to the same admissions legislation as other maintained schools.
2. Like all schools, the academy requires ‘oversubscription criteria’ to determine how places will be allocated if there are more applications than places available. We know that the hospital site is located in a relatively affluent area of Wandsworth, and in view of this have worked hard to come up with oversubscription criteria which do not exclude any one particular group and specifically which are not based solely on straight-line distance to the school – which would mean that only those who lived in the small area immediately around the hospital would be likely to gain a place. We wanted to prevent this happening to avoid 'selection by mortgage' only.
3. We have opted for a feeder school policy which prioritises applications from children who attend one of four local community primary schools – Belleville, Highview, Honeywell and Wix. Between them these schools have a broad demographic and geographic spread and, despite the relative affluence of the borough, two of the feeder primary schools have FSM percentages that are well above the national average. The aim in selecting these schools is not to exclude other children but to ensure the school is accessible to those who live in the south Battersea area. BPS is the natural feeder for Falconbrook to the north of Battersea.
4. We have consulted widely with local parents, primary school headteachers and the council on this proposal.
At the end of the day, the admissions policy is about enabling the local state primary schools access to the new local state comprehensive in south Battersea. Although the project is not solely about this by any means, by using feeder schools we can ensure access to the lower income families from both Highview and Wix (something that a straight line policy would not do). At its core, the school is about a local comp for local kids to help meet the current and projected demand for pupil places in the borough over the coming years.
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