COUNTY ADMISSIONS POLICY – SEPTEMBER 2011

Admissions to Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools will be determined on the basis of a catchment area for each school.

If the number of places in a particular year group at a school is not sufficient to meet the requests of all the parents, then the following County criteria will be applied (in the rank order shown) to determine how the places will be allocated:

a) to all ‘looked after’ children (see definition);

b) to pupils living in the catchment area;

c) on ‘very exceptional’ medical grounds (see definition);

d) to siblings (see definition);

e) to any other children

NOTES

1. In any situation where the application of the above criteria results in a situation where there are more children with an equal right to admission to the school than the number of available places will be allocated by the distance from the school,measured in a straight line, using a computerised mapping system.The distance will be measured from the address point of the pupil’s home to a central point on the school site determined by the governing body of the school. Priority is not given within each criterion to children who meet other criteria.
2. Overriding priority will be given by the LA to the admission of pupils who have a Statement of Special Educational Needs which names the school. Priority may also be given to the admission of ‘hard to place’ pupils, e.g. excluded pupils, normally in accordance with any protocols which have been agreed with groups of schools.
3. Parents applying for a place at the catchment area school during the normal admissions round will be offered a place. However, if a pupil moves into the catchment area outside the normal admissions round (or after the allocation process has been completed) there will be no guarantee of a place at the catchment area school if this would mean exceeding the admission number at the school. In such cases, the designated school for the pupil will bee the nearest LA maintained school to the pupil’s home address which caters for pupils of the same age.

DEFINITIONS

‘Looked after’ children
A ‘looked after’ child is defined by the Children Act 1989 as a child/young person who is accommodated by the local authority (Section 22) or a child/young person who is the subject of a full or interim Care Order (Section 31).

Sibling
A sibling is defined as a brother or sister, or any other child who permanently resides at the same address and for whom the applicant has parental responsibility. That sibling must be in the school at the time of application and be likely to remain in the school at the proposed date of admission.

‘Very Exceptional’ Medical Grounds
‘Very exceptional’ medical grounds refers to cases where there are exceptional medical reasons which make it essential that a child should attend a particular school and where the preferred school is the only school locally that could meet the child’s needs.

A medical report from the child’s doctor or consultant must be submitted with the application form, setting out valid medical reasons why it is essential for the child to be admitted to the school in question and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school. The comments of the Authority’s medical offer may be sought to determine whether it is essential for a child to be admitted to the preferred school on medical grounds.

Admission on medical grounds cannot be considered where the medical condition relates to that of a parent, brother or sister or other relative/childminder.

Home Address
A pupil’s home address will be regarded as the address of the parents or guardians with parental responsibility with who the child normally lives. This will not usually include grandparents, aunts or uncles. Where a child spends time with parents at more than one address, the address used to allocate a school place will be the one at which the pupil ordinarily resident and where the child spends the majority of the school week (Mondays to Fridays) including nights. If there is any query on the home address this will be checked against official documentation.

INFORMATION TO PARENTS
DETAILS OF SCHOOL ADMISSIONS

NOTES
THE OUTCOME OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR’S ADMISSIONS IS NOT A PERFECT GUIDE TO THE NEXT YEAR’S DECISIONS BUT THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS INTENDED TO HELP PARENTS DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO APPLY TO OR EXPRESS A PREFERENCE FOR THE SCHOOL AND WILL ENABLE PARENTS TO ASSESS THEIR CHILD’S CHANCE OF ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL.

NOVEMBER 2010 THE SCHOOL POPULATION IS 344. (MAXIMUM NUMBER ON ROLE 362)