Choice Advice offers help and support
to families when deciding which school in
County Durham to send their children to.
Under the scheme, Choice Advisers can
offer parents free and impartial help and
support. However, they cannot make
decisions for you.
The aim is to help parents make the best
possible choices through the wide range of
information available (including
over-subscription criteria), as well as
providing the local knowledge of what
individual schools have to offer.
The transition between schools can be one
of the most difficult times for families and
children. Therefore, parents and carers who
need additional support and would like to
discuss any aspect of applying for a school
place, can speak to a Choice Adviser.
Choice Advisers can offer:
- discussions with individual parents,
either on the phone or by making an
appointment (at home if desired)
- advice on the information available
to help parents make realistic choices
- meetings in nurseries and schools
for groups and individual parents
- drop-in sessions within the
community.
The Choice Adviser will advise on:
- how the co-ordinated admissions
system works in County Durham and
neighbouring areas
- admission policies of all local
schools
- performance and value-added data for
local schools
- the OfSTED information for local
schools
- over-subscription data from previous
years, including: the number of
applications received; the number of
children admitted to local schools; the
preparation of appeals and how many were
successful
- special needs policy and provision
for children with special educational
needs
- details of the curriculum offered,
including their specialism if
appropriate
- times of the school day and
term-dates plus any knowledge of
proposals to change the pattern of
education provision
- travel details, including help with
the cost of travel to and from school,
and home to school distances
- details of uniform policy and advice
about how families can obtain help with
the cost
- the range of relevant professionals,
specialists and organisations available
and how to contact them
- e-admissions and online
applications.
Useful websites
Parents and carers may find the following
websites useful:
Direct
Gov - this is a national website giving
detailed information which parents and
carers may need when deciding which school(s)
to apply for.
School Finder - this website provides a
facility for searching for schools. OfSTED
information and access to school profiles
can also be obtained via links on the site.
Ofsted - school OfSTED reports can be
obtained from this site.
