Admission of Pupils to Droylsden Academy

General

1. This annex may be amended in writing at any time by agreement between the Secretary of State and the Academy Trust.

2. The Academy Trust will act in accordance with, and will ensure that the Independent Appeal Panel is trained to act in accordance with, all relevant provisions of the School Admissions Code and the School Admission Appeals Code published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (“the Codes”) as they apply at any given time to maintained schools and with equalities law and the law on admissions as they apply to maintained schools. For this purpose, reference in the Codes or law to “admission authorities” shall be deemed to be references to the governing body of the Academy Trust.

3. Notwithstanding the generality of paragraph 2 of this Annex, the Academy Trust will take part in the Admissions Forum set up by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (TMBC), and have regard to its advice; and will participate in the co-ordinated admission arrangements operated by TMBC and the local in-year fair access protocol.
4. Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement, the Secretary of State may direct the Academy Trust admit a named pupil to Droylsden Academy on application from a local authority. Before doing so the Secretary of State will consult the Academy Trust.

5. The Academy Trust shall ensure that parents will have the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if they are dissatisfied with an admission decision of the Academy Trust. The Independent Appeal Panel will be independent of the Academy Trust. The arrangements for appeals will comply with the School Admission Appeals Code published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as it applies to Foundation and Voluntary Aided schools. The determination of the appeal panel is binding on all parties.

6. The Academy Trust shall prepare guidance for parents about how the appeals process will work and provide parents with a named contact who can answer any enquiries parents may have about the process. The Academy Trust may, if it chooses, enter into an agreement with the LA or any other organisation for it to recruit, train and appoint appeal panel members, and to arrange for the process to be independently administered and clerked.

Annual Procedures For Determining Admission Arrangements

Consultation

7. The Academy Trust shall consult the following parties on the Academy’s proposed admission arrangements by 1 March in the Academy Financial Year beginning two years before the Academy Financial Year which the admissions arrangements will be for e.g. March 2009 for admissions in September 2010, (“Determination Year”):
a) TMBC.
b) The admission forum for TMBC.
c) Any other admission authorities for primary and secondary schools located within the relevant area for consultation set by TMBC.
d) Any other governing body for primary and secondary schools (as far as not falling within paragraph c)) located within the relevant area for consultation.
e) Affected admission authorities in neighbouring local authority areas.

Such consultation shall be in line with the requirements of the Codes and relevant admissions legislation, which at the date of this Agreement is section 89 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 as amended, and Regulations under that section.

Academy Trust Determination of Admission Arrangements

8. The Academy Trust will consider comments made by those consulted in accordance with paragraph 7, including any requests to amend the proposed admissions number, before determining the admissions arrangements for the Academy.

9. The Academy Trust will determine the Academy’s admission arrangements by 15 April of the Determination Year and notify those consulted in accordance with paragraph 7 what has been determined within 14 days of that decision being made.

Representations about admission arrangements

10. Where the Academy Trust has determined the Academy’s admission arrangements and notified all those bodies that it has consulted in accordance with paragraph 9, if any of those bodies object to the Academy’s admission arrangements, including the proposed admissions number, they can make representations to the Secretary of State. Any representations must be made by 30 June in the Determination Year.

Secretary of State’s Consent for Changes to Admissions Arrangements

11. Where the admissions arrangements determined in a Determination Year in accordance with paragraph 9 are different to the admissions arrangements currently in existence for the Academy, the Academy Trust shall by 30 June in the Determination Year apply to the Secretary of State for him to consent to such amended admissions arrangements.

Secretary of State’s Power to Accept, Modify or Reject Admissions Arrangements

12. Where the Secretary of State has received any representations made in accordance with paragraph 10, the Secretary of State must consult the Academy Trust on such representations. Following such consultation, by 31 July in the Determination Year, the Secretary of State may direct that the Academy Trust amends the proposed admissions arrangements for the Academy. The Academy Trust shall comply with any such direction.

 13. Where the Secretary of State has received an application made in accordance with paragraph 11 to consent to any amended admissions arrangements, the Secretary of State must by 31 July in the Determination Year either approve the amended admissions arrangements or direct that the amended admissions arrangements are not implemented or must be modified. The Academy Trust must comply with any such direction.

Publication of Admission Arrangements

14. The Academy Trust shall each Determination Year publish the Droylsden Academy’s agreed admission arrangements by:
a) copies being sent to the persons consulted in paragraph 7;
b) copies being sent to primary and secondary schools in TMBC’s area;
b) copies being sent to the offices of TMBC;
c) copies being made available without charge on request from the Academy;
d)copies being sent to public libraries in the area of TMBC for the purposes of being made available at such libraries for reference by parents and other persons.

15. The published admissions arrangements will set out:
a) the name and address of Droylsden Academy and contact details;
b) a summary of the admissions policy, including oversubscription criteria and any arrangements for post-16 admission;
c) a statement of any religious affiliation, if relevant;
d) numbers of places and applications for those places in the previous year, and:
e) arrangements for hearing appeals.

Proposed Changes to Admission Arrangements by Droylsden Academy After Arrangements Have Been Published

16. Subject to paragraph 17, once the Academy’s admission arrangements have been determined for a particular year and published, the Academy Trust will not make any change to such arrangements unless there is a major change of circumstances and the following procedures have been followed:
a) the Academy Trust has consulted those who were consulted under paragraph 7 above on the proposed variation;
b) following such consultation, the Academy Trust has applied to the Secretary of State to approve the change setting out:
i) the proposed change;
ii) reasons for wishing to make such change;
iii) any comments or objections to the proposal from those consulted; and
c) following such application, the Secretary of State has provided his consent to the proposed variation.

17. The Academy Trust shall, following the prior written agreement or direction of the Secretary of State, vary the Academy’s admissions arrangements where such changes are necessary to ensure compliance with the relevant provisions of admissions law or the Codes as they apply to maintained schools. Such changes may be made at any time.

18. Any changes to the Academy’s admission arrangements brought about through the variation processes in paragraphs 16 or 17 above must be published within the Academy’s prospectus and website (if it has one) and be communicated within seven days to those persons who must be consulted under paragraph 7.

19. The Academy Trust must make arrangements for a parent of a child who has attained the age of two but is not above compulsory school age and who has been, is or will be eligible to apply to be admitted to the Academy to make representations to the Secretary of State that any aspect of the Academy’s admission arrangements does not comply with the relevant provisions of admissions law or the Codes as they apply to maintained schools.

20. Where a representation is made in accordance with paragraph 19, the Secretary of State may, after consulting the Academy Trust, direct that the Academy Trust modify its arrangements for the admission of pupils to the Academy so that they comply with the relevant provisions of admissions law and the Codes as they apply to maintained schools. The Academy Trust must comply with any such direction.

21. Records of applications and admissions to the Academy shall be kept by the Academy Trust for a minimum period of ten years and shall be open for inspection by the Secretary of State.

Procedure For Admitting Pupils To The Academy

Admissions Numbers

 22. The Academy Trust has the following agreed admissions numbers for the Academy for the year 2010/2011 and, subject to any changes approved or required by the Secretary of State, for subsequent years:
a) The admission number for year 7 is 240 pupils;
b) The admission number for year 12 is 20. This is the number of places which will be offered on an annual basis to eligible external applicants.

23. The Academy operates a sixth form for a total of 200 students. 100 places overall will be available in year 12 (the year 12 'capacity').

24. If fewer than 80 of the Academy's own year 11 pupils transfer into year 12, additional external pupils will be admitted until year 12 meets its capacity of 100.

25. In any specific year, the Academy Trust may set a higher admission number than the Academy’s agreed admission number for an applicable year group. Before setting an admission number higher than its agreed admission number, the Academy Trust will consult those listed at paragraph 7. Pupils will not be admitted in any year group above the published admissions number for that year group unless exceptional circumstances apply and such circumstances shall be reported to the Secretary of State.

Process of application

26. Arrangements for applications for places at the Academy will be made in accordance with TMBC’s co-ordinated admission arrangements and will be made on the Common Application Form (CAF) provided and administered by the relevant local authority.

27. The Academy Trust will use the following timetable for applications to the Academy each year (exact dates within the months may vary from year to year) which, whenever possible, will fit in with the common timetable agreed by TMBC’s Admissions Forum or TMBC.
a) By September of the preceding year - The Academy Trust will publish in the Academy’s prospectus information about the arrangements for admission, including oversubscription criteria, for the following September (e.g. in September 2009 for admission in September 2010). This will include details of open evenings and other opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the school. The Academy will also provide information to the LA for inclusion in the composite prospectus, as required;
b) September/October - The Academy will provide opportunities for parents to visit the Academy;
c) October/November – Common Application Form (CAF) to be completed and returned to the LA to administer
d) TMBC sends applications to Academy
e) Academy sends list of pupils to be offered places to TMBC
f) February - TMBC applies agreed scheme for its own schools, informing other LAs of offers to be made to their residents.
g) 1st March offers made to parents/carers.

Consideration of applications

28. The Academy Trust will consider all applications for places at the Academy. Where the admission is fewer than the published admission number for Year 7, number of applications for the Academy Trust will offer places at the Academy to all those who have applied.
Procedures where the Academy is oversubscribed

Secondary phase oversubscription criteria

29. Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admissions number, applications will be considered against the criteria set out below. They will be applied in conjunction with explanatory notes 1 - 4 which form part of the admissions arrangements.

30. After the admission of pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs where the Academy is named on the statement, the criteria will be applied in the following order:
a. Children in Public Care (Looked After Children).(Note 1)
b. Children and families with exceptional medical or social needs (Note 2)
c. Sibling: This will apply where there are brothers or sisters attending the school at the time of application, who will still be attending at the time of admission, i.e. in the September when the pupil is admitted to Year 7. Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school (Note 3)
d. Children attending primary schools in Tameside and children educated at home. Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school (Note 4)
e. All other applications on distance.
Notes
[These notes are part of the admissions arrangements.]

Note 1
A child in public care is defined as a child who is looked after by a local authority within the meaning of Section 22 of the Children Act 1989.

Note 2
Written evidence must be provided by a suitably qualified professional – e.g. a GP or consultant for medical needs, or a social worker for social needs - that he/she has exceptional needs, which means that admission to a particular school is essential. A panel of governors from the Academy will make a decision as to whether to admit a child under this criterion using the evidence provided. All information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Note 3
Sibling includes; natural sisters/brothers; half sisters/brothers; step sisters/brothers; adopted sisters/brothers; sisters/ brothers of fostered children, and in each case living at the same address. This allows for the admittance of children whose siblings will still be attending the preferred school.
Where the last place to be allocated would mean that a sibling group i.e. twins, triplets or other multiple birth sibling groups would be split, the sibling group will be given priority over other children.

Note 4
Preference will be given to pupils living nearest to the school. The address from which distances are measured will be the permanent principal residential address, at the time of place allocation, of the parent (as defined in the introduction to the TMBC Moving On booklet, "We're Here to Help"). The Academy will not take into account an intention to move to another address without a solicitor's letter confirming an exchange of contract for purchase of a property, or a long-term agreement for renting a residential property.
When a child lives with parents who share responsibility, each for part of a week, the home address, for the purpose of distance measurements and travel considerations, will be that from which the child travels to school for the majority of school days during a normal school week.
Distance will be measured as a straight line from the child’s home address, using the address point assigned by the national land and Property Gazetteer, to the main gate to the school site which houses Year 7 pupils, using the LA’s school admissions data mapping software, which uses a Geographical Information System based on Ordnance Survey.

Post-16 oversubscription criteria’

31. The Academy will admit any statemented pupils whose statement names the Academy and which the academy has agreed.

32. Both internal and external pupils wishing to enter the sixth form will be expected to have met the minimum academic entry requirements for entry, to be published annually by the Academy.

33. In addition to the minimum academic entry requirements for the sixth form, pupils will need to satisfy minimum entrance requirements to the courses for which they are applying. If either internal or external applicants fail to meet the minimum course requirements they will be given the option of pursuing any alternative courses for which they do meet the minimum academic requirements.

34. These academic entry requirements form part of the admission arrangements and so will be consulted upon and published in the academy’s prospectus and in the TMBC composite admissions prospectus.

35. When the sixth form is undersubscribed all applicants meeting the minimum academic entry requirements will be admitted.

36. When there are more external applicants that satisfy any academic entry requirements than there are places available, priority will be given in the order of the oversubscription criteria set out in paragraph 30.

37. Details relating to the prior attainment requirements for external applicants will be required on a supplementary application form

38. There will be a right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel for unsuccessful applicants and those existing Academy pupils refused progression into the sixth form.

Operation of waiting lists

39. Subject to any provisions regarding waiting lists in the TMBC’s co-ordinated admission scheme, the Academy will operate a waiting list. Where in any year, the Academy receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until one school term after the admission date. This will be maintained by the Academy and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application.

40. Children’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out in paragraph 30 above. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. If new or late applications have a higher priority under the oversubscription criteria, they will be ranked higher than those who have been on the list for some time. A significant change of circumstances, such as a change of address, will be taken into account: evidence must be provided. Children who have been referred under the local authority’s Fair Access protocol or who are the subject of a direction by the local authority to admit must be given precedence over any other children on the waiting list.

Arrangements for admitting pupils to other year groups, including to replace any pupils who have left the Academy

41. Subject to any provisions in TMBC’s co-ordinated admission arrangements relating to applications submitted for years other than the normal year of entry, the Academy Trust will consider all such applications and if the year group applied for has a place available, admit the child unless one of the permitted reliefs apply.

42. If more applications are received than there are places available, the oversubscription criteria in paragraph 30 shall apply. Parents whose application is turned down shall be entitled to appeal.

Arrangements for admission of pupils as the Academy builds to its full capacity

43. Droylsden Academy will open on 1 September 2009 with a Published Admission Number relating solely to pupils in Year 7. Pupils in subsequent Years will have been transferred automatically from the predecessor schools, which will close on 31 August 2009.

44. Admission to Year groups without a Published Admission Number will be based upon the size of teaching groups already existing in the Academy and the efficient use of resources.

45. There will be a right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel for unsuccessful applicants.