St James the Great RC Primary & Nursery School

Windsor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HJ

Tel: 020 8771 3424 Fax: 020 8771 0065

Admissions Policy: Nursery and Main School

for the academic year commencing September 2017

The Governing Body of St James the Great School is responsible for all admissions. Admission is normally restricted to baptised Catholic children who have one or both parents who are committed, practising members of the Catholic Church. In this policy, the expression “Catholic” means children who have been baptised in accordance with the rite of the Roman Catholic Church or in accordance with the rite of another Church that is in full communion with the See of Rome. Copies of the child’s birth and baptismal certificates are required at the time the Registration form is submitted. If baptism takes place after the Registration form is submitted, a copy of the certificate must be provided to the school. If insufficient applications are received in respect of baptised Catholic children, the Governing Body will admit children who are baptised or who are being brought up according to the beliefs of another Christian denomination.

Boys and girls will be admitted to the main school at the beginning of the school year before their fifth birthday. Children will be admitted without reference to ability or aptitude. The Governors intend to admit each year 60 children at age rising five. Under normal arrangements, Reception admissions take place at the start of the academic year. Where either the school or parent/s feel deferred entry may be in a child’s interests, this may be negotiated, although such deferral cannot extend beyond the start of the term after the child’s 5th birthday. The Governors have declared their intention to admit each year children to 52 part-time places in the Nursery class at age rising 4, also without reference to ability or aptitude. Note: admission to the Nursery Class does not automatically allow admission to the Main School. Such admissions are subject to applicants continuing to meet the criteria for admission.

Valid applications are those for which all required paperwork has been received at the school on or before the published closing date for submission. For Reception admissions, this date will be in line with the Pan London closing date for the receipt of the Common Application form. This date can be obtained from your local authority. For Nursery admissions, the closing date for receipt of applications is the last school day before school closes for the Autumn half-term break, which is generally the last Friday in October but as this date changes from year to year, families are advised to verify this by contacting the Admissions Secretary at the school.

Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available, the Governing Body will allocate places in accordance with the following categories in the order set out below after the admission of children with a statement of special educational need where the school has been consulted in regard to naming the school:

1a)Looked after and previously looked after Catholic children and looked after and previously looked after children in the care of Catholic families.
b)Baptised Catholic children, being brought up in accordance with the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church, who have one or both parents who are baptised Catholics and who attend Sunday Mass every week (except for periods of illness or family holiday) at either St Andrew’s, Thornton Heath or St Bartholomew's, Norbury. The Governing Body will require support for applications from the Parish or other nominated Roman Catholic priest who should be able to verify that the conditions stated above are met.
(Note: a map of the area showing the boundaries of the two parishes forms part of this admissions policy. Copies are available from the school office upon request.)

2Baptised Catholic children, being brought up in accordance with the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church, who have one or both parents who attend Sunday Mass every week (except for periods of illness or family holiday) in other Catholic parishes, including Ethnic Chaplaincies. The Governing Body will require a reference from the appropriate Priest confirming that the conditions stated above are met.

3Children baptised in the Catholic faith whose parents may not be practising Catholics at the time of admission.

4Other looked after and previously looked after children.

5Children baptised or being brought up according to the beliefs of another Christian denomination and whose parents are committed practising members of that denomination. The Governors will require parents to produce a baptismal certificate (where applicable) and also a written reference from the applicant’s Priest or other officiating minister.

6Any other children.

7Late applications. An application will be deemed to be “late” if any of the required paperwork is received at the school after the published closing date. Late applications will not be considered in the initial allocation round but will be allocated any available places after on-time preferences have been processed or added to the school’s waiting list if no places exist.

If there is over-subscription in any of the above categories, the Governing Body will allocate places in accordance with the following criteria in the order of priority set out below taking account, where appropriate, of distance from the school as measured by a straight line from the home address to the main gates of the school:

asiblings, as defined in the Explanatory Notes;

bfamilies resident in the parishes of St Andrew’s, Thornton Heath and St Bartholomew’s, Norbury;

cpastoral benefit to be derived by any child resident in the parishes of St Andrew's, Thornton Heath or St Bartholomew's, Norbury, from his or her education in a Catholic school. The Governing Body will require evidence in such cases from a priest, minister or social worker or other relevant professional at the time of initial application;

dmedical or social factors necessitating attendance at the school by a particular child, resident in the parishes of St Andrew's, Thornton Heath or St Bartholomew's, Norbury; the Governing Body will require written evidence in such cases from a doctor, social worker or other relevant professional at the time of initial application;

echildren in the school’s Nursery class who are resident in the parishes of St Andrew's, Thornton Heath or St Bartholomew's, Norbury, with those living nearer the school, measured in accordance with the definition in the Explanatory Notes, being given higher priority;

fresidency in the parishes of St Andrew's, Thornton Heath or St Bartholomew's, Norbury, with those living nearer the school, measured in accordance with the definition in the Explanatory Notes, being given higher priority;

gall other children falling within the relevant category, with those living nearer the school, measured in accordance with the definition in the Explanatory Notes, receiving higher priority.

Parents are advised that:

  • Criteria a to g above will be applied to each of the categories in 1 to 7 above
  • If a family has ceased to practise the Catholic faith since the older sibling was admitted, the application in respect of the younger child will be regarded as falling in 3 above.
  • Whilst children with Special Educational Needs fall outside of the normal admissions process, children admitted under this category during a normal admissions round will be taken into account when determining and applying the school’s admission number. Children already admitted to the school with statements will be counted towards the admission number when considering in-year admissions.
  • Arrangements in regard to Parish references vary from Parish to Parish and from year to year. Applicants should check individual parish arrangements. The Admissions Secretary at the school can advise further where requested.
  • The Governors will provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. Parents can request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year; parents may also request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.
  • Parents requesting admission to a year group below the normal year of entry should submit an application for the child’s actual year group before the published closing date for receipt of applications. The request for admission to a different year group should accompany the application. This enables the application to be processed and a decision on a school place in the child’s actual year group to be made if the Governors decline the request.

Explanatory Notes

“Looked after children” are defined as children in public care at the date on which the application is made. “Previously looked after children” are children who were looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order immediately after being looked after.

“Siblings” are defined as children who live as brother and sister, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted brothers or sisters, stepbrothers or stepsisters, half brothers or half sisters and foster brothers or foster sisters who are on roll at the time of entry of the sibling. It does not include any other relatives eg cousins, living permanently in the same household. Such applicants will be considered on the basis of the school’s published admissions criteria for all non-sibling applicants.

In the case of twins/triplets/children of multiple birth who meet the Admissions Criteria, they will be admitted even if this exceeds the maximum infant class size, as allowed under the Admissions Code. It is the Governors’ view that it is important that family units are not separated.

“Pastoral benefit” is defined as an identified need reported to the school at the time of application evidenced by a relevant person confirming that a specific need can be best met by admission to St James the Great School.

The list of Churches known to be in full communion with the See of Rome is given overleaf.

Ethnic chaplaincies seek to provide sacramental and pastoral support for people of all languages and cultures and to help preserve and nourish the different cultural expressions of faith and community. A list of ethnic chaplaincies is provided overleaf.

Under our Admissions Policy, those who have registered an interest with the school will

be sent a supplementary information form in the academic year proceeding the proposed year of entry, which should be completed and returned to the school by the date specified thereon. The form provides an opportunity to present information about any special factors or circumstances the family would wish to have taken into account. Members of the school staff are available to assist parents with the admissions process and families may wish to contact their Parish Priest for assistance - this does not convey any additional advantage to the application. Supplementary forms are also available from the school on request.

Practice will be demonstrated by:

  • The child’s and family’s religious practice as shown by the Supplementary Information Form and any other information supplied.
  • The consistency of the family’s religious practice as shown on the Supplementary Information Form and by the Priest’s reference.

If a place at the School is not offered, parents will be given details of the statutory right of appeal and the procedure to be followed should they wish to exercise this right. There is no right of appeal where a Nursery place has not been offered.

Where distance from the school is a factor in determining the offer of places, a current ordnance survey map will be used. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the main gate of the school to the centre point of the place of residence given on the application. Where it is necessary to apply a “tie-breaker” to applications of equal status, places will be allocated by the drawing of lots. This will be independently verified.

The Governing Body will maintain a waiting list of applicants. The school will not remove any child’s name from the waiting list until the end of the academic year in which they complete their primary education unless the family request otherwise in writing. Places will be offered in accordance with the school’s published over-subscription criteria. Children whose parents apply for places other than at the Reception intake stage (“in year admissions”) will be placed on the waiting list for the relevant school year, in an order to be determined by the criteria and guidelines stated above, as any vacancy occurs. Information can be provided to parents about the order of priority of applications being held at a particular time but no guarantee can be given that higher priority applications will not be received by the time a place becomes available.

Oriental Rite (or Eastern Catholic) Churches in union with the See of 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

Ruthenian (Byzantine) Catholic Church

Slovak (Greek) Catholic Church

Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church

Ethnic Chaplaincies

Albanian / Brazilian / Chinese / Congolese / Croatian
Filipino / French / German / Ghanaian / Goan
Hungarian / Irish / Italian Church / Italian Mission / Japanese
Keralan / Korean / Latin American / Lithuanian / Maltese
Nigerian / Polish / Portugese / Romanian / Slovak
Slovene / Spanish / Sri-Lankan (Sinhalese) / Sri-Lankan (Tamil) / Vietnamese
Zibabwean

St James the Great RC Primary and Nursery School is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (registered number 7937939)

Registered office: Windsor Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HJ

VAT Registration Number 130 2485 50

ADMISH:FORMS:ADMISSIONS POLICY 0316