Admissions policy 2009-2010
Hampshire County Council is the admission authority for all community and voluntary controlled primary and secondary schools. The admission arrangements are determined by the County Council, after statutory consultations.
The County Council will consider first all those applications received by the published deadline midday on Friday 21 November 2008. Late applications (i.e. those submitted after midday 21 November 2008) will be considered after all on-time applications have been fully processed unless exceptional circumstances merit earlier consideration. Letters to parents offering a primary school place will be sent by the County Council on 23 January 2009.
The published admission number (PAN) for
For the main admission round, all preferences will be considered simultaneously and ranked in accordance with the admission criteria. If more than one school can offer a place, the parent’s highest stated preference will be allocated.
If the school is oversubscribed, places will be offered in the following priority order. Places for late applications will be allocated using the same criteria:
1. Children who are in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by that authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989. (A letter from the Children’s Services Department confirming the child’s status must be provided.)
2. Children or families who have a serious medical, physical or psychological condition which makes it essential that the child attends the preferred school rather than any other. (Appropriate medical or psychological evidence must be provided in support.)
3. Children living within the catchment area of the school who at the time of application have a brother or sister (including children living as siblings in the same family unit) on the roll of the preferred school and who will still be on roll at the time of the sibling’s admission.
3A. Children living within the catchment area of the school whose parents are active members of the Church of England and who request admission on denominational grounds and provide relevant evidence.
4. Children living within the catchment area of the school who live closest to the school, based on a straight line measurement from the school to the entrance of the property. (See ‘Distance measurement’ paragraph for details.)
5. Children living outside the catchment area of the school who, at the time of application have a brother or sister (including children living as siblings in the same family unit) on the roll of the preferred school and who will still be on roll at the time of the sibling’s admission.
5A. Children living outside the catchment area of the school whose parents are active members of the Church of England and who request admission on denominational grounds and provide relevant evidence.
6. Children living outside the catchment area of the school who live closest to the school, based on the measurement of a straight line from school to the entrance of the property. (See ‘Distance measurement’ paragraph for details.)
N.B. School Closures statement.
In the event of a school closure, pupils from the closing school may be given a higher priority (for example this might include the child being treated as in-catchment) within the admission criteria for any school nominated as the receiving school. Specific arrangements will be determined by the Local Authority in accordance with School Admissions Code and will be published at the time for the specific schools affected by a particular closure.
Siblings
Criteria 3 and 5 includes children who at the time of application have a sibling for whom the offer of a place at the preferred school has been accepted, even if the sibling is not yet attending.
Distance measurement
If the school is oversubscribed from within any of the above categories, the distance criterion (see 4 and 6 above) will be used to prioritise applications. This method of prioritising admissions will also apply to any ‘school specific’ criterion unless otherwise stated in the school brochure. Where straight line distance is used, Hampshire County Council’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be used to confirm the order of applicants. Distances to multiple dwellings will give priority to the ground floor over the first floor and so on. On individual floors, distances will be measured to the stairs leading to the communal entrance.
Multiple births
If the last pupil to be offered a place within the school’s published admission number (PAN) is a multiple birth or same cohort sibling, any further sibling will be admitted, if the parents so wish, even though this may raise the intake number above the school’s PAN. The PAN will remain unchanged so that no other pupil will be admitted until a place becomes available within the PAN.
Pupils with statements of special educational needs
The governors will admit any pupil whose final statement of special educational needs names the school.
In-Year Fair Access placements by the local authority
The local authority must ensure that all pupils are placed in schools as quickly as possible. It may therefore sometimes be necessary for a pupil to be placed by the local authority, or a local placement panel acting on behalf of the authority, in a particular school even if there is a waiting list for admission. Such placements will be made in accordance with the provisions of any protocol approved by the Admission Forum, based on government guidance. If an admission raises the number on roll above the PAN, no further pupil will be admitted from the waiting list until a place becomes available within the PAN.
Waiting list
When all available places have been allocated, schools will operate a waiting list. Parents who wish their child to be included on the waiting list must inform the school in writing. Any places that become available will be allocated according to the criteria of the admission policy with no account being taken of the length of time on the waiting list or any priority order expressed as part of the main admission round. In-year fair access and school closure arrangements will take priority over the waiting list.
The waiting list will be reviewed and revised –
· each time a child is added to, or removed from, the waiting list;
· when a child’s changed circumstances will affect their priority;
· at the end of each school year, when parents with a child on the waiting list will be contacted and asked if they wish to remain on the list for the following school year.
Parents may keep their child’s name on the waiting list of as many schools as they wish and for as long as they wish.
Deferred entry to Year R
Pupils reach statutory school age at the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday, but, in Hampshire, most pupils are admitted as rising fives. Places for pupils whose parents wish to defer entry to Year R may be held open until the beginning of the spring term of the academic year of the child’s fifth birthday. Places will not be reserved beyond this date. If parents of summer born rising fives wish to defer their admission until they reach statutory school age, admission will be considered for Year 1, their appropriate year group.