Over-subscription criteria for admission to South Gloucestershire infant, junior and primary schools in September 2008
Should a Community or Voluntary Controlled school be over-subscribed (i.e. if there are more applications than places available), initial allocations will be made according to the following criteria; these are listed in order of priority and will be applied to all applications received by the published closing date for applications, which is 4.30pm on Friday 19 October 2007.
1. Children in Public Care
2. Special Educational Needs
Where the child has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities and this requires admission to the school applied for.
3. Local siblings
Local siblings are defined as:
- only those living within the Area of Prime Responsibility;
- or, where there is no Area of Prime Responsibility, local siblings will be deemed to be those living up to a maximum of 2 miles from school by the nearest available walking route;
- or, where the distance is over 2 miles but the school is still the nearest school with a place available.
4. Geographical considerations (including reference to Areas of Prime Responsibility where appropriate).
Notes
1. Children in Public Care are those looked after by a Local Authority within the meaning of Section 22 of the Children Act 1989.
2. Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs are placed in schools through the arrangements set out in the SEN Code of Practice and not through these admission criteria. All governing bodies are required by Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 to admit to the school a child with a Statement of SEN that names the school. Schools must admit such children whether they have places or not. Any appeal concerning the Statement or the admission is to the independent Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Parents/ Carers of children with Statements of SEN should contact their child’s case officer for any further information.
Where a pupil does not have a Statement of Special Educational Needs, written supporting evidence will be required to be submitted at the time of application and should set out why the preferred school is the most suitable school and because of the pupil’s condition the diffculties that may be caused if he or she is placed at another school.
Examples of physical or mental impairment include:
- mobility or co-ordination problems;
- speech, hearing or eyesight impairment;
- progressive conditions e.g. cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy;
- mental illness that is recognised by a professional body of medical opinion.
This evidence must include a supporting letter from a relevant professional, for example a doctor or other specialist. Parents/ Carers will be responsible for submitting this evidence. If the required documents have not been supplied at the time of application, South Gloucestershire Council will not be able to consider admission under this criterion. On receipt of the written evidence South Gloucestershire Council will seek comments from independent professional advisers when considering applications under this criterion.
3. Siblings: children are siblings if:
- they are half or full brother or sister; or
- they are adoptive brother or sister; or
- they are children of the same household; and
- the older sibling is already in attendance at the preferred school and will be in attendance in September 2008 (statutory school age only).
For the purposes of the local sibling criterion, a paired infant and junior school will be treated as one school.
4. Geographical considerations: Where there are more applications for children living within an Area of Prime Responsibility than places available, priority will be given to applications from within the defined area who live closest to the preferred school and/ or furthest from an alternative school with a place available (as measured by the nearest available walking route from home address to school) with parental/carer preferences being met wherever possible. After places have been allocated from within the Area of Prime Responsibility, any remaining places will be allocated to those children living closest to the school and/or furthest from an alternative school with places available (as measured by the nearest available walking route). Distances from home to the nearest school gate are measured using the South Gloucestershire Council Routes to School Gazetteer adopted by 1 September 2007.
In the case of South Gloucestershire infant, junior and primary schools which do not have Areas of Prime Responsibility, places will be allocated to those children living closest to the school and/or furthest from an alternative school with places available (as measured by the nearest available walking route). Distances from home to the nearest school gate are measured using the South Gloucestershire Council Routes to School Gazetteer adopted by 1 September 2007.
Documentary Evidence
In fairness to all parents/carers, South Gloucestershire Council reserves the right to require documentary evidence in support of the application. For example, evidence of a child’s date of birth, parent/carer responsibility, the validity of a family address and, if this is not produced, South Gloucestershire Council reserves the right to make its own enquiries. Examples of evidence which may be requested include a birth certificate, a copy of a court order, a solicitor’s letter confirming exchange of contracts and completion date on a new property, a rental agreement, a letter from an employer, a solicitor’s letter confirming residency, a letter from a bank or building society, a child benefit book or evidence of the child’s residency.
Withdrawing Offers
Once the offer of a place has been made, South Gloucestershire Council may withdraw this but only in very limited circumstances, for example:
- where the application was fraudulent or intentionally misleading; or
- where a parent/carer has not responded to the offer within a reasonable time.
See section 18 for further details.
Appeals
If a place is not offered at the parents’/carers’ preferred school there is the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel.
When offers of places are made on 3 March 2008, if it has not been possible to offer your child one of the schools of your preference you will automatically be sent details of how to appeal. Pending your appeal, your child will be offered a school place at the nearest school with a place available. If you live in South Gloucestershire and you have applied for a place at a non-South Gloucestershire school, the process is different and details of what to do are given at the end of this section.
If an appeal is unsuccessful there is no automatic right for a further appeal. However, if there are significant and material changes in the circumstances of the parent/carer, child or school since the time of the original appeal, this will be considered. A significant and material change in circumstances would include:
- Where a change of address has occurred which means the home address is signi?cantly closer to the preferred school or is now in the Area of Prime Responsibility for the preferred school;
- Where a sibling link has been created at the preferred school which was not there at the time of the original appeal;
- Where new evidence is introduced and is supported by a letter from a Doctor, Psychologist, Social Worker or Health Visitor which could not have been introduced at the time of the original appeal hearing.
Any requests for a further appeal should be made in writing to the Student Access & Support Team, Riverside Court, Bowling Hill, Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, BS37 6JX.
Late Applications
Applications received after the closing date are ‘late applications’ and will not normally be considered for the initial allocation of places unless there are exceptional circumstances. The process for dealing with late applications is set out in section 7 and in the frequently asked questions section.
Change of Preference After the Closing Date
Guidance to Admission Authorities, given in the School Admissions Code, clearly states that once parents/carers have made their preferences, Local Authorities must not allow them to be changed without a genuine reason for doing so, for example, if the family has recently moved address. For this reason parents/carers are strongly recommended to state three school preferences. There is no advantage in listing fewer than three schools or including the same school more than once.
St Peter’s CE VC Primary School
Pilning and Redwick & Northwick Primary Schools amalgamated to form St Peter’s CE VC Primary School from September 2007. Younger siblings of children already attending Pilning and Redwick & Northwick CE Primary Schools will be treated as Local Siblings for the purposes of admission to the new school if:
- they are half or full brother or sister, or
- they are adoptive brother or sister, or
- they are children of the same household; and
- they have indicated the new school as a ?rst preference; and
- the older sibling is already in attendance at either Pilning or Redwick & Northwick CE Primary Schools and will be in attendance at the new school in September 2008.
This arrangement will apply to admissions taking place from September 2007 to July 2013 inclusive.
Admission & Transfer Arrangements from Infant to Junior School for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools
In South Gloucestershire there are a number of infant schools ‘paired’ to junior schools. For paired infant and junior schools, transfer between these two schools will be automatic if this is the parents’/carers’ wish.
Parents/Carers have the right to express a preference for a junior or primary school other than the ‘paired’ school. If a place at the parent’s/ carer’s preferred school is not available then they have the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel.
Once places at junior schools have been allocated to children transferring from the paired infant school, any remaining places will be offered to other children according to the criteria for admissions to infant and primary schools set out at the beginning of this section.
A list of paired infant and junior schools is set out overleaf.
Listed below are the paired infant/junior schools:
Broadway Infant-The Ridge Junior
Brockeridge Infant-Highcroft Junior
Bromley Heath Infant-Bromley Heath Junior
Christ Church CE VC Infant-Christ Church CE VC Junior
Cranleigh Court Infant*-Fromebank Junior*
Crossways Infant -Crossways Junior
Raysfield Infant -Raysfield Junior
St Stephen’s Infant-St Stephen’s Junior
Samuel White’s Infant-Hanham Abbots Junior
* The draft School Organisation Plan 2007-12 sets out proposals to consult on the future amalgamation of Cranleigh Court Infant and Fromebank Junior schools.
Admission to all Year Groups During the School Year 2008/2009
All other applications for places for South Gloucestershire primary schools during the year 2008/2009, including those to other year groups, will be considered using the criteria set out at the beginning of this section.
Applications for Places at Voluntary Aided Schools in South Gloucestershire
Under the co-ordinated admission scheme set out in section 7, applications to Voluntary Aided schools in South Gloucestershire should be made by completing the application form contained in this booklet.
Residents of South Gloucestershire Applying to Schools in Other Local Authority Areas
If parents/carers live in South Gloucestershire and wish to express a preference for an infant or primary school not in South Gloucestershire, parents/carers need to apply directly to the relevant Admission Authority. For Community or Controlled schools this will be the Local Authority and for Voluntary Aided schools this will be the Governing Body of the school. It is important to note that the closing dates for applications to other Admission Authorities may not be the same as South Gloucestershire’s dates. (Section 4 sets out relevant details for neighbouring Local Authorities). Where an application to school in a neighbouring Local Authority is unsuccessful, it remains the responsibility of the Local Authority in which the child lives to provide an alternative offer of a school place. In these circumstances parents/carers are advised to contact the Student Access & Support Team of South Gloucestershire Council at the earliest opportunity for further advice.