Admissions

Introduction

 

The governing body of Nettleham Infant School applies the regulations on admissions fairly and equally to all those who wish to attend this school.

 

Aims and Objectives

 

We are an inclusive school that welcomes children from all backgrounds and abilities.

 

All applications will be treated on merit and in a sensitive manner.

 

The only restriction we place on entry is that of number.  If the number of children applying for entry exceeds the places available we enforce the procedure set out below in order to determine whether a child is accepted or not.  It is our wish to allow parents the right to have a place at the school of their choice.  However, this is not always possible if there is an excessive demand on school places available.

 

 

How parents can apply for their child to be admitted to our school

 

As our school is an Academy school, the school determines the admission arrangements in agreement with the Governing Body.  The Governing Body is therefore the ‘Admissions Authority’ for our school.

 

The school publishes an admissions policy each year, as paper copies and on the county council website, which gives information about how parents can apply for a place in the school.  Parents have a right to express a preference for the school of their choice and they should do so on the application form.  Expressing a preference does not, in itself, guarantee a place at this school.  Application forms can be obtained from the school secretary and should be completed by the date stipulated on the forms.  The Local Authority notifies parents about the school place that they have been allocated.

 

In this area, children start the September after the child’s Fourth birthday.  There is one admissions date per year, early in September (i.e. at the start of the school year).  Therefore, parents who would like their child to be admitted to this school during the year their child is five should ensure that they complete the necessary application form by the dates set out in the Going to School in Lincolnshire booklet and the relevant Guide for Parents and Carers available from the Local Authority offices and local schools.

 

Parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.
 
It has always been the case that parents can defer entry until the child is of compulsory school age, but they cannot defer beyond the academic year of the original application. This means that if the child is of compulsory school age the following September then they can defer but they will have to make another application for that year. If a child defers until later in the academic year then that place must not be filled.

 

Late Applications

 

Parents applying after the closing date should complete the admission form and will be offered a school place immediately if the admission number has not been reached.  If there are no places available parents will be informed immediately and referred to the Pupil Services section at County Offices.  Parents still have the right to appeal against the Governors’ decision not to offer a place.

 

Over-Subscription Criteria

 

Children with a statement of special educational needs are admitted before the governors apply their oversubscription criteria in line with the 1996 Education Act

 

If the school receives more applications than it has places the governors will apply the following criteria in the order given:

 

1. A child in public care, sometimes referred to as ‘looked after’ is a child who is in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them in accordance with section 22 of the children act 1989, at the time of application. This definition includes include previously looked after 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.
2. There is a sibling who will be attending the school when the child is due to start.

A sibling is considered to be:

• A full brother or sister, whether or not resident in the same household.
• Another child normally resident for the majority of term time in the same household, for whom an adult in the household has parental responsibility as defined in the Children Act 1989.

1. A sibling attending Nettleham Junior School when the child is due to start at Nettleham Infant School. (See above for clarification on the term ‘sibling’.)
2. The distance from the child’s home to the school, meaning that children who live closest to the school are given priority.
   • Distance from the school will be found by measuring the distance from your address to the school by driving distance along public highways by the LA Admissions Team. This distance is measured electronically between the post office address point of the home and the post office address point of the school. 
   • Home address is defined as the address where the child lives for the majority of the school term time with a parent who has parental responsibility as defined in the Children Act 1989 and a parent includes a person who is not a parent but who has responsibility for her/him.  This could include a pupil’s guardians but will not usually include other relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc unless they have all the rights, duties, powers and responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and her/his property.
   • Where a child lives normally and habitually during the school week with more than one parent at different addresses, the home address for the purpose of school admissions will be that of the parent who lives closest, as the crow flies, to the school in question.
   • Equally, where a family possesses more than one home, the Governing Body will take as the home address (place of residence) the address where the family and child habitually and normally live for the majority of the school term time.

 

The Governing Body has the right to investigate any concerns it may have with respect to the accuracy of information provided by parents on an application form and to withdraw the offer of a school place if there is evidence that parents have made fraudulent claims, e.g. concerning parental responsibility or place of residence.

 

Tie Break

 

If any of the oversubscription criteria have too many applicants then the tie – break will be the distance described above. The child living closest to the school will be offered the place.

 

Reserve List

 

The LA keeps a reserve list of children wanting places at the school in Reception.  Parents may place their child’s name on the waiting list at any time but names on the list are ranked according to the over-subscription criteria in which length of time on the list plays no part. If you listed the school on your common application form your child’s name will be automatically placed on our school reserve list. This list will be kept until 31 August on each following year by the School Admissions Team.

 

If a family move into the area they may be placed higher on the reserve list because we take into account where you live in relation to the oversubscription criteria and not the length of time that you have been on the list.

 

Children’s names are removed from the list when they are offered a place at the school or when parents are informed that no place is available.

 

Fair Access

 

The government has stated that all Local Authorities must have a Fair Access agreement that allows hard to place children, for example those that have been permanently excluded, to be given a place before any oversubscription criteria will be applied and before anyone is considered from the reserve list. Such children are shared out to ensure that no one school has to take on too many of these children at anyone time.

 

Admission Appeals

 

The procedures for appeals relating to admissions will be in accordance with all relevant legislation.

 

If parents wish to appeal against a decision to not allocate a place, they can do so by applying to the Governing Body.  An independent appeals panel, who are not connected to the school in any way, then meets to consider all appeals by parents who have been refused a place at our school and who wish to appeal against this decision. Appeals are organised by the County Councils Legal Services Section and entirely separate from the admission system. An appeals panel’s decision is binding for all parties concerned.  If the appeals panel decides that we should admit a child to our school, then we will accept their decision.

 

 

The admission number and capacity of the school

 

The admission number is the number of children the school can accept into its reception year.  The admission number for our school is 60.  We keep this number under review and the governors will apply to change the number if circumstances allow. 

 

 

 

 

Mid Year Admissions

 

The school will accept admissions into other year groups if there are places. If there are more applications than places then the oversubscription criteria will be used to decide who should be offered the place. If there are no places then parents will be informed of how to access the independent appeals system.

 

Infant Class Size

 

Infant children (aged four to seven) are taught in classes that have a maximum number of 30 children, in line with government legislation.

 

Review

 

This policy will be reviewed annually with the Admissions Authority in the light of any changed circumstances in our school or the local area or new legislation from the Dfe.

 

This policy applies to the admission cycle 2014