Submission from the Headteacher of Burnham
Upper School following the Committee's visit to Slough on 1 December
(SA 47)
— Burnham Upper School is a Bucks secondary
modern school sitting astride the Buck/Slough border.
— We are oversubscribed—400 applications
for 130 places this year.
— We are overfull, with a capacity
of 699 and a population of 740, before September 2003 .
— There is an Assessment Method for
Secondary Schools [ DfES/0739/2001 ] which sets out the Net Capacity
of a school.
— Admittedly this is, like all such
Methods in Education, guidance.
— Nevertheless, by this Method, our
capacity is 130 in any one year.
— We had reluctantly agreed to 140
in light of our budget deficit problems.
— We had constructed a timetable and
hired staff on that basis.
— In July 2003, an Independent Admissions
Appeals Panel for Stage One proceedings decided, perversely, that
we were not full, and allocated an extra 35 pupils into Year 7
for September, effectively a 30% increase.
— It was too late to recruit staff,
which we did not have the money for anyway as the current funding
arrangements operate in arrears.
— As a consequence of this action,
Year 7 attending in September were placed on a part-time day.
Whilst I acknowledge that Independent Appeals
Panels have a vital role to play in respect to Stage Two appeals,
it cannot make sense that such a Panel can overrule or have no
regard to an Assessment method of Capacity based on measurement
and due process.
The effects of such an action have been substantial
on this school. I would like to think that this example could
prompt a re-evaluation of the process of arriving at a sensible
method of establishing a manageable intake of a school.
Should you require any further information,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
L J Smales
Headteacher
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