#802 Admission Event for Parents (Transition Year 6-7)

77 families came from across Norwich, many were from one primary school. Schools that tend to be oversubscribed found it was useful to come afterall, if only to explain to parents the detail about admissions processes and criteria and likelihood of entry. Both parents and teachers reported positive feedback about the event via a survey. Presence of the Norfolk County Council Admissions representative was welcomed by parents and they received lots of questions. Five of the NOA secondary schools attended to share information and answer questions from parents. A longer term measure of effectiveness may come from school application numbers as parents are more informed about the processes and criteria.

The event was so successful it was repeated the following year, running in 3 different locations.

The plan was to run this prior to the high school open evenings in late September/October to ensure parents thought about visiting or applying for more than just one school. We chose a date early in September and invited the high schools to attend. We also invited the Admissions Team at Norfolk County Council to answer any questions parents may have about the process.

Parents from every Norwich Opportunity Area primary school were invited via a flyer that schools shared with pupils a week in advance. The event was promoted outside the venue with a banner for the fortnight prior. Tweets were sent out promoting it via the Opportunity Area social media.

We chose a community centre as an impartial venue. Each school had a stand to display their brochures and uniform etc and one school brought students to help hand out free hot drinks. Each school sent a representative or two to talk about their school – usually this included the headteacher.

Feedback from secondary schools was that the event would be better if it took place earlier in the school year and primary schools agreed that it would be best to take place in the Summer Term for Year 5 students and their parents, in advance of the Autumn Term. We had plans to trial this new timing of the event in 2020 but unfortunately this wasn’t possible due to Covid-19 disruption. Unfortunately two secondary schools didn’t attend and their absence was noticed by parents who were keen to speak with them.

The marketing to all schools and parents with simple and clear messages was important in the success of the event.

The overall cost of preparing, marketing and delivering the event was approximately £500. Schools needed to provide staff to represent their schools at the event and provide any resources they considered appropriate.