Top girls’ school ordered to change admissions policy

BY MARK GREAVES
AN OVERSUBSCRIBED Catholic girls’ school in south London has been forced to change its admissions policy after a ruling by the Schools Adjudicator.
Coloma Convent school in Shirley, near Croydon, was reported to the adjudicator by the Archdiocese of Southwark because it tried to assess the extent to which prospective pupils were involved in parish life. For instance, the school allocated points for altar serving and membership of the church choir.
But guidance from the Southwark diocese stipulates that oversubscribed schools can only measure Catholicity by attendance at Mass.
Dr Elizabeth Passmore, the adjudicator, said in her ruling that Coloma Convent did not have to comply “absolutely” with the diocesan guidance — only with the law.
She only partly upheld the diocese’s complaint, and said that the school could still rank prospective pupils according to the extent of their involvement in parish activities.
Instead the school has simplified the criteria, awarding two points for “a parish service for at least a year” and four points for two parish services for a year.
Dr Passmore asked the school to make a number of changes to its admissions policy to make it clearer, simpler and more transparent.
Coloma Convent, which has been rated as outstanding by Ofsted in four consecutive inspections, is only one of a number of schools to clash with their dioceses over admissions.
In December, the Cardinal Vaughan school in west London was reported to the adjudicator by the Archdiocese of Westminster for taking into account factors other than attendance at Mass.
The adjudicator agreed with the diocese, saying the complex points system was “discriminatory” because it gave priority to involvement in church activities.
The row between Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School and Westminster diocese broke out again last month, with parents on the school’s board applying for an injunction to stop the diocese from imposing four new governors on the school.
Paul Barber, the director of education of Westminster diocese, is one of the four newly appointed governors.
The Archdiocese of Southwark referred another school, St Joseph’s, to the adjudicator last month.
The adjudicator did not uphold the complaint, but agreed that the school had failed to explain its admissions policy with clarity.