Admission Policy
Basic Information:
1.Sacred Heart Primary School is promoted by the Diocese of Northampton and is maintained by the Luton Local Authority (LA).
2.The Governing Body of the school is responsible for determining and administering the policy relating to the admission of pupils to the school. The Governing Body is guided in that responsibility by the requirements of the law, by the advice of the Diocesan Trustees and its duty to the school and the Catholic community.
3.In accordance with the provisions of Regulations 49 of the Education (School Government) Regulations 1999, the Governing Body has delegated responsibility for determining admissions to its Admissions Committee, with regard to the school.
4.The ethos of Sacred Heart Primary School is based on Christian Gospel values and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. We ask parents applying for a place here to respect this ethos and its importance to the school community. This does not affect the rights of parents who are not of the Roman Catholic faith to apply for and be considered for a place here.
5.The school primarily serves the parishes of Sacred Heart, Our Lady’s (Castle Street), St. Joseph’s and that part of the Holy Ghost Parish south of the Dunstable Road, in the Deanery of St. Alban (Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Luton).
6.To fulfill the requirements of the law and having consulted with the LA and other local admission authorities, the Governing Body has set a planned admission number of 60 pupils.
7.Parents wishing to apply for a place in the school in Reception must complete both the co-ordinated admission form and supplementary VA form for Catholic schools and return to the LA by no later than the date specified in the Starting School Information booklet . Both these forms are available from the Admissions Manager, Children and Learning Dept, Unity House, 111 Stuart Street, Luton, Beds, LU1 5NP. It must be carefully noted that all applications must be submitted on that form or made on-line and all applications will be considered at the same time. Allocation letters will be issued on the offer date set out in the co-ordinated admissions scheme. The co-ordinated admissions scheme will be published on the Council’s website on the school admission pages, the scheme will be updated on an annual basis.
8.Children with a statement of Special Educational Needs naming the school will be admitted in accordance with the policy and regulations. The school also supports the In Year Fair Access Protocol. On occasion pupils will be admitted to the school using Luton’s In-Year Fair Access Protocol for primary schools.
9.The Admissions Committee of the Governing Body will consider all applications on equal preference (see additional information) according to the criteria set out below without reference to the ability or aptitude of any child. All applications will be considered on an equal preference basis.
Admission Criteria:
In the case of over subscription the Governors will give priority to children in the following order:
1.Baptised Catholic Children in Care.
2. Baptised Catholic children with siblings attending the school at time of admission, whose families are practising Catholics whose application is supported by their parish priest or the parish priest where they practise.
3.Baptised Catholic children of practising families from the parish(es) of Sacred Heart, Our Lady’s (Castle Street), St. Joseph’s and that part of the Holy Ghost Parish south of the Dunstable Road, in the Deanery of St. Alban (Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Luton) whose application is supported by their parish priest or the parish priest where they practise.
4. Baptised Catholic children of practising families from other parishes whose application is supported by a priest.
5.Other baptised Catholic siblings of children attending the school, at the time of admission.
6.Other baptised Catholic children
7.Children in Care other than Catholic
8.Siblings other than Catholic of children attending the school at the time of
admission.
9.Children from other Christian denominations whose parents wish them to
receive a Christian education, and whose application is supported by their
priest or minister of religion.
10.Other Christian children.
11.Children from other faith backgrounds whose application is supported by their minister of religion.
12. Other faith background children.
13. Other children.
In any situation where the application of the above criteria results in a situation where there are more children with an equal right to admission to the school than the number of available places, the tie break will be distance from the main school gate, measured in a straight line, using a computerised mapping system, as approved by Luton (or relevant) Borough Council. Those living closer to the school will be accorded the higher priority. The distance will be measured from the front door of the pupil’s home to the main entrance of the school site, determined by the Governing Body of the school as the main entrance in Langford Drive. Priority is not given within each criterion to children who meet other criteria.
Further details regarding the application procedures are given in the Local Authority’s booklet.
Additional Information:
1.All parents/carers whose application was successful or unsuccessful will be informed in writing of the outcome of their application on the offer date set out in the co-ordinated admissions scheme.
2.The parents/carers of those children whose application for a place was unsuccessful will be informed in writing on the offer date set out in the co-ordinated admissions scheme. The decision of the Admissions Committee and its reasons for not offering a place will be explained along with the parent’s/carer’s right to lodge an appeal against the decision including detail of how and to whom such appeal should be lodged.
3.The Admissions Committee will keep a ‘waiting list’ of those children who have not been offered a place in all oversubscribed year groups, until the end of the autumn term. At that point, new applications need to be made to the school and a new waiting list will be collated. For this and all other over-subscribed year groups, a waiting list will remain in place until the end of each academic year (31 July).
4.A Catholic child is a child baptised according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church and possesses a Baptismal Certificate. A child enrolled in a catechumenate programme is also accepted as a Catholic if they are supported by a letter from their parish priest confirming their enrolment on the programme.
5.A Child in Care is defined by the Children’s Act 1989 as a child/young person who is accommodated by the Local Authority (Section 22) or a child/young person who is the subject of a full interim Care Order (Section 31).
6.A sibling is a brother or sister or any other child who permanently resides at the same address, for whom the applicant has parental responsibility. That sibling must be in school at the time of admission to fit into Admissions Criteria 2 or 5.
7.A pupil’s home address will be regarded as the address of the parent(s) or carer(s) with parental responsibility with whom the pupil usually lives. This will not usually include grandparents, aunts or uncles. Where a pupil spends time with parents at more than one address, the address used will be the one at which the pupil is ordinarily resident and where the pupil spends the majority of the school week (Monday to Friday) including nights. If there is any query on the home address this will be checked against official documentation.
8.If a pupil moves into the admissions area outside the normal admissions round (or after the allocation process has been completed) there can be no guarantee of a place at the school if this would mean exceeding the admissions number. All applicants in this category will be considered against the admissions criteria set out above. Therefore, parents seeking a place at the School should complete the Local Authority’s In-Year Common Application Form and the attached supplementary form for Sacred Heart Primary School and return this form directly to the Local Authority. The Local Authority will then liaise with all the Schools listed as a preference to ascertain which (if any) preferences can be met. If a pupil qualifies for a place at more than one school the parent’s highest ranked preference will be offered and any lower ranking offers will be disregarded.
9.Overriding priority will be given to pupils who have a statement of Special Educational Needs which names the school. Priority may also be given to the admission of “hard to place” pupils in accordance with Luton’s In-Year Fair Access Protocol for Primary Schools.
10.A practising Catholic is defined as someone who attends Mass weekly.
11.A Christian means a member of ‘Churches Together in England’: Antiochian Orthodox Church, Baptist Union of Great Britain, Catholic Church, Cherubim and Seraphim Council of Churches, Church of England, Church of God of Prophecy, Church of Scotland (Presbytery of England), Congregational Federation, Coptic Orthodox Church, Council of African and Caribbean Churches UK, Council of Oriental Orthodox Christian Churches, Ichthus Christian Fellowship, Independent Methodist Churches, Joint Council for Anglo-Caribbean Churches, Lutheran Council of Great Britain, Methodist Church, Moravian Church, New Testament Assembly, New Testament Church of God, Oecumenical Patriarchate, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Religious Society of Friends, Russian Orthodox Church, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Transatlantic Pacific Alliance of Churches, United Reform Church, Wesleyan Holiness Church. Proof of membership must be provided by the appropriate church leader.
12.An equal preference system means that all first, second and third preference applications are considered equally against the school’s admissions criteria.
13.Applications received after the closing date will not be considered in the initial allocation of places, except in very exceptional circumstances. Where parents have submitted an application form before the closing date, but then seek to change their preference after the closing date, this late expression of preference will be treated as a ‘late’ application and will not be considered in the initial allocation of places. Late applications and late changes of preference will be processed as soon as possible after the offer date. Late applications for a place at Sacred Heart Primary School should be routed through Luton Local Authority in accordance with coordinated admission arrangements.
14.Appeals:
Any pupil refused the offer of a place has the right of appeal to an independent appeals panel. Parents can lodge an appeal by writing to the Admissions Clerk. Appeals will be heard within 40 days of the appeal being lodged. In respect of appeals for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 the Independent Appeals Panel will decide on:
-Whether the school’s admission arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code and Part 3 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
-Whether the arrangements were correctly applied.
-Whether the admission of another student would prejudice the efficient education and use of resources within the school.
The panel exercises its discretion balancing the degree of prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child being admitted, before arriving at a decision.
In respect of appeals for Years R, 1 and 2 an appeal panel can only offer a place to a child where it is satisfied that either:
-The child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had been properly implemented;
-The child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had not been contrary to mandatory provisions in the School Admissions Code and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998; and/or:
-The decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case.
15. School Transport:
Information on eligibility for assistance with transport can be found in the LA ‘Starting School’, A guide for Parents and Carers produced by LBC. Eligibility criteria are also set out in the Council’s Home to School Transport Policy.
16. For information on parish boundaries contact Bishop’s House, Marriott Street,Northampton, NN2 6AW.
17 . Deferred Entry
The School admits children into Reception classes in the September prior to the child’s fifth birthday. Parents/carers can choose to defer their child’s entry to school until he or she is of compulsory school age, providing this place is taken up within the same academic year.
Therefore:
Children born between 1/9/05 – 31/12/05 can defer their place until January 2011.
Children born between 1/1/06-31/8/06 can defer their place until April 2011.
Parents/carers cannot defer their child’s entry beyond the dates given above. Parents/carers of children born between 1/4/06-31/8/06, who would like their child to start school in September 2011 would need to reapply for admission at a later date. These applications would be treated as an ‘in-year’ admission request and a place would only be offered if there were vacancies in the year group.
This example relates to pupils due to join the Reception Year in academic year commencing September 2010. Should this admissions policy continue to operate for 2011 and 2012 intakes, the dates will reflect those given above, only the year will be updated.
Parents/carers wishing to defer their child’s entry to school must put their request in writing to the Headteacher, ideally within 21 days of being offered a place by the Council
.
