HOLY ROOD CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS POLICY

Transcription

1 HOLY ROOD CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS POLICY HOLY ROOD CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL Registered Address: Groundwell Road,SWINDON Wiltshire SN1 2LU Tel: +44 (0) Holy Rood Catholic Primary School Mission Statement, as displayed in school for the children s understanding Mission Statement We try to follow Jesus by praising and giving thanks to God, enjoying and caring for his world, loving and forgiving others and always trying our best. Holy Rood Catholic Primary School is an Academy Primary school which serves the catchment area parishes of Holy Rood Swindon, St Peter's West Swindon, St Joseph's Wroughton and Sacred Heart Royal Wootton Bassett (hereinafter referred to as catchment area). The Governing Body, acting in accordance with arrangements agreed with the Clifton Diocesan Department for Schools and Colleges and the Local Authority, is responsible for the admission of pupils. The Admission Number for the school is 60 and the Governors intend to admit up to 60 pupils in Reception for September Pupils are normally admitted in the September of the school year in which they reach their fifth birthday. Parents have the right to defer their child s admission to school to the start of any subsequent term (see Appendix A) which occurs after the child has passed his or her fifth birthday. In such circumstances, a place can be held open during the same academic year for any child, providing the offer of a place has been made and accepted during the normal admissions round. Where a deferment is sought parents should notify the school at the time of accepting a place. For September 2016 admission applications for a reception place at the school should be made on a Common Application Form (which can be obtained from the school or the Local Authority) and forwarded to the Local Authority by 15th January The Local Authority prefer that this is returned via . The address for the Local Authority is Swindon Borough Council, Wat Tyler House, Beckhampton Street, SN12JH schooladmissions@swindon.gov.uk

2 Page 2 Admissions Schedule 15 January 2016 Closing date for applications to the Local Authority. The Governors request that if you are applying on faith grounds you complete the school s Supplementary Information Form in order to assist them apply the oversubscription criteria if necessary and this should be returned to the school. 19 February 2016 The Local Authority will send a list of all those children that have applied for a place to the school s Governing Body for them to consider. 18 March 2016 The Governing Body will consider all applications and if there are more applications than places it will apply its oversubscription criteria and inform the Local Authority of the ranked order of all the applications. The school will apply the admissions criteria in accordance with the order of priority listed. 18 April 2016 The Local Authority will notify parents of the school where a place will be offered by letter on behalf of the governors. This is the date on which the Governors will deem that an offer of a place has been made. 3 May 2016 Is the deadline for parents or carers to accept or refuse the offer of a place. Should a place become available after this date the Governing Body will reallocate according to the Policy and notify the Local Authority. Waiting Lists The school will hold a waiting list until December 2016 for the normal point of entry to September Parents will then be asked to confirm whether or not they wish their child s name to remain on the admissions list. If places become available before the end of December 2016 offers will be made in accordance with the order of priority listed below and may result in a re-ranking of applicants. In-year lists will be held for children who are not accepted into the school. Parents will be asked to confirm annually whether or not they wish their child s name to remain on the admissions list.

3 Page 3 Children With Statements Of Special Educational Needs, Health and Care Plans There is a different procedure for the admission to school for children with Statements of Special Educational Needs or Education, Health and Care Plans: it is administered by the Local Authority in whose area the family lives. The Local Authority is responsible for issuing the Statement or Health and Care Plan and consulting the parents and the Governing Body of Holy Rood Catholic Primary School, if a preference has been made for that school, before the school is named in the Statement/Health and Care Plan. In the event of oversubscription (ie more applications than available places) places will be offered in accordance with the order of priority listed below: Order of Priority 1. Baptised Catholic Looked After Children in Care or previously Looked After Children / Baptised Catholic Service Personnel Children. 2. Baptised Catholic children living in the catchment area parishes who will have a sibling at the school at the time of their admission. 3. Baptised Catholic children living in the catchment area parishes who will have a sibling at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School at the time of their admission. 4. Baptised Catholic children living outside the catchment area parishes who will have a sibling at the school at the time of their admission. 5. Baptised Catholic children living outside the catchment area parishes who will have a sibling at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School at the time of their admission. 6. Baptised Catholic children living in the catchment area parishes. 7. Baptised Catholic children living outside the catchment area parishes but in an area covered by a Swindon postcode and/or the Diocese of Clifton and who do not have a Catholic primary school serving the parish in which they live. 8. Baptised Catholic children not covered by 7. who live in an area covered by a Swindon postcode and/or the Diocese of Clifton. In Category 1 Baptismal certificates must be available for Service Personnel Children In Categories 2-8 Baptismal certificates must be available for inspection. 9. Looked After children or previously Looked After Children for whom a place is requested by the relevant person/authority/service Personnel Children. 10. Children living in the catchment area parishes who will have a sibling at the school at the time of their admission. 11. Children living in the catchment area parishes who will have a sibling at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School at the time of their admission. 12. Children of Christian denominations as listed by Churches Together who live within the catchment area parishes and whose parent(s) are members of his/her church and have written evidence from their Priest/Minister of membership to the said faith. The confirmation statement must be on appropriate headed paper, confirm the parent s membership with their church and be signed and dated by the Priest/Minister or equivalent. 13. Other applicants not in the above categories.

4 Page 4 Tiebreakers Where applicants within categories 1-8 exceed the number of places available, priority will be given to: a) Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of admission; b) Children who have a sibling at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School at the time of admission; c) Children who live farthest from the nearest alternative Catholic school. Where applicants within categories 9-13 exceed the number of places available, priority will be given to: a) Children who have a sibling at the school at the time of admission; b) Children who have a sibling at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School at the time of admission; c) Children living nearest to the school. If all criteria above do not determine priority, random allocation by drawing lots will be used. An independent adjudicator from the Diocese or Local Authority will be requested to oversee the random selection allocation. Definitions: 1. Baptised Catholics include from the following: Churches in Communion with Rome Personal Ordinariate. Baptised children of parents who are members of the Ordinariate established under The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus of November 4th 2009 are to be given equal preference to that offered to children baptised in a Catholic church. It is important to note that these children may have been baptised in the Church of England. Oriental Rite (or Eastern Catholic) Churches in union with Rome Alexandrian Coptic Catholic Church Ethiopian Catholic Church ( Gheez rite ) (Includes Eritrean Catholic Church) Antiochean (West Syrian) Syrian Catholic Church (Syro-)Maronite Catholic Church Syro-Malankar Catholic Church Armenian Armenian Catholic Church Chaldean (East Syrian) Chaldean Catholic Church Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Constantinopolitan (Byzantine) Albanian (Byzantine) Catholic Church Belarussian Catholic Church Bulgarian (Byzantine) Catholic Church Georgian Catholic Church Greek (Hellenic) Catholic Church Greek-Melakite Catholic Church Hungarian (Byzantine) Catholic Church Italo-Albanian (Byzantine) Catholic Church Church of the Byzantines of the Diocese of Krizevci (Krizevci Catholic Church) Macedonian Catholic Church Romanian (Greek) Catholic Church Russian Catholic Church

5 Page 5 Ruthenian (Byzantine) Catholic Church Slovak (Greek) Catholic Church Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church There are an equivalent number of Eastern Orthodox Churches with similar names that are not in union with the See of Rome. The general rule is Eastern Rite Churches in union with the See of Rome will have the word Catholic in their titles. Churches with the word Orthodox in their titles are not in union with the See of Rome and children from these Churches should be considered after Catholic children. 2. Sibling defined as children who share one natural parent, step-sibling, or have been legally adopted or officially fostered into the family. 3. Holy Rood Catholic Primary School will endeavour not to split siblings born at the same time (e.g. twins, triplets etc). If necessary the school will admit over its Planned Admission Number (PAN) to accommodate such children. In the case of Infant Class Sizes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) class sizes must not contain more than thirty pupils with a single school teacher. However, additional children may only be admitted in limited exceptional circumstances and in accordance with the School Admissions Code, twins and children from multiple births are classed as excepted pupils to this legislation. Therefore, if one child of a multiple birth is offered the last available space at the school (according to the PAN), then offers will be made to all the children of that particular multiple birth. Those children would remain an exception to infant class size for the entire time they are in an infant class size or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit. 4. A Looked After Child or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order. A Looked After Child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise if their social services function defined by Section 22 (1) of the Children Act A 'previously looked after child' is a child who:(i) ceased to be looked after because they were adopted (under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 Section 46 (adoption orders), or (ii) became subject to a child arrangements order (under the terms of the Children and Families Act an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live), or (iii) became subject to a special guardianship order (see Section 14A of the Children Act an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child s special guardian (or special guardians). 5. Children of UK service personnel (UK Armed Forces) - For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting to their area, or crown servants returning from overseas to live in that area. Children who live within the catchment area parishes or outside the catchment area parishes are defined as children physically residing at the address stated on the application form at the time the Governors make the offer of places in the school. This address must be where the child resides for most of the week with his or her parent/carer. Where a child has a joint address, the address to which the child benefit is paid will be taken as the child s home address. The Governors may ask for proof of these circumstances. 6. The date of application will only be classified as accepted and deemed valid from the date of the child s residence in this country. 7. The proximity of the child s home to the school will be measured where the local authority is able to determine this using a computerised mapping system, a direct line from the centre point of the rooftop of the home address to the centre of the rooftop of the school. A map of the parish boundaries is attached.

6 Page 6 Late Applications Applications received after the closing date but before the offer of places is made by the Governing Body will be considered in accordance with the priorities listed above if, in the opinion of the Admissions Panel there were good grounds for the applicants not being able to meet the required deadline. Good grounds may include i.e. relocation, as in the case of military personnel, medical reasons related to a parent evidenced by a doctor s letter. The school is entitled to see evidence for such grounds. In September 2015 the Governors of Holy Rood Catholic Primary School received 147 applications by the due date 16 th April 2015 which fell into the categories below and admitted 60 children as per the 2015 Policy: Category 1 0 Category 7 0 Category 2 9 Category 8 0 Category 3 5 Category 9 0 Category 4 0 Category 10 1 Category 5 0 Category 11 0 Category 6 35 Category 12 2 Category 13 8 In-Year Applications Applications that fall outside the normal admissions round should be made directly to the Local Authority using the Local Authority s In Year Admission Form. A school Supplementary form will be needed by the school for additional information. Completed Supplementary forms need to be returned directly to the school Appeals Procedure Parents have the right to appeal against the refusal by the Governors to admit their child, and should put their appeal in writing to the Clerk to the Governors at the school within twenty days of receiving the letter of refusal. Appeals will be arranged by the Diocesan Department for Schools and Colleges (the appeal is to an independent panel arranged by the governing body of the school or clerk to the appeal panel) and conducted in accordance with the Code of Practice on School Appeals. Safeguarding Children Safeguarding children is enshrined in all school policies and practice, is at the heart of what we do and is reflected in the whole curriculum. We believe in creating and maintaining a healthy, safe and enjoyable learning environment for all children to allow them to achieve and make a positive contribution. Consultation This policy will be made available on the school website and will be sent to all relevant bodies for the purpose of consultation between 1 st December 2014 and 1 st March Fair Access Protocol Holy Rood Primary adheres to all local authority Access Protocol All admission authorities must have fair access protocols (formerly called a hard to place pupils protocol). In addition all schools and academies must participate in their local authority s protocol. Although governing bodies cannot insist on accepting only Catholic children under the protocols, they should work with local authorities with the aim of establishing local agreements which would give priority to children who meet the school s

7 Page 7 admission criteria in normal admission arrangements, i.e. baptised Catholics. Where children do not meet these criteria, it is important the parents and children understand the religious nature of the school. Governing bodies must not adopt procedures or criteria that disadvantage children who arrive in their area outside the normal admission round. The Department For Education Admissions Code lists those children to be included in the Fair Access Protocol.

8 Appendix A Page 8 i) that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday; ii) Dates of Birth Start Date Dates of birth between 1st September 2011 and 31st December Admission will be September 2016 or can be delayed until January 2017 Dates of birth between 1st January 2012 and 31st March 2012 Admission will be September 2016 or can be delayed until January or April Dates of birth between 1st April 2012 and 31st August Admission will be September 2016 or can be delayed until January or April Admission can be delayed until September 2017 and parents may seek a place for a child outside their normal age group. Where an Admission Authority agrees to the admission of a child outside their normal age group the Admission Authority will process the application as part of the main admissions round for September See the Schools Primary Admissions Guide for further information about School Start Dates. iii) where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

9 Page 9 Postcodes Covered Central Swindon SN1 Parts of SN3 Lawn, Old Walcot, Broome Manor Wanborough SN4 Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 Chiseldon SN4 West Swindon and Purton SN5 Bishopstone Area SN6

10 Page 10 HOLY ROOD CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL, GROUNDWELL ROAD, SWINDON, SN1 2LU (Converted to Academy status July 2011) SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION FORM Telephone: Head Teacher: Miss Naomi Fry address: web address: Registered in the UK Company Registration No PLEASE PROVIDE ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE, ORIGINAL BAPTISM CERTIFICATE AND PASSPORT IF APPLICABLE The completion of this form does not imply acceptance by the Governors of the school CHILD S SURNAME CHILD S FORENAME CHILD S DATE OF BIRTH School use only - Birth Certificate Verified NAME OF PARENT/CARER HOME ADDRESS TELEPHONE POSTCODE ADDRESS RELIGION USUAL PARISH OF WORSHIP CHILD BAPTISED YES / NO IF YES PLACE AND DATE OF BAPTISM School use only - Baptism Certificate verified CHILD RESIDENT IN UK DATE OF ARRIVAL IN UK CHILD RESIDENT IN UK YES NO School use only: Date child s residence in Swindon confirmed i.e child seen. Please sign and date. ORIGINAL PASSPORT SEEN YES/NO School use only: Passport verified Brothers/Sisters at: Name 1) Holy Rood Catholic Primary School 2) Holy Cross Catholic Primary School 3) Please contact Holy Rood Primary if any sibling is accepted into Holy Cross Primary at a later date SIGNED DATE OF APPLICATION Please contact the school for Admission/Appeal enquiries or refer to the school website