West Midlands

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator has published a decision on a proposal by the governing body of Windsor High School, Halesowen to change its age range from 11 - 16 to 11 - 18 with effect from September 2008. The adjudicator, Mr Andrew Baxter, has approved the proposal.

The adjudicator accepts that some of the concerns, which led the council to reject this proposal, in the first place are real and will have to be addressed in the future, but he did not consider these were of sufficient weight to overturn the strong presumption in favour of approval specified in the Secretary of State's guidance.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Schools adjudicators are independent of the Government. They decide on school organisation issues, disputes on land transfer and assets and admission arrangements which cannot be resolved locally. They were appointed under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Their role is to look afresh at all cases referred to them, considering each case on its merits and taking account of the reasons for disagreement at local level in the light of the legislation and the guidance in the School Admissions Code.

Copies of the determination reached by the adjudicator can be obtained from the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. It can also be found on the Schools Adjudicator Website - http://www.schoolsadjudicator.gov.uk. Individual adjudicators are not in a position to comment on their decisions but, if clarification of those decisions is needed, enquiries can be addressed to: The Office of the Schools Adjudicator, Mowden Hall, Staindrop Road, Darlington DL3 9BG

Public Enquiries Tel 0870 0012468

Issued on behalf of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by COI News and PR North East.

Mowden Hall
Staindrop Road
Darlington DL3 7PJ

Client ref PR69.08

COI ref 163845P