St Paul's Whitechapel Church of England Primary School

Admission Policy

For the Reception Class and Years 1 to 6

The Governing Body is responsible for the admission of pupils to St. Paul’s (Whitechapel) Church of England Primary School. The Governing Body will ensure that the number of pupils admitted in each year group will be such as to conform to statutory legislation and DCSF and Local Authority recommendations. In accordance with the Government’s policy to limit class sizes, a maximum of 30 pupils will be admitted to the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes. The Governing Body proposes to admit 30 pupils to each year group.

Application forms

Applications for the Reception Class intake must be made on the Tower Hamlets Common Admissions Form. This form is available from Tower Hamlets Pupil Services, The Town Hall, Mulberry Place, Clove Crescent, London, E14 or online at: https://www.eadmissions.org.uk/eAdmissions/app . All other applications must be made on the School’s Application Form, available from the School office. The Governing Body, which is the Admissions Authority for the School, will inform parents or carers whether or not a place is to be offered.

In addition, applicants1 are asked to fill in a Supplementary Form to ensure that the School has the requisite information to apply the Oversubscription Criteria (see below). Supplementary forms will be distributed by the School and must be returned to the School office by the stipulated date.

If you do not complete and return both the Common Admissions Form and the Supplementary Information Form by the closing date this may affect the priority accorded to your application by the Governing Body.

Offers of places will be sent to parents or carers on or about 17 April, which is the Primary National Offer Day.

Oversubscription Criteria

If there are more applications than places available the Governing Body will award places according to the following order of priority:

Children in Public Care2 and Children who have been adopted or made subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders

Foundation (Christian) Places

The Governing Body has designated that a maximum of 15 places each year will be allocated as Foundation (Christian) Places, to be offered to children whose families are active members3 of a Christian denomination in the following order of priority:

• Applicants1 who are active members3 of either St George-in-the-East, or another Anglican or Christian church; A map of the Parish is available in the School office.
• Applicants1 who are resident in the parishes of St George-in-the-East, or another Anglican or Christian church; who are active members3 of a Christian Church4 that is a member Church of “Churches Together in Britain and Ireland” Maps of the two Parishes are available in the School office:
• Applicants1, not included in criteria 1 or 2 above, who are active members3 of a Christian Church4 that is a member Church of “Churches Together in Britain and Ireland”

In order for an application to be eligible for consideration for a Foundation (Christian) Place, applicants1 will need to provide written confirmation of current religious practice from a Priest, Minister or Church Leader.

In the event of there being fewer qualified applicants1 than the number of available places any unfilled Foundation (Christian) Places will be designated as additional Open Places. Unsuccessful applicants1 for Foundation (Christian) Places will automatically be considered for Open Places.

Foundation (World Faiths5) Places

After the allocation of Foundation (Christian) Places, the Governing Body has designated that a maximum of 10 places each year will be offered to children whose parents/carers are practising members of non-Christian World Faiths5.

In order for an application to be eligible for consideration for a Foundation (World Faiths5) Place, applicants1 will need to provide written confirmation of current practice from a Religious Leader.

In the event of there being fewer qualified applicants1 than the number of available places any unfilled Foundation (World Faiths) Places will be designated as additional Open Places. Unsuccessful applicants1 for Foundation (World Faiths) Places will automatically be considered for Open Places.

Open Places

After the allocation of Foundation (Christian) Places and Foundation (World Faiths5) Places, the Governing Body has designated that the remaining vacancies will be offered to children whose parents have chosen this Church School for its ethos and the quality of education.

Within each of the four Oversubscription Criteria first priority will be given to applications on behalf of children who will have a brother or sister7 attending a Reception, Infant or Junior class in St Paul’s Primary School at the proposed date of admission.

Tie-breaker

In the event of there being insufficient vacancies to admit all applicants in any of the Oversubscription Criteria detailed above, places will be offered to those children whose parents’/carers’ residential address6 is the shortest distance from the main gates of St Paul’s School when measured in a straight line. Distances will be measured from the front door of the residential address to the main gates of the School.

Twins or multiple births

If only one place is available for more than one child, who are twins or of a multiple birth within the same family, the allocation of the place will be determined by a lottery, which will be carried out by the Admissions Committee in the presence of an independent witness. Or the Admissions Committee will use its discretion and admit a second or third twin.

Reception Class admissions

Applicants1 should be aware that Nursery education is a non-statutory service and that a child’s attendance in the School’s Nursery Class does not guarantee a future place in the Reception Class or Years 1 to 6. A fresh application must be made by those seeking places in the Reception Class or Years 1 to 6.

Applicants may defer entry to school up until s tatutory school age i.e. the first day of term following the child’s fifth birthday. Application is made in the usual way and then the deferment is requested. The place will then be held until the first day of the spring or summer term. Entry may not be deferred beyond statutory school age or beyond the year of application. Parents of children with birthdays in the summer term should be aware that, if they wish to defer, they will need to apply for a Year 1 place for the following September and that if the school is oversubscribed they are very unlikely to obtain a place.

Applications for places in Years 1 to 6

Application for admissions to all year groups will be considered in accordance with the order of priority in the Oversubscription Criteria (see above).

Waiting list

If there is no place available, parents/carers must confirm in writing to the School if they wish to have their applications placed on the School’s waiting list. The waiting list will be maintained in order of the oversubscription criteria (see above) and not in the order in which applications are received or added to the list.

Names are removed from the list at the end of each academic year unless parents/carers submit a written request asking for their application to remain on the waiting list.

Protocols on “hard to place” children

The School is committed to taking its fair share of vulnerable children who are hard to place, in accordance with locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal round of admissions, the Governing Body is empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under any local protocol which carries the agreement both of the Governing Body and the Diocese for the current admission year. The Governing Body has this power even when admitting such a child would exceed the normal admission number.

Interpretation of terms used in the Admissions Policy and Oversubscription Criteria

Admission of children below compulsory school age and deferred entry to the school

Full time places are offered from September after the child’s fourth birthday. A place may be deferred until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which the child reaches compulsory school age (the term after their fifth birthday). If the child’s fifth birthday falls between 1 September and 31 March parents may request that their child is not admitted until later in the school year, but no later than the term after the child’s fifth birthday, when s/he 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. The school will hold any deferred place for a child. Parents can request that a child attends part-time until they reach compulsory age.

Admissions out of the normal age group

Parents of children whose fifth birthday falls between 1 April and 31 August, who do not wish them to start in the relevant school year, should discuss this with the headteacher at an early stage. Decisions will be made considering the circumstances of each case and the best interests of the child. Parental views, academic achievement, social and emotional development and where relevant medical views will be taken into consideration. The views of the headteacher will also be considered. Reasons for the decision will be clearly set out in writing.

Parents may decide not to apply for a reception place in the school but to apply for a year 1 place in September. Parents should be aware that the year 1 group may have no vacancies. Alternatively, parents can apply in the normal round for a reception place in September but would need to have completed the process described above.

Parents may decide not to apply for a reception place in the school but to apply for a year 1 place in September. Parents should be aware that the year 1 group may have no vacancies. Alternatively, parents can apply in the normal round for a reception place in September but would need to have completed the process described above.