GUILLEMONT JUNIOR SCHOOL ADMISSION POLICY for September 2011
Hampshire County Council’s Admission Policy for Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary, Infant and Junior Schools 2011-2012 Admissions September 2011
This policy will apply to all admissions from 1 September 2011, including casual admissions. The authority’s Fair Access protocol will be applied alongside the policy to secure the admission of vulnerable pupils from specific groups. It will be used during 2010-11 for allocating places for September 2011 as part of the main admission rounds for Year 3.
The guiding principles of the school admissions policy are that each Hampshire child should be offered a school place; that each school should serve its local community; that as many children as possible attend their parents’ preferred school; that siblings as far as possible can attend school together; and that children can benefit from curriculum continuity between schools serving the same catchment area. The policy aims to be clear, fair and objective and complies with all relevant legislation.
Admission Criteria
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 of midnight on Saturday 15 January 2011. Late applications (i.e. those submitted after midnight 15 January 2011) 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 28 April 2011.
For the main admission round, all on time 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 available 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 or its linked infant or junior school and who will still be on roll at the time of the sibling’s admission.
4. Other children living within the catchment area of the school.
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 or its linked infant or junior school and who will still be on roll at the time of the sibling’s admission.
6. Other children living outside the catchment area of the school.
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, straight line distance will be used to prioritise applications; applicants living nearer the school have priority. Hampshire County Council’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be used to determine distances. 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. This method of prioritising admissions will also apply to any ‘school specific’ criterion unless otherwise stated in the school's brochure.
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 same cohort 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 governing body 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 legislation and government guidance. If an admission through Fair Access 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, a waiting list will be operated by the local authority. Parents who wish their child to be included on the waiting list must inform the local authority 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. Fair Access admissions 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.
Legislation
This policy takes account of all relevant legislation including the legislation on sex discrimination, race relations, and disability, together with all relevant regulations and the School Admissions Code (DCSF 2007 & 2009).