Ealing ponders sibling priority in school admissions
Ealing Council announced this week that they are considering a new sibling priority rule for school admissions. Under current rules, if a family with a child in a given community school moves out of the priority area, a younger sibling may be unable to get a place at the same school should it be oversubscribed. The question for the parents then becomes, do you try to manage two separate twice-daily school runs (along with everything else: two sets of uniforms with no hand-me-downs, two Christmas/summer fairs and all the other fundraisers, two sets of teacher meetings on separate nights, two sets of school emails pouring into your inbox…), or do you disrupt the older child’s stability and friendships by transferring him or her to the younger one’s school?
Other west London boroughs have recognised this parental conundrum and already prioritise siblings over school proximity—at least for primary school—including Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hounslow. Ealing is now pondering following suit: the new rule will give priority to siblings of children in a school—ahead of the priority for proximity. This may mean children without older siblings will not get a place at their local school, which opens a debate about what’s most fair. If you have an opinion on this, you have until the 9th of January 2015 to have your say. Read Ealing’s full explanation of the proposed changes here, and then follow the link on the page to give your opinion.
