Changes to Newhaven school’s admissions policy

On Monday (February 22), Cllr Bob Standley, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for education, signed off on proposals to change the admissions area of Denton Community Primary School.

The new boundary will run along the east bank of the River Ouse, with children within the boundary considered at a higher priority when it comes into effect next year. 

The county council says the change was proposed as the school has been oversubscribed in recent years, with some families unable to secure places despite it being the closest school to them. 

The new boundary would not make it impossible for families outside of the area to secure a place at the school, although they would be considered at a lower priority than those who live within it.

The exception would be for children whose siblings already attend the school, who will be considered at the same priority as those within the boundary (as long as they lived within the previous Newhaven community area).

Newhaven currently has three other primary schools which would continue to serve the rest of the town. They are: Breakwater Academy, Harbour Primary and Nursery School and the High Cliff Academy.

Neither of the academies use the community area to determine eligibility for places, with home-to-school distance the only geographical element used in their priorities.

The changes will first come into effect during the 2022/23 school year.

Any objection to these arrangements can then be made to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator until May 15.