Harris Primary Academy Peckham Park

The Admissions Procedure

Once we are able to offer a child a place at HPAPP, a member of the school office staff will call the child’s Parent/Carer and invite them into school for a meeting with the Principal. During this time your child will meet his/her teacher and have a tour of our school. Parents will be given an induction pack containing some information about the school and enrolment forms that must be completed before your child can start. Parents/Carers of pupils who are eligible for free school meals will be advised on how to apply for free school meals.

Procedures where The Academy is oversubscribed

The Academy will consider all applications for places. Where fewer than 30 applications are received, the Academy will offer places to all those who have applied.

Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admissions number, applications will be considered against the criteria set out below. After the admission of pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs where the Academy is named on the statement, the criteria will be applied in the order in which they are set out below:

• Children in public care (Looked After Children) and 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).
• Children who will have brothers or sisters attending the Academy at their time of entry (brothers and sisters includes half-brothers and sisters and step-brothers and sisters who share the same home. It also includes adopted and foster brothers and sisters sharing the same home);
• Nearness to the Academy, as calculated by straight line distance from the main gate. This is measured by using a computerised GIS and a centre point supplied by the Ordnance Survey determines the start point of the measurement from the home address. Where the child lives in a block of flats with a communal entrance the centre point used is the central point of the block of flats and not the individual flat. If children are tied for the final place(s) to be allocated, the lower door number will be given priority.

Our full admissions policy can be found at the bottom of the page.

In Year Applications

We sometimes have places available for children in other year groups. If you have recently moved to the area or would like to apply for a place at Peckham Park outside the normal time of transfer between schools, please contact Debbie Clark in our main office for information on how to apply and an application form. We strongly recommend that you make an appointment to visit us and contact the Academy office to arrange this.

Deferred entry for infants

Parents offered a place for their child have a right to defer entry, or to take a place up part-time, until the start of the term beginning immediately after their child has reached compulsory school age. Children become of compulsory school age on the first prescribed day following their 5th birthday: that is 31 August, 31 December or 31 March (or on that day if any of these dates are the child’s birthday). However, places cannot be deferred until the next academic year.

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.

The process for requesting such an admission is as follows

With the application, parents should request that the child is admitted to another year group (state which one), and the reasons for that request. Parents will submit any evidence in support of their case with the application, for instance from a Medical Practitioner, Head Teacher 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.

The school will consider each case on its merits taking into account the individual circumstances of the request and the child’s best interests. We will also ensure the parent is 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. An application from a child who would ‘normally’ be a year 1 child for a reception place will be considered alongside applications for reception.