Brighton school changes see experts and parents give views

Brighton and Hove City Council is carrying out a “public engagement” exercise on proposals that were debated by the council’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Green councillor Sue Shanks said parents regarded the current survey, in the Your Voice section of the council’s website, as a consultation. She asked what admissions changes would require the full council’s approval.

The deputy leader of the council Jacob Taylor said that any catchment area change would have to go before the full council by the end of February – after a formal six-week consultation.

But changes to a school’s published admission number (PAN), which is also part of the current discussion, did not require full council approval.

Jacob Taylor

Councillor Taylor said that the current exercise was intended to get people talking about the issue of falling pupil numbers, with school funding based mainly on those numbers.

The council has proposed cutting 345 places in year 7 classrooms – from 2,560 to 2,215 – by September 2030.

The proposal involves cutting 90 places a year from the annual intake at both Blatchington Mill and Longhill, 60 places at both Dorothy Stringer and Varndean and 45 places at Patcham High.

No change is proposed at four schools which are academies, free schools or faith schools which set their own admission numbers.

The council has also published three maps of potential catchment areas that Councillor Taylor said were “illustrative” of what might be a way forward.

He said that the council wanted all children in Brighton and Hove to have a good education – and not one based on postcode.

The council wants greater priority given to children eligible for free school meals when allocating school places, starting with the year 7 group due to start secondary school next September.

As well as tackling falling pupil numbers, the council aims to address the “attainment gap” between disadvantaged children and those not eligible for free school meals.

Pupils in Brighton and Hove do better in GCSEs than the national average for all pupils – but disadvantaged children have below-average results.

Councillor Taylor said: “I believe that is a moral stain on the consciences of the city.

“We are a city that prides itself on being inclusive, progressive, caring and being welcoming. But in this area, we are in a sense failing large parts of our city.”

In response to public concerns that consultation is being rushed, Councillor Taylor said that any changes to admissions for September 2026 had to be published by next February.

Option A Catchment

Curtis James, co-founder of the campaign group Class Divide, said that Brighton could not afford to lose another secondary school after the closure of East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart) – formerly Marina High and originally Stanley Deason – in 2005.

He said that there was an urgent need for “truly comprehensive” education in Brighton and Hove, with a diverse population that would improve school performances.

Option B Catchment

Mr James said: “In the past, some of the more advantaged, affluent and privileged have played a long game of social engineering.

“They’ve crafted an education system so riven with segregation and class inequality, it would make a Victorian mill owner blush.

“You might not think it’s that bad. It is. Brighton and Hove ranks 53rd out of 144 local authorities for school segregation.

“In Whitehawk, only 34 per cent of children achieved English and maths GCSE compared with 75 per cent in the highest-performing ward.”

Option C Catchment

Stephen Gorard, an expert in the sociology of education at Durham University, told councillors that when wealthier and poorer children were clustered in separate schools, there was more likely to be an “attainment gap”.

When there was an “even spread”, attainment gaps were reduced and academic achievement was raised.

Professor Gorard said: “You can raise the level simply by reducing this clustering of poorer children so it’s an average level.

“Yes, the most disadvantaged students gain the most but everybody gains. There don’t appear to be any losers. That’s the magic of it.”

A mother of three from Whitehawk, Beth Lee, has just applied for her daughter’s secondary school place for September next year. The only option was Longhill.

Mrs Lee said that she did not look at any other schools because she could not afford the £45 a month bus fare and would not benefit from free transport because her family was “not poor enough” to qualify for free school meals.

She said that children travelling from Whitehawk to Longhill had a choice of three school buses but they were timetabled within three minutes of each other.

Mrs Lee said: “If children miss those three buses, they have to get a number 2. Children from Whitehawk are making a long journey. Miss the bus and it’s a 55-minute journey.”

Labour councillor Andrei Czolak asked what the council could do to help families with transport.

Andrei Czolak Brunswick Labour 2023

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said that, as a child, she took two buses to get to school, adding that an hour-long commute each day would add to the stress and mental health issues affecting young people.

Councillor Taylor said that he would like to see free school transport for all but the council did not have the money for it and did not operate the bus company.

One challenge was that most bus routes served the centre of Brighton so redrawing catchment areas would result in the need for bespoke bus services.

Since the “public engagement” opened on the Your Voice section of the council’s website, more than 1,000 people have responded, leaving comments on the proposed catchment areas.

Outside the meeting, the council’s executive director for families, children and learning Deb Austin said that she was pleased so many people were responding.

She said: “It’s a fantastic level of engagement. It’s important to hear people’s voices.”