Tameside Roman Catholic High Schools

Admissions Policy 2010

The school admission policy is rigorously applied and pupils are admitted up to the agreed Published Admission Number, which for the 2010/11 academic year will be:

St Damian’s: 150
St Thomas More: 150
All Saints: 170

If there are more applications than places, admission to St Damian’s RC Science College, St Thomas More RC College and All Saints Catholic College will be subject to the oversubscription criteria in the order of priority set out below.

Statemented Pupils

If the school is named in a Statement of special educational needs, the Governing Body has a duty to admit the child to the school.

The duty to apply these arrangements rests with the Governors of the College. All preferences listed on the Local Authority Preference Form will be considered on an equal basis with the following set of oversubscription criteria forming a priority order where there are more applications for admissions than the college has places available.

1. Baptised Roman Catholic children who are in Public Care.
2. Baptised Roman Catholic children with exceptional medical or social needs
   (Where evidence is provided from a child’s doctor or other agency that he/she has exceptional needs which mean that admission to a particular school is essential, reference will be made to the Community Health Physician, Social Services, or Educational Psychologist, as appropriate. A panel of governors 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.)
3. Baptised Roman Catholic children who live in a designated Parish.
4. Baptised Roman Catholic children who attend a designated Roman Catholic Primary School.
5. Baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission.
6. Other Baptised Roman Catholic children.
7. Other children who are in Public Care.
8. Other children with exceptional medical or social needs.
   (Where evidence is provided from a child’s doctor or other agency that he/she has exceptional needs which mean that admission to a particular school is essential, reference will be made to the Community Health Physician, Social Services, or Educational Psychologist, as appropriate. A panel of governors 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.)
9. Other children who will have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission.
10. Other children who attend a designated Roman Catholic Primary School.
11. Other children.

Tie breaker definition:

If in any category there are more applications than places available, priority will be given on the basis of proximity to the school.

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 property. Measurements will be made using the local authority’s school admissions data mapping software, which employs a Geographical Information System based on Ordnance Survey. In the event of distances being the same for 2 or more applications where this distance would be the last place/s to be allocated, a random lottery will be implemented between the applications where the distance is the same. The random lottery will be carried out in a public place and supervised by someone independent of the school. All the names will be entered into a hat and the required number of names will be drawn out.

The address from which distance will be measured will be the permanent residential address, at the time of application, of the parent with whom the child is normally resident. Where a child lives with parents with shared responsibility, each for part of a week, the home address is the address from which the child travels to school for the majority of school days per week. If the number of days is exactly equal the home address will be that of the parent who receives the Child Benefit.

Designated Parishes (Criterion 3):

The Designated Parishes are:

St Damian’s:
St Joseph’s, Mossley
St Anne’s, Ashton
St Stephen’s, Droylsden
St Christopher’s, Ashton

St Thomas More:
St John Fisher, Haughton Green
St Mary’s, Denton
St Anne’s, Audenshaw
Holy Family, Denton
St Paul’s, Guide Bridge

All Saints:
St Raphael’s, Millbrook
St Peter’s, Stalybridge
St Mary’s, Dukinfield
St Paul’s, Hyde
St James, Hattersley

Maps showing Parish boundaries can be consulted in the appropriate primary school.

Designated Primary Schools (Criteria 4 and 10):

The Designated Primary Schools are:

St Damian’s:
St Christopher’s RC Primary School, Ashton
Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Primary School, Ashton
St Stephen’s RC Primary School, Droylsden
St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Mossley

St Thomas More:
St Anne’s RC Primary School, Audenshaw
St Mary’s RC Primary School, Denton
St John Fisher RC Primary School, Haughton Green

All Saints:
St Raphael’s RC Primary School, Millbrook
St Peter’s RC Primary School, Stalybridge
St Mary’s RC Primary School, Dukinfield
St Paul’s RC Primary School, Hyde
St James RC Primary School, Hattersley

Notes

a) The governing body is the admissions authority. The admissions committee is composed of the following governors: chair of governors, parish priest, head teacher, parent governor & independent clerk.

b) In the autumn term all parents who have expressed an interest in a school place will be sent a copy of the Local Authority ‘Secondary Admission Booklet’ which gives details of the LA co-ordinated admissions arrangements. These are available from Local Authority offices and primary schools.

c) Parents must complete a common application form and may express up to 3 preferences for secondary school admission. The closing date for all applicants is (as the LA Coordinated Admissions Scheme). All applicants will be considered by the governors at the same time in a fair way according to the published criteria.

d) Parents will be informed of the governors’ decision by the LA on (as the LA Coordinated Admissions Scheme). An offer of a place does not guarantee a place for brothers and sisters in subsequent years.

e) "Roman Catholic" means a person/child who has been baptised into the Roman Catholic faith. Parents who wish their application to be considered under criteria 1-6 are required to submit a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) with their application which is available from the high school or the Local Authority.

f) The term ‘brothers and sisters’ will be taken to include step brothers and sisters, foster children and children of partners living in the same household. In cases where twins, triplets or other multiple birth siblings would be split when allocations take place, and there are too few places available at the school to accommodate them all, siblings will be offered a place at the same alternative school, which may not be a preference school named on the Common Application Form.

g) Late applications will be considered after all those that were received by the deadline.

h) Parents are asked to read and confirm receipt of the Governors’ published admission policy. Any changes to the policy will be circulated to all applicants on file for subsequent years.

i) Waiting List: If the school is oversubscribed the governors will maintain a waiting list. The waiting list will operate until the end of the autumn term 2010 for those parents who have submitted an appeal or who have opted to go on the list. All pupils on the waiting list will be ranked according to the oversubscription criteria. Places will be offered, should any become available, to the highest ranked application received by the date the place becomes available. 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.”

j) Appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel: Any parent of guardian who is dissatisfied with the refusal of a school place has the right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel. Parents/Guardians will be sent details of the appeal procedures with the letter refusing a place.

If you wish to appeal, your written appeal request should be sent to the appropriate school:

(for St Damian’s RC Science College)
Chair of Governors
St Christopher’s Presbytery
Lees Road
Ashton-under-Lyne
OL6 8BA

(for St Thomas More RC Mathematics and Computing College)
Chair of Governors
St Mary's Presbytery
Appeal Committee
Duke Street
Denton
M34 2AN

(for All Saints Catholic College, A Language College)
Chair of Governors
All Saints Catholic College, A Language College
Kenyon Avenue
Dukinfield
SK16 5AR

 All Saints Catholic College

Sixth Form Entry 2010

Admission to the co-educational Sixth Form will be from:

a) pupils in Year 11 at All Saints Catholic College
b) pupils from outside of All Saints Catholic College

All Saints Catholic College has 150 places in its Sixth Form. It is expected that there will be 65 qualified candidates wishing to transfer from Year 11, therefore the admission number for pupils entering the Sixth Form from outside of All Saints Catholic College will be 10.

Students on roll at All Saints are required to apply for a place in the Sixth Form, as are students from other schools.

The entry requirements for admission to the Sixth Form shall be the same for students on roll in Year 11 at the school and external applicants.

Pupils will be admitted into the Sixth Form from the start of the Autumn Term in each school year, although there may be some occasions when students transfer during an academic year.

Minimum Entry Requirements

All those seeking admission to the Sixth Form must achieve the following grades:

Students will be expected to have achieved a minimum of 5+ A*-C in their GCSEs, and a minimum of a Grade B in their chosen subjects.

Oversubscription Criteria

Where the number of eligible applicants for a course of study exceeds the places available, then admission will be determined in accordance with the following priority of admission criteria:

1. Children in Public Care (Looked After Children)

2. The overall strength of the student’s academic profile based on estimated grades; the academic profile will be determined annually in the light of applications received.

3. The availability of space in the subjects applied for.

The number of students who have applied for each course will be taken into account, meaning that extra students can sometimes be accommodated over the admission number if the pupil’s chosen course is not full.

Appeals

Any pupil refused the offer of a place in the Sixth Form has the right of appeal to an independent appeals panel (see below).

False Information

Where the school has made the offer of a place in the Sixth Form on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application which has effectively denied a place in the Sixth Form to a pupil with a stronger claim, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

Late Applications

Late applications will be considered up to the end of the third full week of the Autumn Term.

Appeals

Any parent who is dissatisfied with their school allocation has the right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel. For pupils with Special Educational Needs, appeal can be made to the SEN Tribunal (details are included in the Statement).

Parents, therefore, who wish to appeal against any decision of the Admissions Committee in refusing admission to the school should do so by completing a School Admission Appeal Form, setting out clearly why their child should go to All Saints Catholic College. These are available, and should be returned to, the School Organisation Section at Tameside MBC, Council Offices, Wellington Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, OL6 6DL.

The Appeals Panel will:

• be independent of the Governing Body;
• give the appellant at least fourteen days’ notice of the time and place of the hearing;
• give the appellant, who may be accompanied by a friend or be represented, the opportunity to make oral representation;
• give the appellant at least seven days’ notice of any written representations made to it by the Governing Body.

The appeal shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast, the chairman of the panel having a casting vote.

The decision of the Appeals Panel and the grounds on which it was made shall be communicated by the Clerk, in writing, to the appellant. That decision shall be binding on all parties.