Sevenoaks ACE Survey by Sevenoaks ACE

Sevenoaks Action for Community Education (ACE)

IMPORTANT The future of Sevenoaks Secondary Educationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Make your voice heard! Show that you care about school provision in Sevenoaks

Please complete the survey before Sunday 15th July 2012

Sufficient secondary school places for Sevenoaks that meet the needs of the community

Secondary School Survey Have your say about secondary school provision in Sevenoaks. Complete the survey today. What is Sevenoaks ACE? Sevenoaks ACE is a voluntary organisation set up to find out what our community really thinks about a range of issues connected with the provision of secondary education in our area. We want to ensure that there are sufficient secondary school places for the Sevenoaks area that meet the needs of the community. Haven’t there been discussions already on additional schools, including KCC approving a grammar school annexe in Sevenoaks? KCC has identified a future shortfall of 180 secondary school places for the area and its present strategy is to create 4 additional forms of entry at a selective grammar annexe and add 2 additional forms of entry to Knole Academy, taking it to 10 per year. The current plan is to have these additional places available by September 2015. The creation of schools is no longer solely within KCC’s control. This means that if another organisation were to set up a separate school then KCC may need to reconsider its current plans. This survey provides an opportunity for residents to signal their requirements for education now and in the future. Why should I complete this survey? This is a unique chance to express your views on an issue that could affect you and your children’s future. We need to get as big a response as possible to ensure any ideas represent the entire community. Even if your children are already at secondary school, your experiences are really helpful to us. Please help us to shape the provision of secondary education in Sevenoaks. How do I complete the survey? Full details of how to complete the survey are available at www.sevenoaksace.org. You can complete the survey in 1 of 3 ways: 1. Online 2. Download it and print it 3. Complete this printed copy and return it to the school, nursery or pre-school I know somebody who didn’t get a questionnaire We would like as many people as possible to complete the survey online. For those who are unable to do so, further copies of the questionnaire are available at participating schools, nurseries and pre-schools. How long will it take? Completing the survey will take about 30 minutes. If you have children at many different stages of the education system (preschool/ primary and secondary) it may take slightly longer. I need help to complete the survey If you require further information on any of the questions in the survey please look at our website www.sevenoaksace.org and go to the Survey Notes page or refer to the glossary inside the back cover. If you would like help completing the survey please advise a member of staff at the school/nursery where you collected the survey and they will contact us to arrange for a scribe/assistant. What do I do with the completed survey? Return it by Sunday 15th July 2012 To a participating school, nursery or pre-school School’s Competition We are running a competition between the schools, nurseries and pre-schools for the highest completed survey reponse as a % of families attending the establishment. The establishment in each category with the highest response rate of completed surveys will receive a prize of £100 to spend on resources for the children. Confidentiality Unless you choose otherwise this survey is anonymous. Although we ask for your postcode so that we can see in what area you live, you do not have to supply your name and address.

Thank you for your support PLEASE COMPLETE ONE COPY OF THIS SURVEY

Please complete using a BLACK OR DARK BLUE PEN. Please write clearly and where indicated mark with an X—keeping the cross within the box.

QUESTION 5 If No, what was your first choice school? Child 1 2

If you have NO children AGED 18 OR UNDER please start at Q.6 QUESTIONS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN For the majority of questions you will be asked to answer about the children in your household. • Please answer for up to 5 children under the age of 18 • Child 1 should be your youngest child • Child 2 should be the next youngest and so on • Please skip any questions that do not apply to a particular child. QUESTION 1 Gender of child(ren) reflected by the survey? Child

If you have NO children under the age of 18 please continue here QUESTION 6 The future of the Wildernesse school site is presently uncertain. A number of ideas which may or may not have substance to them are circulating. For which of the following do you think the land should be used? X up to 2 boxes.

Male

High end housing

Larger primary school

Female

Aﬀordable housing

Green space before Seal

Secondary school(s)

Combined primary/ secondary school (5-18)

QUESTION 2 In which school year are the children reflected by this survey? • Please write a number to indicate their school year ; e.g. if your child is in Reception put R, if they are in Year 6 put 6 and so on. • If your child is not yet at school, write the year they will start school; e.g. if they were born between September 2008 and August 2009 write ‘2013’ Child 1

Child 3

Child 2

Child 4

Child 5

QUESTION 3 Does your child /do your children have a religion? 2 3 Child 1 No

Community sports `

Other (specify) QUESTION 7 Are there any sports that presently lack sufficient indoor or outdoor facilities within the Sevenoaks area?

5 QUESTION 8 KCC has data that shows 180 more school places will be needed for the Sevenoaks area by 2015. Its current strategy is to create: • a 4 class per year grammar annexe; and • add 2 additional classes to Knole Academy (10 classes per year in total). Where do you think the extra 180 places should be created? Please insert the number of places of each type below.

Catholic Other Christian Buddhist Jewish Hindu

No of places Knole

Muslim Sikh `

Other QUESTION 4 Is your child currently at your first choice school? Child Yes No Not Applicable

No of places Exist. mixed non-selective

Grammar annexe

Exist. single sex non-select

Christian Free Sch

St Gregory’s (Catholic)

Existing Grammars

Bennett Memorial (Christian)

Brand new school Other (specify)

QUESTION 9 The Knole Academy is the only state secondary school serving Sevenoaks and its surrounding villages. Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement about Knole Academy by marking the appropriate box.

Strongly Agree

Tend to Agree

Neither Agree or Disagree

Tend to Disagree

N/A or Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Know

Strongly Disagree

My child(ren) will probably attend the Knole The curriculum at the Knole is sufficiently academic There is good visibility of how the school is developing Knole children behave well within the school Knole children behave well outside of the school Knole is a good option for children that have not passed the 11+ Knole is a good option for children that have passed the 11+ The learning support facilities are of a high standard Since becoming Knole Academy its reputation is improving Knole caters well for science-orientated children The proposed extension will benefit school & community The range of courses for 6th form is adequate QUESTION 10 Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements by marking the appropriate box: Strongly Agree

Tend to Agree

Neither Agree or Disagree

Tend to Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A or Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Know

I like the selective system There should be a faith school in Sevenoaks Private prep schools prepare children better for the 11+ Only selective schools can deliver results for bright children

QUESTION 11 There is one state secondary school in the Sevenoaks area, the Knole Academy? Has any adult in your household visited Yes

The Knole Academy? If Yes, what was the purpose of the visit? (mark the first answer that applies) My child attends the school A tour of the school during school hours A Knole organised event An event not organised by Knole Use of Knole East (Wildernesse) sports facilities

If you have NO children AGED 18 OR UNDER please proceed to Q39 If ALL your children (1-5) are already at secondary school, please proceed to Q 20 If you have children of primary school age or younger please continue to Q12

PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN Please answer these questions if any of the children 1—5 are in Year 6 or below or not yet at school. QUESTION 12 With the current mix of schools available which of the following are you most likely to put as 1st preference in each of the following scenarios: (i) Your child does not take/pass the 11+ Child 1

Knole Academy (non-selective) other non-selective Ton/T.Wells

If these changes were in place by the time your child(ren) move to secondary school would this change your 1st preference as listed in Q12? (i) Your child does not take/pass the 11+ Child 1

Faith School T.Wells Fee-paying school

QUESTION 13 KCC’s current strategy to provide additional space is: • to create a 4 class per year grammar annexe in Sevenoaks; • add 2 further classes per year to Knole Academy Additionally there is a bid being considered by the DfE for a 4 class per year Christian Free School.

No change `

Would select Knole

Home schooling

Would not select Knole

Specialist school

Would select Christian Free Sch.

Other

(ii) Your child passes the 11+ or successful appeal:

(please state)

Child 1

(ii) Your child passes the 11+ or successful appeal Child 1

No change

Knole Academy (non-selective)

Would select Knole

other non-selective Ton/T.Wells

Would not select Knole

Faith School T.Wells

Would select Christian Free Sch.

Grammar Ton/T.Wells

Would select Sevenoaks Grammar

Fee-paying school

(iii) Your child achieves top marks in the 11+ Home schooling

Child 1

Specialist school

No change

Other

Would select Knole

(please state)

Would not select Knole Would select Christian Free Sch.

(iii) Your child achieves top marks in the 11+ Child 1 Knole Academy (non-selective) other non-selective Ton/T.Wells Faith School T.Wells Super-selective grammar other grammar Ton/T.Wells Fee-paying school

Home schooling Specialist school Other (please state)

Would select Sevenoaks Grammar

QUESTION 14 Would you eliminate a school from your possible choices that did not offer a particular subject at GCSE or equivalent? Child Yes

QUESTION 16 Would you eliminate a school from your possible choices that did not offer a particular subject at A level or equivalent? 2

QUESTION 17 If you answered yes, which subject(s) Child 1 2

Child Yes

Not sure

QUESTION 15 If you answered yes, which subject(s) Child 1

Continue question 16 in next column

QUESTION 18 Would you prefer single sex or mixed secondary provision? 2 3 4 5 Child 1 Co-educational Boys single sex Girls single sex Don’t know

QUESTION 19 KCC data shows that it needs to create 180 school places for the Sevenoaks area by 2015. Population increases in Sevenoaks, T.Wells and Tonbridge will increase pressure on secondary school places in the area. Sevenoaks district children will find it increasingly difficult to secure places at catchment schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. If neither the grammar annexe or the Christian Free School is successfully established what kind of school would need to exist in Sevenoaks for you to consider making it your first choice? Child Super-selective grammar annexe (may be possible even if a catchment grammar isn’t) Comprehensive with a ‘Grammar Stream’ for children that have passed 11+ An “open to all” school with a grammar curriculum & ethos (no 11+ required) All ability comprehensive school where children work with others of similar ability Through school—a combined primary/secondary school aged 5—18 Another fee-paying school An alternative Free School An “open to all” school set up in partnership with an existing successful grammar school

ALL HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN

QUESTION 24 What do you consider to be a reasonable travelling time to secondary school? Up to

QUESTION 20 Population increases may result in additional classrooms being added to existing schools. What is the maximum size at which you would consider a secondary school? 120 per year (4 classes)

240 per year (8 classes)

150 per year (5 classes)

270 per year (9 classes)

180 per year (6 classes)

300 per year (10 classes)

210 per year (7 classes)

What size?

15 mins

50 mins

1.75 hours

20 mins

1 hour

2 hours

30 mins

1.25 hours

No limit

40 mins

1.5 hours

QUESTION 25 By which method(s) would you prefer your child(ren) to travel to secondary school? n

QUESTION 21 If you could move any state school in this country to Sevenoaks for the benefit of your children, which school would you select?

Walk

Family Car

Taxi

Cycle

Private Coach

Train

Bus network

Other (state)

If none of the children 1-5 is presently at secondary school please continue from: (i) if you have a child in Year 6: Q.31 (ii) otherwise Q.39

Why?

SECONDARY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN The following questions are for households with one or more children (1-5) who are presently in secondary education (Years 7—13). QUESTION 22 Respondents to our likes/dislikes survey asked for greater collaboration between secondary schools. What sort of collaboration would you like to see? X as many as required.

QUESTION 26 By which method(s) does your child presently travel to secondary school? 2 3 4 Child 1 Walk

Curriculum sharing—opportunities to study minority subjects at another school Shared use of facilities

Cycle

School clubs open to students from other schools

Bus network

Inter-school competitions

Train

None

Family car

Private coach

Other (specify)

Taxi Other QUESTION 23 Respondents to our likes and dislikes survey expressed a desire for a local school with a more academic focus. Do you agree with this sentiment? Yes

Not sure

What does a ‘more academic focus’ mean?

(please state) QUESTION 27 How much do you pay for transport to secondary school? Child 1

or £

per week/month/term/year

Child 1

per week/month/term/year

Child 3

per week/month/term/year

Child 4

per week/month/term/year

Child 5

per week/month/term/year

KCC free

QUESTION 28 Do you have any comments about safety and/or reliability of transport to secondary schools?

QUESTION 32 Please select the 5 most important factors which influenced your choice of secondary school. Mark up to 5 X for each child. 2 3 4 5 Child 1 Appearance/behaviour of existing students

QUESTION 29 What is the current journey time to your child’s secondary school (door to door)? 2 3 4 Child 1 Up to 15 mins

Views of parents with children at the school 5

Quality of head/teachers Boys only

16-20 mins

Girls only

21-30 mins

Co-educational `

31-40 mins

Non-selective 41-50 mins Selective

51mins—1 hour

Super-selective

1-1.25 hours

Religious ethos

1.25—1.5 hours

Fee-paying

1.5—1.75 hours

Support for learning difficulties

1.75—2 hours

Distance from home

Over 2 hours QUESTION 30 If your child spends more time travelling to secondary school than you think reasonable what is the effect of this? 2 3 4 5 Child 1 No negative effect

Cost of travel Logistics of travel League table results Ofsted report

Too tired

6th form results

Lack of time for friends Lack of time for family

Sports available

No after school clubs

GCSE subjects avail

No out of school clubs

BTEC/NVQ subjects avail

Other

A level subjects avail

(please state)

International Bac avail It was the only relevant choice

If you have children in Year 6 please continue here. QUESTION 31 Children who START secondary school from Sept 2012 will only get free travel to their nearest school, that is more than 3 miles away. Did this affect your choice of secondary school (Year 6 children) and/or would it have made a difference? (Years 7—13) Child 1 Yes No Not Applicable

Before/after school care Specialism (please state which)

QUESTION 33 If your child(ren) (1-5) are presently in Year 6, did you list Knole Academy on their secondary application form, and if so in what position? Child No No Yes Position

QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR HOUSEHOLD This section deals with questions covering your whole household and should be completed by one person on behalf of all in the household. QUESTION 39 Please enter the number of people in each age range who normally live in your household. AGE

MALE

FEMALE

0-4 QUESTION 34 If No, why not?

5-11 12-16 17-18

QUESTION 35 Did your child(ren) participate in the 11+? Child 1 Did not take the test

19-24 2

25-34 35-44

Took the test

45-54

Passed the Test

54+

Successful parent appeal

QUESTION 40 Whereabouts does your household live?

QUESTION 36 If your child(ren) took the 11+ how did they prepare? Child 1 No formal preparation

Postcode 4

KCC mock test @ primary Primary school curriculum Primary school club

QUESTION 41 How many consecutive years have you lived in the Sevenoaks area? X ONE box. QUESTION 42 Less than 1 year

21-30 years

1-5 years

31-40 years

6-10 years

41—50 years

11-15 years

51+ years

16-20 years

Not in Sevenoaks area

Parental tutoring `

Paid for tutoring Practice papers only Paid for assessment

Why did you come to the Sevenoaks area at that time? X up to 3 reasons. Thank you for your participation—you have finished!

QUESTION 37 How many months prior to the test did your child(ren) start to prepare? Child 1 Child 3 Child 5 Child 2

Child 4

QUESTION 38 If you paid for private tutoring what did it cost? 2 3 Child 1 £1—£500 £501—£1,000 £1,001—£1,500 £1,501—£2,000 `

More than £2,000

Born here

Access to motorways

Relatives nearby

Atmosphere/community

Came with family

Local Shops

Married a resident

Sports facilities

Affordable housing

Primary schools

Convenient commuting

Secondary schools Other (state)

COMMENTS If you have any other comments you wish to make please feel free to do so here.

Schools Competition In order for your survey to be counted towards the responses for your child(ren)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school, nursery or pre-school, please list below the organisations attended by your child(ren). If they attend multiple pre-schools or nurseries please list all. If you have multiple children at the same school, you only need to list it once. School, Nursery or Pre-school name

What do I do with the completed survey? Please return it by Sunday 15th July 2012 When you have completed the survey please return it to your child’s school, nursery or pre-school or return it to one of the participating schools listed on our website.

Join our Mailing List If you’d like to be one of the first to hear about the results of the survey and the resulting Action Plan join our mailing list at www.sevenoaksace.org or scan the QR code on the left.

GLOSSARY 11+

Oﬃcially known as the Kent Test this is an exam taken by children at the start of Year 6 which determines whether or not they are suitable to a?end a ‘selecAve’ or grammar school.

Non-selective

A school that does not require the 11+ to be passed for entry—eg Knole Academy, Hayesbrook, Hillview, Hugh Christie, Skinners Kent Academy,

Super-selective

A grammar school that admits children by ranking their 11+ scores, irrespective of how far away from the school they may live eg Judd School, Skinners, Tonbridge Grammar

Selective or Grammar school

A school for which a child must have passed the 11+. In some cases where a child did not pass the 11+ an appeal may be successful, eg Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar, Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar, Weald of Kent Grammar

Comprehensive

A school that caters for all abilities. There are few true comprehensives in Kent due to the existence of selection

Faith school

A school which selects pupils based on their faith eg Catholic, Church of England no entrance exam is typically required

Independent or fee-paying school

A school that is not funded by the government but by the parents—these can also be referred to as Private schools

Through school

A combined primary/secondary school. Either an existing primary expands into secondary education or a secondary school opens a primary school. Local examples include Combe Bank and Walthamstow Hall

Free School

A school established by parents/teachers/community groups and funded directly from central government. These schools are not setup by the county council.

Academy

Any school could be an academy including grammar schools, primary schools and non-selective schools. An Academy is no longer controlled by Kent County Council and receives its funding directly from central government. Some Academies set up under the previous government were to replace a failing school, under this government outstanding schools can get Academy status easily.

Grammar stream

A grammar stream is typically a group of children within a school of grammar school ability who are grouped and taught together and who would follow a grammar school curriculum

Stream

Streams are where children are allocated to an ability grouping for the majority of their core lessons—they would typically be in the same stream for all lessons

Sets

Sets are where students are grouped by ability on a per-subject basis. Sets can also exist within a stream, providing an even greater level of ability grouping. A student may be in a higher set for a stronger subject and a lower set for a weaker subject

Sevenoaks ACE Survey Thank you for your support

Sevenoaks Action for Community Education (ACE)

IMPORTANT The future of Sevenoaks Secondary Educationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Make your voice heard!

Thank you for showing you care

Sufficient secondary school places for Sevenoaks that meet the needs of the community