Children forced into failing schools

SIXTY-EIGHT Islington kids are being forced to attend underperforming schools, including Islington Arts and Media School, the ninth worst school in London.
The Council Education Authority, CEA Islington, failed to secure them a place at any of the six schools they wanted to attend. This latest fiasco comes one week after Islington was named and shamed as the worst London borough for exam performance amongst 14 year olds.
These children have been failed by the secondary schools admission system. Children must select six schools and the council then judges their application by how close they live to the school. Because of the locality criteria, children who live in poorer areas far from the top ranked schools are often losing out.
Celine Coyne, whose son attends a Caledonian primary school said: “I have to laugh, I would rather keep my child at home but I’d be sent to prison if I did that. I don’t have the money to move house and I don’t have the money for extra tuition so of course it concerns me. I’m a single parent. I don’t have that choice.”
Ms Coyne said that living in a poor area limits choices for parents and that the best school in her area, the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College, is still “not great”.
Three schools in the borough received more than twice as many applications as they had places available. The new St Mary Madgalene’s Academy, on Liverpool Road, had 649 aplications for its 180 places, and as a Church of England school also applies preferential treatment to those of a catholic faith. Highbury Fields School had 430 applications for only 140 places and Holloway School, on Hilldrop Road, had 509 applications for 180 places.
The Principle Admissions Officer of CEA Islington, Glenda Hardy, told Islington Now that the families affected: “Have been written to and told where else they can apply to”. The schools they can apply to, Highbury Grove, Islington Green, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language College, and Islington Arts and Media School, are all towards the bottom of the league table. Ms Hardy refused to tell Islington Now which of these schools had the most empty places as this would imply they were the most unpopular in the borough.
Louise Trewavas, a CEA Press Officer refused to admit the kids were being forced into the most underperforming schools in the borough stating: “the admissions system is complicated.”

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