Admissions

Admissions Policy 2018/19

Northaw Primary is a Church of England Voluntary Aided School. The governors will admit up to 15 children to the Nursery and Reception Groups during each academic year, without reference to ability or aptitude.

The Local Authority (LA) Hertfordshire operates an agreed co-ordinated admissions scheme in line with government legislation. The LA will manage the process on behalf of the school according to the scheme published each year. The Governing Body, as the Admission Authority, will allocate the available places in line with this policy.

The closing date for admission application forms to be received by the home LA is 15th January 2018. Information on completing the ‘on line’ application and notification dates of admission decisions are published in the LA admissions literature, which is also available from the LA website.

Parents/carers are requested to complete our Supplementary Information Form and Enrolment Form and return them to the school office by the above date.  If a SIF is not completed the Governing Body will apply their admission arrangements using the information submitted on the Common Application Form only, which may result in your application being given a lower priority.

Please note that the information in this policy is correct for the year shown. Policies for future years may well be different.

Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 requires the governing bodies of all maintained schools to admit a child with a statement of special educational needs that names their school. Schools must also admit children with an EHC (Education, Health and Care) Plan that names the school.

In the event of there being more applicants than there are places available, the governors will apply the following criteria in the priority order of categories as listed.

Category 1: Children looked after and children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order). See DEFINITIONS

Category 2: Children who at the time of entry are living within that part of the area of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Northaw and Cuffley. Click here to see a map of the parish. 

Category 3: Siblings of children already at the school at the time of entry. See DEFINITIONS 

Category 4: Children whose parents/guardians have, at the time of application, and for a period of six months previously, at least once in each calendar month, attended public worship at a Church which is a member of Churches Together in England or Evangelical Alliance. Applicants in this category will be required to provide written evidence of attendance from their parish priest.

Category 5: Parents who can demonstrate that admission to the school is essential for the medical or social well being of their child. Supporting evidence from a relevant official will be required. See DEFINITIONS

Category 6: Any other children.

In the event of categories 2 to 6 being oversubscribed the determining factor will be the proximity to the child’s home to the school as defined by the Local Authority in the booklet Starting School and using its GIS system.

Every effort will be made to accommodate twins and other ‘multiple birth’ applications provided that this does not breach maximum class size regulations.

Starting Primary School (Reception)

Pupils will be admitted full time from the September after their fourth birthday. Parents may request that their child attends part-time until they are of compulsory school age. Please note that parents of children in the nursery are not guaranteed a place in reception; they must reapply.

DEFINITIONS:

In respect of the following categories, the governors use the same definitions as the Local Authority (LA), set out in their booklet ‘Starting School’.

Category 1 Children looked after:

The Children’s Act 1989 defines a child who is looked after as a child or young person who accommodated by the local authority (section 20) or a child or young person who is the subject of a full care order (section 31) or interim care order (section 38). An adoption order is an order under section 46 of the Adoption  and Children Act 2002. A residence order is an order setting out the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. Section 14 A of the Children Act 1989 defines a special guardianship order as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).

Category 3 Siblings:

Children who have a sibling on the roll of the school at the time of application. This applies to reception through to Year 5 in primary schools.

Category 5 Social or medical need:

Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school. A panel of officers will determine whether the evidence provided is sufficiently compelling to meet the requirements for this rule. The evidence must relate specifically to the school applied for and must clearly demonstrate why it is the only school that can meet the child’s needs. 

In the case of older children who apply to join the school, admission will be on the basis of places being available in the relevant class group.  If there are more applicants for places than places available, then the above admissions policy will apply.

Continuing interest (waiting) list and ‘in-year’ applications.

In the event of more applications than available places the governors will maintain a continuing interest list (waiting list). These and late applications will go onto this list in a position determined by the criteria. If a place becomes available in the school it will be offered to the child that best meets the published admission rules. All ‘in year’ applications will be coordinated by the LA on behalf of the school, but a SIF is still requested.

Parents are requested to inform the governors if they wish their child’s name to be removed. The governors will maintain the list until 31st December each year.

Notification of the places to be offered will be confirmed by the home Local Authority. The Local Authority will be informed of your decision to accept the place. Parents who have not been allocated a place for their child in the reception class have the right of appeal to an independent panel. Parents will be informed of their right to appeal in the allocation letter from the home LA. If they wish to appeal parents should contact the Hertfordshire LA Customer Focus team. At transfer time parents wishing to appeal who applied on line should log into their online application and click on the link 'register an appeal '.For those who did not apply on line, please contact the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request an appeal pack. For in-year applications parents wishing to appeal should contact the school directly in the first instance.