The Oaks Primary School

Admission

This policy outlines the Trust’s approach to school admissions. It is in line with the statutory Schools Admissions Code and the Schools Admissions Appeals Code and other relevant legislation.

As a family of schools, the Trust welcomes

• Children of all faiths and backgrounds
• Embraces all cultures, races and families
• And celebrates diversity.

We are committed to serving our local communities. As part of the educational landscape in Birmingham and Dudley, our aim is for all Trust schools to be excellent schools that serve their communities well. This ambition is reflected in our approach to the admission of children to our schools. The criteria we use to decide the allocation of school places are fair, clear and objective. We aim to work collaboratively with local authorities and other academy trusts on place planning to ensure that children have access to a good education close to where they live and that this is reviewed annually.

For Note

The Trust may enter into an agreement with Birmingham/Dudley LA or any other organisation for it to recruit, train and appoint appeal panel members, and to arrange for the process to be independently administered and clerked.

Admissions principles

The Trust and its schools will ensure the practices and criteria used to decide the allocation of school places are fair, clear and objective. The Trust will make sure that parents are able to look at a set of arrangements and understand easily how places for its schools are allocated. Each Trust school will have admissions arrangements which set out clearly how children will be admitted, including the criteria that will be applied if there are more applications than places.

• The Trust has regard for the admissions criteria outlined by Birmingham and Dudley Local Authority School Admissions and Pupil Placement Teams.
• Admission arrangements for each school within the Trust are set (“determined”) annually.
• Where changes are proposed, consultation on the proposed changes will take place first. If no changes are made to admission arrangements, these will be consulted on at least once every 7 years.
• If a Trust school is undersubscribed, any parent that applies will be offered a place.
• When oversubscribed, admissions will be ranked in order against oversubscription criteria and then the ranked list returned to the local authority who will coordinate all admissions in the area.
• Published admissions arrangements will make clear to parents that a separate application must be made for any transfer from nursery to primary school, and from infant to junior school.
• An admission number (PAN) must be set for each age group. The Code defines this as the age group at which pupils will normally be admitted to the school i.e. reception.

Making an Application

drb Ignite Trust ‘the Trust’ is the admissions authority for all schools within the Trust. During the normal admissions round, the respective local authority operates the coordinated admissions scheme. Parents wishing to apply for a place should put the school down as a preference on the common application form.

Outside of the normal admission round the Trust manages these directly. Further details on how to apply can be found below.

Published Admissions Number (PAN)

The Trust has ten primary schools. The pupil admission numbers (PAN) for each school are detailed below. These numbers reflect the numbers of places available in each year group from Reception onwards for. If the number of applications exceeds the PAN then the oversubscription criteria (below) will be used to determine which applicants will be provided with a place.

• Audley Primary School 120
• Beechwood CE Primary School 30
• Bromley Pensnett Primary School 30
• Hob Green Primary School 30 Jervoise Primary School 30
• Princethorpe Infant and Nursery School 60
• Princethorpe Junior School 60
• The Oaks Primary School 60
• The Oval Primary School 90
• Wychall Primary School 60

Oversubscription Criteria

Where more applications are received than the number of places, then the school will rank applications in accordance with the following oversubscription criteria, in order:

• Children who are looked after or are previously looked after child.
• Children who have a sibling who attends the school at the date of application or admission.
• Children with priority for admission given to those whose home address is the shortest distance from the school.

Appeals

Where a child is not offered a place, the parent(s) will be entitled to an appeal against the decision to refuse admission. The letter of refusal will contain details of how to go about appealing the decision, including the deadline for lodging the appeal and who to contact. Parents must set out their grounds for appeal as part of their application. Where an appeal is successful, the school must admit the child.

Waiting List

The school will maintain a waiting list. Every time a child is added to the list, it will be reranked in accordance with the oversubscription criteria with no priority given to the date of the application.

In-year Applications

Details on how to apply for place outside of the normal admissions round can be found on the school website. Where multiple applications are received and the school does not have sufficient places for every child that has applied for one, places will be allocated on the basis of the oversubscription criteria.