Our Lady of Dolours RC Primary School

A Community of Faith and Learning

Admissions Policy 2015/2016

Our Lady of Dolours RC Primary School was founded by the Catholic Church to provide education for children of Catholic families. The school is conducted by its governing body as part of the Catholic Church in accordance with its trust deed and instrument of government and seeks at all times to be a witness to Jesus Christ.

Whenever there are more applicants than places available, priority will always be given to Catholic applicants in accordance with the oversubscription criteria listed below. In this policy, ‘applicant’ refers to you, the parent applying for the place, and ‘candidate’ refers to the child for whom an application is made.

As a Catholic school we aim to provide a Catholic education for all our pupils. Catholic doctrine and practice permeate every aspect of the school’s activity. It is essential that the Catholic character of the school’s education is fully supported by all families in the school community. All applicants are therefore asked to give their full, unreserved and positive support for the aims and ethos of the school.

The governing body has responsibility for admissions to this school. [1]

The published admission number(PAN) for Reception is 45. Applications for a Reception place are invited for September 2015 from families whose child attains 4 years of age between 1/9/2014 and 31/08/2015.The school is usually able to offer places to children in all categories.

The published admission number for Nursery is 32. Applications for a nursery place are invited for September 2015 from families whose child attains 3 years of age between 1/9/2014 and 31/08/2015.

Applicants whose child is currently attending the school’s nursery must make a separate application for a place in reception. There is no automatic right of entry.

Oversubscription Criteria

Where there are more applicants for places then the number of places available, places will be offered according to the following order of priority.

  1. Catholic looked after childrenand Catholic children who have been adopted (or made subject to a residence or special guardianship order) immediately following being looked after.
  2. Baptised practising Catholic children who are resident in the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows, Cirencester Street, W2 or the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Harrow Road, W9
  3. Baptised practising Catholic children resident in other parishes
  4. Baptised Catholic children
  5. Other looked after childrenand children who have been adopted (or made subject to a residence or special guardianship order) immediately following being looked after.
  6. Catechumens and members of an Eastern Orthodox Church
  7. Children of other Christian denominations whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education
  8. Children of other faiths whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education
  9. Any other applicants.

Levels of application over previous years

For the past five years successful applications have arisen from a range of all nine oversubscription criteria.

Twins and multiple births

Where the final place is offered to a child who has a twin/triplets etc. applying for a place in the same school year, these siblings will also be admitted.

Exceptional Needs

Within each category, the governing body will give top priority within a categoryto an application where the child has compelling and documented social, medical or pastoral reasons, presented at the time of application, from an appropriate professional (e.g. doctor, social worker or priest) specifying why Our Lady of Dolours is the only school that can meet the child’s needs and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school.

Where the offer of places to all the applicants in any of the categories listed above would lead to oversubscription the attendance of a sibling at the school at the time of enrolment will increase the priority of an application within each category

Tie break

Where the offer of places to all the applicants in any of the sub-categories listed above would still lead to oversubscription, the places up to the admission number will be offered to those living nearest to the school. Where the order of priority is otherwise equal, preference will be given to a child who lives the shortest distance from the school. Home address is defined as the address at which the child resides for 50% or more of the school week. Distances are measured by a straight line from the address seed point (determined by Ordnance Survey data) of the child’s home address to the main school gate for pupils, as measured by the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system. Where it is necessary to differentiate between applicants living in flats using the same street entrance, priority will be given to the applicant(s) living closest to the ground floor and then by ascending flat number order. Where it is necessary to further differentiate between applicants living the same distance from the school, priority will be decided by random allocation.

Pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs

The admission of pupils with a statement of Special Educational Needs is dealt with by a completely separate procedure. This procedure is integral to the making and maintaining statements by the pupil’s home local education authority. Details of this separate procedure are set out in the Special Education Needs Code of Practice.

Application Procedures and Timetable

As the school participates in Westminster’s scheme for coordinated admission you must complete the Westminster Common Application Form (or your local education authority’s application form if you are not a Westminster resident) and return it to the Admissions Team at the address given on the form by 5pm on15thJanuary 2015. Online applications must be made by 11.59am on 15thJanuary 2015. You should also complete the school’s Supplementary Information Form and return it to the school office by 5pm on 15th January 2015. If you are applying for a place under criteria 2 and 3 you should also complete the Diocesan Priest’s Reference Formand return it to the school by 5pm on 15thJanuary 2015. Copies of the school’s Supplementary Information Form and the Diocesan Priest’s Reference Form are available from the Local Authority, the school office and on the school website ( If applying under criteria 1 to 4 the original copy of your child’s Baptismal certificate must be presented to the school office at the time of application.

If you do not complete and return the forms described above and return them by the closing date, the governing body may be unable to consider your applicationfully. Applications received after the closing date will be dealt with after the initial allocation process has been completed. If any information provided is found to be fraudulent or misleading, the Governors reserve the right to withdraw the place even if the child has already started at the school.

You will be sent notification of the outcome of your application on or about 16thApril 2015.If you are unsuccessful you may ask for the reasons, related to the oversubscription criteria listed above, you will be informed of your right of appeal. Appeals must be lodged within 20 days of receiving the offer letter. If you wish to appeal against a decision please submit your appeal before or on 22nd May 2015. You will be offered the opportunity of being placed on a waiting list (see below).

In-Year Admissions

Applications for In-Year admissions are made directly to the school. If a place is available and there is no waiting list then the Local Authority will be informed and the child will be admitted. If more applications are received than there are places available then applications will be ranked by the governing body in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. If a place cannot be offered at this time then you may ask us for the reasons and you will be informed of your right of appeal. You will be offered the opportunity of being placed on a waiting list. This waiting list will be maintained by the governing body in the order of oversubscription criteria and not in the order in which the applications are received. Names are removed from the list at the end of each academic year. When a place becomes available the governing body will decide who is at the top of the list and can make an offer.

Waiting Lists

Waiting lists will be maintained by the governing body in the order of the oversubscription criteria and not in the order in which the applications are received. Names are removed from the list at the end of each academic year. When a place becomes available the governing body will decide who is at the top of the list so that an offer can be made.

Deferred Entry

Parents are entitled to defer entry to school for their child until statutory school age i.e. the first day of term following the child’s fifth birthday. Application is made in the usual way and then the deferral is requested. The place will then be held until the first day of the spring or summer term. Applicants may also request that their child attend part-time until statutory school age is reached. Entry may not be deferred beyond statutory school age or beyond the year of application. Parents of children with birthdays in the summer term should be aware that, if they wish to defer until statutory school age,

they will need to apply for a Year 1 place for September 2016 and places are unlikely to be available.

Fair Access Protocols

The school is committed to taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal admissions round the governing body is empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under any local protocol that has been agreed by both the Diocese and the governing body for the current school year. The governing body has this power even when admitting the child would mean exceeding the published admission number.

Notes

  • ‘looked after child’ has the same meaning as in section 22 of the Children Act 1989, and means any child in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them (e.g. children with foster parents)
  • Adopted’. An adopted child is a child who is adopted under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 s.46 (adoption orders).
  • ‘Catholic’ means a member of a Church in full communion with the See of Rome. ‘Catholic’ means both the Western (Latin) rite and the Eastern Rite. This will normally be evidenced by a certificate of baptism in a Catholic Church or a certificate of reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church.
  • ‘Practising Catholic’ means a Catholic child from a practising Catholic family where this practice is verified by a reference from a Catholic priest in the standard format laid down by the Diocese.
  • ‘catechumen’ means a member of the catechumenate of a Catholic Church. This will normally be evidenced by a certificate of reception into the order of catechumens.
  • ‘Christian’ means a member of a church which belongs to ‘Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’.
  • membership of an ‘Eastern Orthodox Church’ is normally evidenced by a certificate of baptism or reception from the authorities of that Church.
  • ‘home address’ means the place where the child lives for more than 50% of the school week
  • to demonstrate an exceptional social, medical or pastoral need of the child which can only be met at this school, the governing body will require compelling written evidence at the time of application, from an appropriate professional such as a social worker, doctor or priest.
  • a‘sibling’ is defined as a brother or sister, half brother or sister or step brother or sister whose main residence is at the same address.
  • a ‘parent’ is defined as the person or persons who have legal responsibility for the child.
  • ‘Residence Order’. A residence order is an order under the terms of the Children Act 1989 s.8 which defines it as an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live.
  • ‘Special Guardianship Order’. A special guardianship order is an order under the terms of the Children Act 1989 s.14A which defines it as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian(s).
  • Parish Boundaries – for the purposes of this Policy, the parish boundaries are shown on the attached maps.

Boundary Map for the Parish of

Our Lady of Lourdes and St Vincent De Paul

Harrow Road

For more information please go to the website below

Boundary Map for the Parish of

Our Lady of Sorrows

Paddington

For more information – please go to the website below

1

Our Lady of Dolours Admissions Policy 2015/2016 unchanged