THE first phase of a review of secondary school admission rules is being carried out in Hertfordshire.

Parents, schools and local communities will be consulted in a bid to make clear the current criteria and improve people's chances of securing places for their children at one of their preferred schools.

It is hoped the system will help parents identify schools where they have a greater chance of meeting the rules more easily.

The rules measuring distances from home to school will also be simplified.

Some of the options people are being asked to consider include increasing the proportion of places allocated to areas served by single-sex schools, offering some priority to children of staff employed at a school to help with recruitment and giving parents more choice by introducing selection by aptitude in specialist schools.

Feedback from the consultation will be used to shape the final set of proposals for statutory consultation which will be drawn up in February and March next year.

Children, schools and families executive member Robert Gordon said: "The county council is committed to making further improvements to our secondary transfer procedures and, where possible, to maximise parental choice. There have been problems in some areas and I am sure that parents will welcome the opportunity to take part in this widespread consultation."

A public meeting is being held at St Mary's Catholic School, Windhill, Bishop's Stortford, at 7.30pm next Tuesday (November 20).

November 13, 2001 10:56