Greatfields School

How to apply for a school place

The admissions process is co-ordinated by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. (LBBD) who electronically publish a copy of their admissions booklet ‘Moving to Secondary School’ on their website www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/admissions Parents or carers should apply for a place at Greatfields School by using an online Common Application Form (CAF) available online at www.eadmissions.org.uk; links are also available on www.barking- dagenham.gov.uk/admissions

Admissions Criteria
The school will admit any pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming Greatfields School. Priority will then be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in order:

• Looked after children and previously looked after children (Note 1 below)
• Other children

Tie-breaks
Proximity to the school will first be applied if the school is oversubscribed in criteria 2 above, with those living closest to the school having priority for admission. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the front door of the child’s home to the front gates of the school. In the case of equal horizontal distances, such as a flat in a block of dwellings, the ground floor flats would be regarded as nearer than flats on higher floors. ‘Home’ must be the child’s current permanent place of residence. This will usually be the parents’ address. If the parents do not live together, the address must be of the parent the child spends most time with – usually the parent receiving child benefit (where applicable). If there is equal, shared custody of the child, it is left to the parents to decide which address to use. Random allocation will be used as a tie-break to decide who has highest priority for admission if the distance between a child’s home and the school is equidistant in any individual case. However, if children of multiple birth (twins and triplets) are tied for the final place, those siblings will be admitted over PAN

Admission of children outside their normal age group.
Parents may request that their child is admitted to a year group outside their normal age range, for instance where the child is gifted or talented or where a child has suffered from particular social or medical issues impacting his or her schooling. All such requests will be considered on their merits and either agreed or refused, on that basis. If a request is refused, the child will still be considered for admission to their normal age group if places are being offered at the school in that age group for the admission year in question.

The process for requesting such an admission is as follows:

With the application, parents should request in writing that the child is admitted to another year group (state which one), and the reasons for that request. Parents should submit any evidence in support of their case with the application, for instance from a medical practitioner, headteacher etc.

Some of the evidence a parent might submit could include:

• whether the child is ‘summer born’ and is seeking admission to a year group other than reception (or is seeking admission to reception rather than year 1);
• information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development;
• where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional;
• whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and
• whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely.

Each case will be considered on its merits, taking into account the individual circumstances of the request and the child’s best interests. Parents will be made aware of whether the request for admission out of age group has been agreed before final offers are made, and the reason for any refusal. Requests for admission out of the normal year group will be considered alongside other applications made at the same time.

Waiting lists The school will operate a waiting list for each year group. Where in any admissions year the school receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until 31st December of that year. This list will be maintained by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham on behalf of the Academy Trust and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application. Children’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves it.

Note 1: A looked after child is a child who is, (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989). Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order)