Adopted children to be given priority for school places
The UK government plans to revise it's schools admission code to give adopted children priority access to the school of their choice.The move means adopted children and those subject to special guardianship or residence orders will receive the same priority for school places as children in care.
5,000 children to benefit
UK schools minister Nick Gibb said up to 5,000 children could benefit from the changes every year. "Many of these children have had traumatic experiences in their early lives," he said. "They don’t stop being vulnerable just because they are now in a loving home. This will also speed up some adoptions – we know that some adoption orders are delayed until a child has started school because priority currently ends when that child leaves care."
School places
Meanwhile, academies and free schools will be permitted to prioritise pupils from the poorest backgrounds and councils will be banned from using area-wide "lotteries" as the principal method of allocating places across a local authority area.
New code in February
Successful schools will be allowed to expand and increase the number of places they offer to children in their area The revised codes may still be amended before being approved by parliament on 1 December. Government intends to bring them into force on February 2012.
Read more at: cypnow.co.uk