Hampstead Parochial Church of England School

For admissions to Reception in next year September and thereafter
Hampstead Parochial is a one-form entry school with 30 available places for each academic year group. Where the number of applicants exceeds the number of available places, the governors will use the listed criteria.

For entry to Hampstead Parochial in next year September in the first instance places will be offered to Looked after children (Children in the care of a Local Authority) and previously looked after children. Previously looked after children are those who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order).

All subsequent available places will then be distributed equally between Foundation and Open places with the priority given to siblings as described below. 50% of the available places will be allocated under Foundation (Church) Criteria and 50% under Open Criteria (based on proximity to school). In instances where there is an additional place this will be offered under foundation. Applications should be made either for a Foundation Place or to an Open Place. Candidates unsuccessful in their application for a Foundation Place will automatically be considered for an Open Place.

All parents applying to Hampstead Parochial CE Primary School under foundation criteria should complete our Supplementary Information form in addition to their local authority form so that governors can consider their application fully. The clergy reference section of this form also needs to be completed by your Parish priest(s) or minister(s) covering places of worship for the previous two years. Supplementary Forms should be collected from the school office or downloaded from the school website and returned directly to the school by 29th January next year for Reception applications.

Common Application Forms from the home Local authority must be completed within the designated time frame (available on Local Authority web sites) and should be submitted to the parents’ own local authority or via the e-admissions web site.

Foundation Places If there are more applicants than available foundation places (50% for Reception) offers will be made in the following order:

• Siblings of children at the school, at the time of entry whose parents are regular and committed worshippers at the Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead.
• Siblings of children at the school, at the time of entry whose parents are regular and committed worshippers at other Christian churches.
• Children whose parents are regular and committed worshippers at the Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead.
• Children whose parents are regular and committed worshippers at other Christian churches and who live within a radius of three miles from the School.

In the event that two or more applicants have equal right to a place under the Foundation Place Criteria, the Governing Body will give priority to those children living in nearest proximity to the school (vi). For pupils with the same distance as well as the other factors then an independent person will make a random allocation. Should there be fewer than 15 applications under the foundation criteria the remaining places will be offered under the Open Places criteria.

Open Places
These will be allocated according to the following criteria, listed in order of priority.

• Siblings of children at the school, at the time of entry.
• Children living in nearest proximity to the school. 

Waiting List
For the normal admission round a waiting list will be maintained in order of the published oversubscription criteria from which vacancies will be filled with foundation place applicants ranked ahead of open place applicants. If a place becomes available, the child whose name is at the top of the waiting list will be offered the place, irrespective of the relative number of foundation and open places in the class.

Deferred Entry to Reception
Parents can request:

• That the date their child is admitted to school is deferred until later in the academic year or until the term in which their child reaches compulsory school age; and
• That their child takes up the place part-time until the term in which the child reaches compulsory school age.

This means that parents of a child whose fifth birthday falls between 1 September and 31 March may request that the child is not admitted until later in the academic year. But no later than the term after the child’s fifth birthday, when he/she reaches compulsory school age. For children born between 1 April and 31 August, this is not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made.

Multiple Births
In cases where siblings tie for the last available place, then all will be offered a place, even if this exceeds the planned admissions number.

In-Year Admissions
Applications for In-Year admissions are made in the same way as those made for Foundation Places during the normal admissions round. If a place is available and there is no waiting list then the school will communicate the governors’ offer of a place to the family. If more applications are received than there are places available, then applications will be ranked by the Governing Body in accordance with the Foundation oversubscription criteria. In the event there are no applications for a foundation place, governors will then offer places in accordance with the Open Places criteria.

If a place cannot be offered at this time, parents may request the reason and will be informed of their right of appeal. A waiting list 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. If you wish to remain on the waiting list please inform the school at the end of each academic year. Should there be any change in circumstances the school should also be informed of this.

Definitions

• If a family has started worshipping at the Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead within the two years prior to application, the application will be treated under Foundation Places category 2, provided the parents were previously regular and committed worshippers at another Christian Church. In these circumstances the application must be countersigned by their previous Parish Priest. In the case of a vacancy, or where there is no priest in the parish, the application must be countersigned by a Church Warden.
• By a “looked-after child” we mean one in the care of a local authority or being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of its social services function. An adoption order is one made under the Adoption Act (Section 12) or the Adoption and Children Act (Section 46). A ‘child arrangements order is one settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live (Children Act, Section 8, as amended by the Children and Families Act, Section 14). A ‘special guardianship order’ is one appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian/s (Children Act , Section 14A). Applications under this criterion should be accompanied by evidence to show that the child is looked after or was previously looked after (e.g. a copy of the adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship order). Previously looked after children are those who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangement order or special guardianship order).
• Sibling refers to brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner where the child for whom the place is sought is living in the same family unit at the same address as the sibling. A sibling relation does not apply when the older child will leave before the younger one starts.
• By ‘parent(s)’, we mean the primary care giver, with whom the child lives.
• By ‘regular and committed’ worshippers, we mean parents who attend church services on Sunday at least twice a month for two years prior to application.
• Other Christian Churches means those churches belonging to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland or member churches of the Evangelical Alliance.
• Distances will be measured from the child’s home address to the centre of the school site using the Camden Local Authority computerised measuring system and proof of address, e.g. Child Benefit/Council Tax/Electoral Roll documentation will be required both at the time of application and at the time of entry. Where more than one child have the same distance then random allocation will be used, with an independent monitor.
• For in-year admissions, children without an offer of a school place are given priority immediately after ‘looked after’ children.