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THE most desired secondary schools in the area have been revealed – with one in Maidstone receiving almost 200 more first-choice applica- tions than it has places.


With almost 2,000 youngsters


moving up to secondary education each year, it can be a stressful time for parents as they try to secure the best place for their child. But some schools find them-


selves oversubscribed on first- choice picks alone,while others fall significantly short. In Maidstone, Valley Park is the


most popular school, with 433 pupils opting for it as their first choice for the 2018 intake. With 240 places up for grabs, itmeans al- most 200 of them were left disap- pointed. In total, once every preference


had been totted up, more than 1,000 youngsters had applied to at- tend the school. That is in contrast to New Line


Learning Academy, which came up significantly short of filling their intake of 210, with only 85 pupils opting for it as a first choice. But, as Peter Read, an independ-


ent schools adviser, explains, the process in the county can be a com- plicated one. “You must not assume that first


choices get places,” he said. “Kent operates an equal choice systemso that the people who are, for exam- ple, closest to Valley Park who don’t put themfirstmay get places ahead of thosewho have it as a first choicewho live further out. “If you take Valley Park for the


2017 intake, of the 270 places of- fered, only 245 of themwent to first choices – so 25 people who didn’t put themas first choice got places. “The selective system does com-


plicate things. But the good news for parents at non-selective schools is that there is a high rate of success


STATISTICS provided by the official Kent Education Learning and Skills Infor- mation clearly demon- strate the winners and losers in education. The left-hand column


shows the number of chil- dren each school plans to accept, while the next two show the number of first preferences and total pref- erences it has received. The entries on the right


show the first choice pref- erences over the capacity as a percentage. For


instance, Valley


Park’s popularity means there are 80% more appli- cants than places while New Line Learning Acad- emy is 60% short.


8


Securing a place for your child at secondary school can be stressful for par- ents. TheMalling School head teacher Carl Roberts (above) is proud of his school’s achievements in becoming a popular non-selective school


at appeals forMaidstone grammar schools, which will free up a large number of places on reallocation at these schools in June.” InvictaGrammar School remains


the most popular first preference for selective pupils. Valley Park is part of the Valley


Invicta Academies Trust, with In- victa and four local primary schools, and have plans to open a School of Science and Technology at Vinters Park in the town. Valley Park head Vic Ashdown


said: “It’s fantastic but, of course, it does come with its frustrations be- cause obviously many of them are left disappointed. “What it does do is highlight the


need for the school of science. “If that had been approved in September we would have had an


extra 180 places for those pupils, so the sadness is that the planning committee have rejected the pro- posal and forced us to appeal that decision. “We have done all we can to di-


minish the pressure on places and make sure there are fewer disap- pointed people.” In Malling, The Malling School


has continued its rise to again be a popular non-selective choicewhere demand outstripped capacity. Head teacher Carl Roberts said:


“Our senior teamset aboutmaking the changes that were necessary to deliver a great education to our pupils. “Once we sorted that out, our


reputation improved and the school went from strength to strength.”


Top choices of parents for secondary education School name


Intake 1st pref Total


Valley Park School TheMalling School


Maplesden Noakes School St Simon Stock Catholic School St Augustine Academy LenhamSchool


Cornwallis Academy


Aylesford School – Sports College Holmesdale School


New Line Learning Academy Invicta Grammar School


Maidstone Grammar School


Maidstone Girls’ Grammar School Oakwood Park Grammar School


Maidstone February 2018


240 159 180 180 150 150 255 180 180 210


192 205 180 160


433 214 228 198 130 92


126 80 75 85


200 208 134 85


1080 429


1024 630 537 266 364 275 198 162


466 412 471 349


180 135 127 110 87 61 49 44 42 40


104 101 74 53


Ist choices/ capacity %


School selection revealing trends NewLine path


is stillnot clear THE challenges are great for schools at both end of the admis- sions spectrum, independent edu- cation adviser Peter Read insists. Mr Read, pictured right, who


specialises in school appeals and admissions, has seen a lot of changes in his 43 years working in education inKent. And


admis-


sions is one of the biggest issues for schools. “For example,


with the 2017 intake, New Line Learning Academy, had 61 of its 210 places on allocation in March, a figure that will have increased considerably after grammar school appeals,” he said. “People will avoid New Line and they seem to be deserting Cornwallis Academy aswell,which used to be one of the most popular schools in the area.” Mr Read admits he fears for the


future of the New Line Learning Academy. Founded in 2007, after a merger


of Senacre Technology College and Oldborough Manor Community School, the Future Schools Trust fa- cility has struggledwith reputation and Ofsted reports, and although the school insists it ismoving in the right direction, Mr Read is not so sure. “New Line Learning Academy


replaced two struggling schools and has never established itself in the public mind as a school of choice,” he said. “Its viabilitymust be in doubt, especially if theMaid- stone School of Science and Tech- nology becomes a reality.” New Line Learning head Paul


Murphy, pictured below, said: “The school has historically been one of the less popular choices and we are working hard to change both the image and reputation of the school, as was recognised in our recent Ofsted in- spection report. “Today at NLL,


we set high standards and are in the process of setting up partner- shipswhichwill offer our students opportunities not yet available at most other schools in the area. “We are confident that these


measures and our commitment to offer our pupils the best outcomes, will see a shift in perceptions.”


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