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Balls names schools that broke rules
Nicholas Cecil, Political Correspondent02.04.08
More than 30 schools in London were today named and shamed for breaching admissions rules.
In a crackdown Education Secretary Ed Balls announced that nearly 100 schools would be referred to the admissions' watchdog, including 34 in the capital.
Twenty-eight of the offenders in London were faith schools.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families named Hasmonean Primary School, a Jewish state primary school, as making 10 breaches - the highest number in Barnet.
They included giving priority to children of employees, allowing governors to have discretion over admissions, priority limited to children of the faith, requesting inappropriate personal information, failing to comply with special educational needs legislation, encouraging financial contributions, incorrect placing of children on the waiting list and compulsory completion of a supplementary form.
In total, six schools had asked for cash contributions or made statements on this issue.
The Beis Yaakov primary school asked for a voluntary contribution of £895 per child per term, Hasmonean Primary School wanted an admission fee of £50 and St John's Church of England Primary School said that parents would commit themselves to an annual contribution.
Mr Balls dismissed the idea that these payments were really voluntary, saying: "In my judgment as a parent, parents would not think of that as voluntary.
Mr Balls shied away from directly accusing the middle classes of exploiting the system to get their children into the best schools.
But he added: "The idea that if you are from a different income background [you] have got less or more chance of getting into a school is wrong."
He told MPs: "The steps I have taken today will help ensure that every parent has a fair chance of getting their child a place at a school of their choice."
But Tory-controlled Barnet council leader Mike Freer accused Mr Balls of picking on Jewish primary schools that charged parents for extra security in case of anti-Semitic attacks and described his handling of the issue as "appalling".
WATCHDOG'S LIST OF SCHOOLS WHO BREACHED ADMISSI0N RULES
Akiva School, East End Road, Finchley; All Saints' C of E Primary, Cricklewood Lane; All Saints' C of E Primary, Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone; Ashmole School, Cecil Road, Southgate; Beis Yaakov Primary, Edgware Road; Bishop Douglass School, Hamilton Road, Finchley; Christ Church Primary, Byng Road, Barnet; Christ's College, East End Road, Finchley; East Barnet School, Chestnut Grove, East Barnet; Finchley Catholic High, Woodside Lane, Finchley; Friern Barnet School, Hemington Avenue, Friern Barnet; Hasmonean High, Holders Hill Road, Hendon; Hasmonean Primary, Holders Hill Road, Hendon; Holy Trinity C of E Primary, Eagans Close, East Finchley; Independent Jewish Day School, Green Lane, Hendon; Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish, Hale Lane, Mill Hill; Menorah Foundation School, Abbots Road, Edgware; Monken Hadley C of E Primary, Monken Hadley, Barnet; Osidge Primary, Chase Side, Southgate; Pardes House Primary, Hendon Lane; Queen Elizabeth's School, Queen's Road, Barnet; Rosh Pinah Primary, Glengall Road, Edgware; Sacred Heart RC Primary, Oakleigh Park South, Whetstone; St Agnes's RC School, Thorverton Road, Cricklewood; St Andrew's C of E Primary, The Green, Totteridge; St John's C of E School, Crescent Road, Friern Barnet; St Joseph's RC Junior, Watford Way, Hendon; St Mary's C of E High, Downage, Barnet; St Mary's C of E Primary, Downage, Barnet; St Michael's Catholic Grammar, Nether Street, North Finchley; St Paul's C of E Primary, The Avenue, Friern Barnet; St Paul's C of E Primary, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill; St Vincent's RC School, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill.
Reader views (3)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Why do they put my old school on it ahhhh!
- Jennifer, London
I hate to ask, but what does the product of Nottingham High School, an independent fee-paying school, know about life in state schools? Our son went to a fee-paying school, and, like Mr Balls, went to Oxford University, and, while we are proud of our son's achievements, he knows that it would be unwise of him to pontificate about life in the raw in inner city schools. Sorry, Mr Balls, but you are only opening your mouth to change feet - or perhaps you should put on your stab vest and go and visit them...
- Tony, Potters Bar, Herts
In the case of Mr Balls it should be a case of "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", that's put him right at the back of the queue.
- Ed Itindanet, Motspur Park
