Woodside Academy

Meeting for Year 5 & 6 Parents

• Secondary Admissions: The Process• Secondary Schools: The Options• Working towards SATs• Y6 School Journey and Y5 Grangewaters

Ambition

The Process

• If you live in Thurrock you must apply to Thurrock LA for a secondary school but it can be for a school outside the borough.

• You can apply for up to 6 schools listing them by preference.

• The LA will give you the highest of your preferences where a space is available.

September Meetings

• We will be inviting various Secondary Heads and representatives to come and talk to year 5 & 6 children.

• Thurrock meeting tomorrow at Civic Hall.

• Parents meetings at all Secondary Schools.

Over subscription

• State schools have to accept any child who applies unless they are oversubscribed,

• They must have clear “admission arrangements” to decide who to accept when oversubscribed.

• There are currently more places than children in Thurrock secondary schools and some schools are undersubscribed.

Admission Criteria

Most Thurrock Secondary Schools are academies and all have different criteria. Common key factors are:

• Having a brother or sister already at a school.• Distance from your home to the school.

“Feeder” Schools

• Some schools have other specific criteria including giving preference for named “feeder” schools.

• William Edwards has now named Woodside as a feeder school.

Thurrock admission process

• Deadline is usually 31st October.

• Apply to Thurrock online.

• One form for all schools everywhere (except fee paying schools).

Faith Schools

Need an extra form called the “Supplementary Information Form”

Admission Criteria:Faith Schools

Criteria vary but usually ranked in order of:• Children whose families worship every week• Children who are members of a faith

e.g. Baptised Catholics • Children of other related faiths• All other children.These are only used if the school is

oversubscribed.

Grammar Schools

• The 11+ for fully selective schools in Essex is Saturday 20th September 2014.

• This gives you a result before the general admission deadline.

• Go to the Consortium for Selective Schools in Essex at www.csse.org.uk

11+ Preparation (Y5)

• The 11+ is intended to select the very ablest pupils

• Children need to practise with this type of test to have a chance of passing.

• The CSSE offer a practice pack.

• We can offer additional classes.

Part Selective Schools

• Some secondary schools keep a number of places (usually about 10%) which are awarded competitively according to ability in the school’s own specialism e.g. William Edwards – Sport, Gable Hall – performing arts.

• Assessments will be in the Autumn term – contact the schools for details.

Selective and part selective Schools

Some of our children have gone to these selective and part selective schools:

• Southend High School (grammar school)• Westcliffe High Schools (grammar schools)• King Edwards VI Grammar School• Gable Hall (Music/Dance)• William Edwards (Sport)• Brentwood County High (Technology)• Brentwood Ursuline (Music)

Fee Paying Schools

• Completely different arrangements. See individual school websites.

• Brentwood School and some other fee paying schools have scholarships for children with exceptional ability and bursaries for children whose parents have low incomes.

Application Online

• You are advised to apply online at

www.thurrock.gov.uk/education

Click on school admissions, select secondary and follow on-screen instructions

We can make a computer available to you to do this if you are not online at home.

Paper Form

• You can apply with a paper form but you can only apply once – either online or on paper.

The Application

• Send it before the deadline.• Late applications will not be considered until

all the other applications have been processed.

• List up to 6 schools in preferred order.• You can include schools outside Thurrock.• Include proof of residence.

Child’s Address

• The address you give in the application must be your child’s permanent place of residence.

• If parents live apart it must be where the child spends most time.

• You need to give your council tax reference number which will be checked.

Making your decision• Take the chance to visit the schools

(open evenings or better, during session).• Look at Ofsted reports and results from

independent data not just the school’s.• Talk to other parents.• Remember schools change over time.• Involve your child but ....• Make your decision as the parent.

The criteria

• Read the school’s admission criteria in the Thurrock booklet.

• Look at the number of places and the applications made last year.

• Make your application on the basis of the school’s admission criteria (oversubscription).

Priority

• Putting a school 2nd or 3rd does not mean your application is treated any differently.

• Schools are not told where you have placed them.

A safe choice

• It is worth keeping a local school which you have good chance of getting into but might not be your preferred choice in your application.

• Otherwise you could be given a school in the other end of the borough.

• Do not include a school you would refuse to go to.

Your offer

• Online applicants should be able to see their offers online from 12.30 p.m. 3rd March 2015

• You will be offered a place at the highest school on your list that has space, according to the criteria given.

• If none of the schools listed have space you will be offered a place in the nearest school to you that does have a space.

Acceptance

• The council will assume you accept the place unless you tell them otherwise.

Waiting Lists• If you do not get your preferred place you will

be put on the waiting list and notified if a place becomes available.

• At the end of the academic year the authority will write to you and ask if you wish to remain on it or not.

Appeals

• Refusal letters are usually sent out the third week in March. The letter tells you how you can appeal.

• Appeals can sometimes be successful.

Y6 destinations 2010

• St Clere’s 4• The Grays School 9• The Gateway Academy 11• William Edwards 13• Hassenbrook 3• Grays Convent 5• Gaynes School 1• Peniel Academy (independent) 1• Treetops (SEN) 1• Chafford Hundred 1

Y6 destinations 2011• St Clere’s 2• The Grays School 3• The Gateway Academy 11• William Edwards 16• Hassenbrook 4• Grays Convent 2• Gable Hall 2• St Martin’s Brentwood 2• Chafford Hundred 1• Southend Boys’ High 1• Ormiston Park 1

Y6 destinations 2012• St Clere’s School 5• The Grays School 4• The Gateway Academy 13• William Edwards School 14• Hassenbrook Academy 4• Grays Convent High School 3• Gable Hall School 1• King Edward VI Grammar School Chelmsford 1• Westcliffe High School for Girls 1

Y6 destinations 2013• St Clere’s School 13• The Grays School 0• The Gateway Academy 4• William Edwards School 13• Hassenbrook Academy 4• Grays Convent High School 3• Gable Hall School 4• Westcliffe High School for Boys 2• Beckett Keys Free School Brentwood 1• The King John School Benfleet 1• Sweyne Park Rayleigh 1• Darul Uloom (Independent Islamic Kent) 1• Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School 1

Y6 Destinations 2014• St Clere’s School 18• William Edwards 11• The Gateway Academy 6• Grays Convent 5• Gable Hall School 3• The Hathaway Academy 3• Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School 2• Hassenbrook Academy 2• Harris Academy Chafford Hundred 1• St Edward’s Church of England School & Sixth Form 1• The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School 1• Ormiston Park 1

Ofsted Reports

• The Ofsted criteria is continually changing.• You cannot compare two schools on the basis

of a recent Ofsted report and another only three years ago.

• It is now more difficult to be good or outstanding and what was considered satisfactory is now “ requires improvement”.

Thurrock Results 2012

• A basic measure of secondary schools is the percentage of year 11 gaining 5 GCSEs at grade C or higher, including English and Mathematics.

• It is not always clear whether “equivalent qualifications” are being counted as GCSEs.

• The following slides are 2012 results but for more recent results click here.

GCSEs and “Equivalents”

ChaffordGable Hall

GatewayConvent

The GraysHassenbrook

OckendonOrmistonSt Clere's

Wm Edwards

National

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Thurrock GCSEs only

ChaffordGable Hall

GatewayConvent

GraysHassenbrook

OckendonOrmistonSt Clere's

Wm Edwards

National

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Newham GCSEs only

Azhar

Cumberland

Forest Gate

Langdon

Little Ilford

Quat Ul Islam

Royal Docks

St Bonaventure's

Stratford

National

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Thurrock GCSEs only

ChaffordGable Hall

GatewayConvent

GraysHassenbrook

OckendonOrmistonSt Clere's

Wm Edwards

National

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

English Baccalaureate

• The “English Bacc” is a combination of 5 GCSEs at grade C or higher in:

–English–Mathematics–Science–A Foreign Language–Geography or History

English Bacc

ChaffordGable Hall

GatewayConvent

GraysHassenbrook

OckendonOrmistonSt Clere's

Wm Edwards

National

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Towards Y6 SATS

Literacy

• Regular homework which must be completed. - important for SATs and for Secondary School• Grammar and spelling.• Writing assessment based on ALL of a child’s

writing over the final year.• Daily reading.

Mathematics

• Regular homework which must be completed.• Children need to be secure on their times

tables before going into year 6.

Thank you for coming

Woodside Academy