Admissions

Children reach compulsory school age at the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday. The Council’s standard admissions policy entitles parents to places for their children, in one of the Council’s maintained schools, according to the date of their child’s fifth birthday.

Whitbourne C.E. Primary School allows a child who has their fifth birthday between 1^st September and 31^st August to start school in September. (The September preceding the child’s fifth birthday). Each school makes its own decision, after considering whether or not they are able to provide the accommodation, staffing, curriculum and care arrangements for their children.

However, parents are not obliged to take up this early offer of a place in September and they can delay the admission until the beginning of the spring term.

Herefordshire Local Education Authority is the Admissions Authority for the school.  We therefore follow the LEAs admission policy.  Applications should be made on the appropriate form available from Children’s and Young People’s Directorate, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 185, Hereford, HR4 9ZR. Their telephone number is 01432 26000.  The deadline for applications, for pupils starting in the Reception Class for the following September, is in January (This year it was 16^th Jan 2009 – but this does change from year to year) before the child enters school.  At this point, all applications are considered and parents’ choices given, except where the school is full.  In this instance, the LEA will apply their admission’s criteria.

HEREFORDSHIRE’S ADMISSIONS POLICY

When Schools are over subscribed

When there are more applications than places, in a community or voluntary controlled school, children are to be admitted on the basis of the published policy listed in the following order of priority:

i)                    Pupils with a Statement of Special Education Need which names the school or pupils in receipt of banding funding where the LEA identifies that a particular school is necessary;

(See Footnote 1)

ii)         Pupils in the ‘looked after’ system where the approved agencies agree that the preferred school meets the child’s social, pastoral and educational needs;              (see Footnote 2)

iii)        Pupils whose principal home address is within the catchment area of the school; (see Footnote 3)

iv)        Pupils who have a brother or sister at the preferred school not only at the time of application but also when the younger child is due to start; (see Footnote 4)

v)         Pupils with exceptional medical, social or compassionate grounds for admission and whose parents can show that entry to a particular school are necessary for the well being of their child. Parents are required to produce a medical certificate or other appropriate information preferably from an independent source.  Applications on such grounds will not be considered by the Director of Children’s Services or her advisory panel unless this supporting information is attached to application forms received by 7^th November 2008 (high schools) or 16^th January 2009 (primary schools); (see Footnote 5)

vi)                Pupils who live nearest to the school by the shortest available walking route.

(See Footnote 6)

General notes

No priority is given to pupils living outside but attending a primary school within the catchment area of the relevant high school, i.e. the determining factor is the child’s home address.

Footnote 1: This is the 1^st priority because the Council must comply fully with meeting the requirements of pupils with significant severe and complex special needs.

Footnote 2: This is the 2^nd priority because the Council wishes to protect children in public care from further disadvantage that can arise from possible changes of school when the care placement changes.

Footnote 3: This is the 3^rd priority because the Council gives high importance to try to ensure that children are able to attend the school within their local community.

Footnote 4: This is the 4^th priority to recognise the importance to daily family life, including travel arrangements, of having brothers/sisters at the same school where possible.  The rule is not intended to favour parents with a previous but no longer current family connection with the school (see also Section 3 for definition of ‘sibling’).

Footnote 5: This is the 5^th priority to be sensitive to exceptional needs that individual children and families may have.

Footnote 6: The 6th priority is a measurable, objective way of allocating the remaining places.

Where, at any school, applications exceed the number of places, the priorities will be applied in the sequence indicated above, i.e. after SEN and children in the ‘looked after’ system it will be catchment area children third, brothers and sisters fourth, special reasons fifth, then according to distance, each assessed as indicated above.

If the admission of the top three categories can be satisfied, but there are insufficient places for all out-area brothers and sisters, priorities will be decided first by reference to special reasons, then according to distance.

Following the allocation of the top two categories there may be an occasion when it is not possible to offer places for all children living in the catchment area. In this situation the places will be allocated in the sequence of the criteria listed above, i.e. first to children with brothers and sisters who would still be at the school in September 2009, next to pupils with validated medical, social or compassionate grounds, and finally according to distance from the school.