Tameside MBC - Diocese of Chester - St George’s CE (Aided)

Primary School Admissions Policy 2010

Our school is a Church Aided School – this means that the members of the Parish Church and the Diocese of Chester have contributed towards the building of the school and continue to pay towards its upkeep. As a Church Aided School, RE, collective worship and the whole ethos of the school are based on the teachings of the Church of England. Parents who would object to this are advised to apply to another school.

The Governors publish a brochure to help parents to decide on their choice of schools, and to give other important information about our school. Please look at this carefully before applying for admission.

Applications for admission to the school should be made on the common application form enclosed with the Local Authority’s brochure and also on the School’s supplementary form for those applying under criteria 3 and 4 from October 2009

Applications may also be made on-line by using both the common application form and the school’s supplementary Form. Whether application is made on paper or electronically, those applying under criteria 3 and 4 must also complete the school’s supplementary form and return this to the school by the closing date.

It is not normally possible to change preferences, ranking order or pupil details after the closing date of 4 December 2009 except in exceptional circumstances for example, if the family has recently moved address. Evidence must be provided to support the request. No changes can be considered after 15 January 2010, when the allocations process has started.

Letters informing parents of whether or not their child has been allocated a place will be sent out by the Local Authority on ……….. Parents of children not admitted will be informed of the reason and offered an alternative place by the Authority.

The number of places available for admission to the Reception class in the year 2010 will be a maximum of 30. This arrangement follows consultation between the governing body, the Diocesan Board of Education, Local Authorities and other admissions authorities in the area. The governing body will not place any restrictions on admissions to the reception class unless the number of children for whom admission is sought exceeds this number. By law, no infant class may contain more than thirty children.

The Governing Body operates a system of equal preferences under which they consider all preferences equally and the Local Authority allocates places according to its policy.

In the event that there are more applicants than places, the governing body will allocate places using the following criteria, which are listed in order of priority:

1. Children in Care.
2. Children with special medical or social circumstances where their needs can only be met at this school.
3. Children whose parents are faithful and regular worshippers at St George’s CE Church, Hyde.
4. Children whose parents are faithful and regular worshippers at another church recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
5. Children who have a sibling in school who will still be attending school the following year.
6. Other children.

Notes

a) Professional supporting evidence from eg a doctor, psychologist, social worker, is essential if admission is to be made under the criterion for special medical or social circumstances, and such evidence must set out the particular reasons why the school is question is the most suitable school and the difficulties which would be caused if the child had to attend another school. 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.

b) By “faithful and regular” we mean attendance at a minimum of one service per month during the twelve month period prior to the closing date for applications. A form (provided by school) completed by your church minister will be required as proof of attendance.

c) A parent is any person who has parental responsibility or care of the child. Where admission arrangements refer to ‘parent’s attendance at church’ it is sufficient for just one parent to attend.

d) Siblings include full, step, half, foster, adopted brothers and sisters living at the same address and full brother and sister living apart.

e) Where the above criteria are not adequate to distinguish between requests for admission which cannot all be accepted without exceeding the admission limit, priority will be decided on the basis of the distance from the school to home, those living nearest being given priority. 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 using the LA’s school admissions data mapping software, which uses a Geographical Information System based on Ordnance Survey.

f) 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.

All children with birthdays between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2011 are admitted in September. For children with a birthday after Christmas or after Easter parents may defer entry until later in the year and the headteacher should be consulted if this option is being considered.

Last year there were ….. applications for 30 places The Admissions Committee applied the criteria and offered places to

• children under criterion 1 (Children in Care)
• children under criterion 2 (special medical or social circumstances affecting the child where these needs can only be met at this school);
• children under criterion 3 (Children whose parents are faithful and regular worshippers in the Parish Church of St George’s.)
• children under criterion 4 (Children whose families are faithful and regular worshippers of another Church as recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland)
• children under criterion 5 (Children who have a sibling in school who will still be attending school the following year);
• children under criterion 6 (Other children by distance)

Children with Statements

Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 requires the governing bodies of all maintained schools to admit a child with a Statement of Special Education Needs that names their school.

Late Applications for Admission

The closing date for applications in the normal admissions round is 4th December 2009. Applications received after this date will be considered after all applications received on time have been processed.

Waiting List

If the school is oversubscribed the governors will maintain a waiting list. The waiting list will operate the end of 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 applications 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 preference over any other children on the waiting list.

Address of Pupil

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. Where there is dispute about the correct address to use, the governors reserve the right to make enquiries of any relevant third parties, e.g. the child’s GP. For children of UK Service personnel and other Crown Servants returning to the area proof of the posting is all that is required.

Non-Routine Admissions

It sometimes happens that a child needs to change school other than at the “normal” time; such admissions are known as non-routine admissions. The local Authority co-ordinates all in- year admissions and parents should refer to its co-ordinated scheme.

Appeals

Where the governors are unable to offer a place because the school is over subscribed, parents have the right to appeal to an independent admission appeal panel, set up under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998, as amended by the Education Act, 2002. Parents will be allowed at least 10 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to submit their appeal. Parents will have the opportunity to submit their case to the panel in writing and also to attend in order to present their case. You will normally receive at least 10 school days’ notice of the place and time of the hearing.

If your child was refused a place in Reception or Key Stage 1 because of Government limits on Infant class sizes, the grounds on which your appeal could be successful are limited. You would have to show that the decision was one which in the circumstances no reasonable governing would have made, or that your child would have been offered a place if the governors’ admissions arrangements had been properly implemented.
Please note that this right of appeal against the governors’ decision does not prevent you from making an appeal in respect of any other school.

Fraudulent Applications

Where the governing body discovers that a child has been awarded a place as the result of an intentionally misleading application from a parent (for example a false claim to residence in the catchment area or of involvement in a place of worship) which effectively denies a place to a child with a stronger claim, then the governing body is required to withdraw the offer of the place. The application will be considered afresh and a right of appeal offered if a place is refused.

Deferred Admission

If your child is due to start school during the next academic year, it is important that you apply for a place for September. If your child’s fifth birthday is between the months of September and December, then, if you wish it, admission may be deferred until January; if it is between January and April, then admission may be deferred until the start of the summer term though it is likely to be in your child’s interest to start no later than January.

Twins/Multiple Birth

In cases where twins, triplets, other multiple birth siblings, or other siblings whose date of birth falls within the same academic year, are split when allocations take place, parents will be offered a choice of breaking the sibling link and being offered places at two or more schools or all siblings being offered a place at the same school which may not be a preference school named on the common application form.

Nursery

Please note that the criteria for admission to the Nursery are different from those for Reception and parents must make a separate application for Reception. Attendance at the Nursery does not give priority for admission to Reception.

This information is published by the Governors of St George’s CE (Aided) Primary School in accordance with the relevant sections of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 as amended by the Education Act 2002.

Admissions criteria may change from one year to the next. Governors will consult before any changes are made.