COLLINGTREE: Bishop's interview could lead to school admissions review

A change in admission practices could result in more places at Collingtree Primary School being given over to children from non-religious backgrounds.
The school, based in Lodge Avenue, Collingtree, is one of 25 Church of England primary schools in Northampton. It operates under the recommendation of the governing Peterborough Diocese Board of Education that 50 per cent of places are reserved for children from the local community.
But this week the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, told the Times Educational Supplement that no more than 10 per cent of places should be reserved for followers of the faith. He said admissions policies favouring religious children should be changed and that Christian schools should serve the wider community.
Yesterday Peterborough Diocese spokesman Derek Williams told the Northampton Chronicle & Echo that it currently recommended its schools have a policy that at least 50 per cent of admissions are from the local community.
But he admitted this may have to change in light of the Bishop's interview, saying the Diocese would be looking into its guidelines.