CrosscrakeVA Church of England Primary School

2014/15 ADMISSIONS POLICY

The Governors of Crosscrake CE Nursery & Primary VA School are the Admissions Authority for the school.

The Admission Number

Following consultation with the Diocesan Board of Education and the Local Authority, the Governors have set the published admission number for access to the YR class as 14. This is the number of children who will be admitted to the Reception intake group in September 2014. The Governors are able to accept additional pupils with the proviso that no two consecutive year groups exceed 30 and no single year group exceeds 17. Please note admission to Crosscrake Nursery does not guarantee admission to the reception class. A separate admissions policy operates for Nursery. If you have a child in our Nursery, then a separate application must be made for YR.

The Closing Date for Applications

The closing date for applications for September 2014 entry is 15 January 2014, as detailed in the LA Admissions pack. Applications must be submitted using form SA/1, which is issued by the LA, or parents can apply online. Form SA/1 and more information about the application process are contained in the parental information pack ‘Information for Parents; Starting School in Cumbria’ published by the LA, and available online.

Parents wishing to be given priority for admission on the grounds that they worship regularly at a local Church are requested to send the evidence asked for in Note 3 below, to the school directly.

The Admissions Policy

All children will be admitted unless there are more applicants than places in which case the Governors will make allocations using the following criteria. These are listed in order of priority and will be applied in conjunction with the notes below.

  1. Children who are in Public Care or previously looked after children. A child in public care is defined as a child who is looked after by the local authority,i.e. within the meaning of section 22 of the Children’s Act 1989, giving priority, if necessary, to the youngest child(ren). [see note 1 below]
  1. Children whose main residence is within the ecclesiastical parish and in the transport catchment area who have brothers or sisters, including adopted siblings, in the school at the time of their admission, on the first day of the new school year. [see note 2 below]
  1. Children whose main residence is within the ecclesiastical parish and transport catchment area with a parent who is a regular worshipping member of a local Church. [see note 3 below]
  1. Other children whose main residence is in the ecclesiastical parish and transport catchment area giving priority to those living closest to the school measured by the shortest route by road, as measured by a GIS mapping system. The measurement is based on the route mileage as calculated by postcode using the AA Route Planner.
  1. Children, who are currently attending Crosscrake CE Nursery, but live outside the ecclesiastical parish and transport catchment area, giving priority to those who live closest to the school, as measured by the shortest route by road, as measured by a GIS mapping system. The measurement is based on the route mileage as calculated by postcode using the AA Route Planner.
  1. Children living outside the ecclesiastical parish and transport catchment area who have brothers or sisters in the school at the time of their admission, on the first day of the new school year. [see note 2 below]
  1. Children from outside the ecclesiastical parish and transport catchment area with a parent who is a regular worshipping member of a local Church. [see note 3 below]
  1. Children living outside the ecclesiastical parish and transport catchment area, giving priority to those who live closest to the school, as measured by the shortest route by road, as measured by a GIS mapping system. The measurement is based on the route mileage as calculated by postcode using the AA Route Planner.

Note 1 –A child who is looked after by a local authority is defined in Section 22 of the Children Act 1989.

Note 2 - If it is necessary to prioritise in categories 2 or 6, priority will be given to those children with the youngest siblings. Brothers and sisters are those living at the same address and includes step and foster children.

Note 3 - If it is necessary to prioritise in categories 3 or 7 the measurement criteria in categories 4 and 8 respectively will be used. To be considered under category 3 or 7 parents must provide proof with their application that they are regular worshipping members of a local Church, and have been for two years before the closing date for preference forms. It may relate to more than one church.

Applications will be prioritised using the above criteria. An exception will be made if a child has a statement of special educational needs naming Crosscrake CE Primary School, as in these circumstances the Governing Body would have a statutory duty to admit the child concerned.

The Catchment Area

As a CE Voluntary Aided School a map of the ecclesiastical parish is available from the Diocese. The map for the transport catchment area for the purposes of home/school transport is available from the Local AuthorityIntegrated Transport Team.

Late Applications for Admission

Where there are extenuating circumstances for an application being received after the last date for applications, it will be considered under the terms of the Local Authority Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme.

The Right of Appeal

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 should notify the Clerk to the Governors at the school, within 20 days from their notification letterinforming them that their application was unsuccessful, if they wish to 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 receive at least 14 days notice of the date, time and venue of the appeal.

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 Body 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.

Waiting List

Following the allocation of places in the Reception intake the LAwill, at the end of May, re-allocate any places which become available as a result of parents not wishing to take up their offer.

Where we have more applications than places, the admissions criteria will be used. Children who are not admitted will have their name placed on a waiting list. The names on this waiting list will be ordered using the admissions criteria. Since the date of application cannot be a criterion for the order of names on the waiting list, late applicants for the school will be slotted into the order according to the extent to which they meet the criteria. Thus it is possible that a child who moves into the area later to have a higher priority than one who has been on the waiting list for some time. If a place becomes available within the admission number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place. This is not dependent on whether an appeal has been submitted.

A waiting list will also be held for other year groups. School will contact parents if a vacancy arises.

Address of Pupils

The address used on the school’s admission form must be the current main residence at the time of application. If the address changes subsequently, the parents should notify the Local Authority and the school. If a school is oversubscribed, the address of the parent with whom the child normally lives will be used in the allocation process. Where a child’s address is difficult to determine, for example where shared living arrangements are in place, the address of the parent claiming the child benefit will be used. Where there is dispute about the correct address to use, the governors reserve the right to make enquiries of any relevant third parties, or to request to see evidence e.g. Child Benefit documentation. For children of UK Service personnel and other Crown Servants returning to the area, proof of the posting is all that is required.

Admissions During the School Year.

It sometimes happens that a child needs to change school other than at the start of the academic year; such admissions are known as in year admissions. Parents wishing their child to attend this school should arrange to visit the school. If there is a place in the appropriate class, once an application form has been received, the governors will offer a place and inform the LA. If there is no place, then the admissions committee will consider the application, and information about how to appeal against the refusal will be provided.

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 Entry to Reception

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 a child who has not reached statutory school age has been allocated a place in Reception and their parent wishes to delay their entry, they need to inform the School so the place can be held open. The child’s education can be part time until they reach statutory school age. The place must be taken up when the child reaches statutory school age and entry cannot be deferred beyond the academic year for which the original application was accepted.

Multiple Births

The Governors will ensure as far as possible that twins, triplets or those children born in the same year are not separated. Such children will be given priority in any particular category.While no infant class is to contain more than 30 pupils there can be very limited exceptional circumstances. The admittance of such a child(ren) will be known as an “excepted pupil” for the time they are in an infant class or until the numbers fall back to the size limit. An excepted child would be one from a multiple birth when one of the siblings is the 30th child admitted. It might also include a statemented or looked after child or a child of a UK Serviceman to be admitted outside the normal admission period.

Admissions for 2012-13.

The Diocese advises us to inform prospective parents that all applicants for 2012-13 were successful.

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