St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls

Admissions

We welcome applications for a place at our School. In accordance with the recent guidance given by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, Catholic parents are encouraged to send their children to a Catholic school:-

'Catholic schools are guided in all they do by an important and coherent vision of education. This vision is based on the truth revealed by God about ourselves, our life together in community and our ultimate destiny with God...The aims of [the Catholic Church's] schools are to help everyone within the school community to grow in faith; to make the most of every ability they have been given; to achieve academic excellence and to prepare well for adult life in a modern and diverse society'

Pastoral letter from the Bishops' Conference, 2008.

Applying for a place at St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls starting in Year 7 in September. Please refer to the Admissions Policy

Catholic Candidates: Complete the four steps below to apply:

• Catholic applicants should complete the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) and submit this to the School.
• Catholic applicants should also print out and complete the Priest Reference Form. The original Priest Reference Form should be posted/delivered to the School.
• Catholic applicants should also supply a copy of the Candidate’s Baptism certificate to the School if this sacrament has been received.
• Catholic applicants must complete a Common Application Form (CAF) and submit this to their home Local Authority. The CAF will be located on the website of the Candidate’s home Local Authority from 1st September.

Candidates of Faiths other than Catholic: Complete relevant steps below to apply:

• Completion of the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) is optional for applicants of faiths other than Catholic. The SIF can be used to supply any additional information. Those choosing to complete this form, should please submit it to the School.*
  • Families of faiths other than Catholic should print out and complete the Religious Leader Reference Form and submit this to the school so that the application can be considered under the Faith Criteria of the Admissions Policy.*
  • In addition to 2(a) above, Eastern Orthodox faith applicants should also supply a copy of the Candidate’s Baptism certificate to the school if this sacrament has been received.*
• Families of faiths other than Catholic must complete a Common Application Form (CAF) and submit this to the Candidate’s home Local Authority. The CAF will be located on the website of the Candidate’s home Local Authority from 1st September.

Other Candidates: Complete the step below to apply

• Families who do not wish for the Candidate to be considered under the Faith Criteria of the Admissions Policy do not need to submit a Supplementary Information Form and do not need to supply faith references. In this case, please include St Philomena’s School as one of the Candidate’s preferences on the Common Application Form (CAF) for the Candidate’s home Local Authority. You will find the CAF on the website of your home Local Authority from 1st September.

* The St Philomena’s School supplementary admissions forms (Paper Supplementary Information Form, the Priest Reference Form or Religious Leader Reference Form and Baptism Certificate (copy not original), should be submitted to the school:

For the attention of the Admissions Officer, Dr Elizabeth Atkins

In Year (Mid Term) Admissions

Introduction

St Philomena’s School is a hugely successful, Catholic, non-selective, comprehensive girls’ school for students aged 11-18 years. It is a very popular, over-subscribed school and it is impossible to say if and when vacancies may arise since this is reliant on other students leaving the year groups and this doesn’t happen very often.

For Year 7 to 11, St Philomena’s School admits students without regard to aptitude or ability. The school exists primarily to serve the Catholic community and Catholic children always have priority of admission, although the Governing Body welcomes all applications, including those from other denominations and faiths, who support the Catholic ethos of the school.

Candidates on In-Year waiting lists are ranked in accordance with the Admissions Policy of the academic year.

There are waiting lists for every year group in Key Stages 3 and 4 (Years 7 to 11). A full explanation of how to make an In-Year (Mid-Term) application for Years 7 to 11 follows, together with an explanation of how the waiting lists are ranked. Information is also given below for families who are re-locating to the UK from overseas.

All In-Year applications must be verified by Sutton Local Authority.

Information regarding In-Year admissions and the application form to use is located on the Sutton Admissions website

Sutton Admissions can be contacted on: 020 8770 5000; suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk.

Candidates who have made a valid application for an In-Year place at St Philomena’s School will be added to the relevant year group waiting list in ranked order.

In the event of a vacancy arising, a place will be offered by the school to the Candidate at the top of the relevant waiting list.

The Process of Applying for an In-Year place in Years 7 to 11; academic year

There are two steps to making an In-Year application for a place in Years 7 to 11.

Step 1. Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form is a Local Authority form which must be completed and submitted directly to Sutton Local Authority by those seeking In-Year admission to St Philomena’s School. The address for Sutton Admissions is on the last page of the In-Year form – this form should not be sent to St Philomena’s School.

Please note: There is a section on the Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form which needs to be completed by your daughter’s current school.

Applications for Sutton schools will not normally be accepted more than four school weeks prior to the intended date of admission. An exception to this will be where places are requested for the beginning of the next academic year in September when applications can be made after the May half term.

If you require further information regarding the Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form, or a hardcopy of the form, please contact Sutton Admissions directly on 020 8770 5000; suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk.

Step 2. In addition to completing the Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application form, so that your daughter can be considered under St Philomena’s School Faith Criteria, please complete the St Philomena’s School admissions forms. These should be submitted to the school: