St John's CE Primary School

Admission procedures

The number of places available for admission to the Reception class in the year 2023 will be a maximum of 40. This arrangement follows consultation between the governing body, the Diocesan Board of Education, Local Authorities and other admissions authorities in the area. The Trustees will not place any restrictions on admissions to the reception class unless the number of children for whom admission is sought exceeds this number. By law, no infant class may contain more than thirty children.

The Trustees, and all authorities, must operate a system of equal preferences, under which all preferences are considered equally. The Local Authority must allocate places according to this policy.

All Trustee are required by Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 to admit to the school a child with a statement of Special Educational Needs that names the school. This is not an over-subscription criterion.

Notes:

• Where admission is sought under special medical or social circumstances criteria, professional supporting evidence, e.g. from a doctor, psychologist or social worker, is essential. Such evidence must set out the particular reasons why the school is the most suitable for the child and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school. (Please refer to Oldham Policy)
• ‘Brother’ or ‘sister’ includes step, half, foster and adopted brothers or sisters living at the same address and full brother or sister living apart. The older sibling must still be attending the Primary School when the younger child is admitted.
• Regular attendance (at least 12 times in the year prior to the closing date as printed on the Supplementary Information Form) of the child at church or place of worship must be verified by a written reference from a member of the clergy, or another designated officer.
• Where there are more applicants for the available places, the geographical proximity will be considered. (Tie break criterion). The distance from the child’s normal home address and the school will be measured. (See LA Guidance Booklet). The ‘normal’ home of the child will be taken to be the home in which the child sleeps for the majority of the school week. Those children living in closest proximity to the school will take priority.
• The term parent may include both parents, single parent, or legal guardian.

Late applications for admission

Applications that are received after the last date, will be considered after all the others, and placed on the waiting list in order according to the criteria.

Waiting list

Where we have more applications than places, the over-subscription criteria will be used. Children who are not admitted will have their name placed on a waiting list. The names on this waiting list will be in the order resulting from the application of the over-subscription criteria. Since the date of application cannot be a criterion for the order of names on the waiting list, late applicants for the school will be slotted into the order according to the extent to which they meet the criteria. Thus it is possible that a child who moves into the area later to have a higher priority than one who has been on the waiting list for some time. If a place becomes available within the admission number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place. This is not dependent on whether an appeal has been submitted.

Address of pupil

The address used on the school’s admission form must be the current one at the time of application. If the address changes subsequently, the parents should notify the school. Where the parents live at different addresses, the current-at-the-time-of-application, normal address of the child will be the one used. This will normally be the one where the child wakes up for the majority of Monday to Friday mornings. Parents may be asked to show evidence of the claim that is being made for the address, e.g. identity cards of various sorts showing the child’s address as the one claimed. Where there is dispute about the correct address to use, the Trustees reserve the right to make enquiries of any relevant third parties, e.g. the child’s GP. For children of UK Service personnel and other Crown Servants returning to the area proof of the posting is all that is required.

Non-routine admissions

The Local Authority will handle all non-routine admissions for all year groups.