Lincoln Bishop King Church of England Community Primary School, Kingsway, Lincoln

LINCOLN BISHOP KING CHURCH OF ENGLAND VOLUNTARY AIDED COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL, KINGSWAY, LINCOLN

‘Developing high standards and Christian values’

ADMISSIONS POLICY 2013/2014

Bishop King School is proud of its heritage as a Church of England Primary School. This Christian tradition influences the ethos of the school in which the children are encouraged to achieve their maximum potential within a caring environment. Children are encouraged to take part in all the activities within the life of the school.

Aims and objectives

We seek to be an inclusive school, welcoming children from all backgrounds and abilities and all applications will be treated on merit, and in a sensitive manner. The only restriction we place on entry is that of number. If the number of children applyingfor entry exceeds the places available, we adopt the procedure set out below to determinewhether a child is to be accepted or not. It is our wish for parents to find a place for theirchild at the school of their choice. However, this is not always possible, due to excessdemand on the places available.

How parents can apply for their child to be admitted to our school

Parents have a right to express their preference, but this does not, in itself, guarantee a place at that particular school. Application should be made on a form that can be obtainedfrom the Local Authority, the school office or you can apply online at

and should be returned by the closing date. Lincolnshire County Council will notify parents of the decision as soon as all theapplications have been considered.

In this area, children enter school at the start of the academic year in which they become five. There is one admission date per year, early in September (i.e. when the autumn termbegins). Therefore, parents who would like their child to be admitted to this school during

the year their child is five should ensure that they return the necessary application form by the end of December prior to their child entering school. Where application for admission exceeds the number of places available, the followingcriteria will be applied, in the order set out which children to admit. “In accordance with the

Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs, the allocation of school places for pupilswith a statement of special educational needs will take place before the school allocatesother places as part of the normal admissions process.”

Our current Pupil Admission Number (PAN) is 37 in year 3 – 6, 60 in Years 1 and 2 and 45 in Reception.

Bishop King CE Primary School follows the agreed co-ordinated scheme for admissions and this is available from the local authority. We will take account of ourstatutory responsibilities in respect of children with special educationalneeds.Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available the following criteria will be applied, to decide which children to admit:

1. Children in public care.
2. Children living in the ecclesiastical parishes of St Botolph’s and St Peter at Gowt’s with St Andrew. See a list of streets in appendix 1.
3. Children with a brother or sister already in the school and who will still be attending at the time the place is required.
4. Children with social needs whom a professional person, having worked with them for at least one term, recommends to the Governors as children who could benefit especially from a place in the school.
5. Distance of the child’s home to the school, with those living nearerbeing accorded the higher priority, which will be decided by theshortest measured route on the public highway between the post office address point of the home and the post office address point of theschool.If any of the oversubscription criteria have too many applicants then the tie break will be by straight line distance by the shortest measured route on the publichighway between the post office address point of the home and the post officeaddress point of the school. The child living closer to the school will beoffered the place.
6. Children whose parents can provide clear evidence of a religious affiliation which will be verified by a signed letter from an officiating minister at the place of worship. This will be assessed using the following criteria:

• Parents are faithful and regular worshippers at a Christian Church.
• Parents are practising members of another faith and wish their children to attend a Christian school because of its religious emphasis and ethos.
• The child is transferring from a church school and parents wish to maintain the continuity of a church school.

Attendance at the school nursery or Lincoln Central Children’s Centre does not confer any priority for admission to the school.

Parents who are not offered a place for their child have the right to appeal to an independent appeal committee under the 1998 School Standards and Framework Act. Parents wishing to appeal should obtain an appeal form from the school, complete the form and send to the Clerk of the Governors, care of the school, within 14 days of the date of notification of the decision.

Parents can defer entry until later in the school year and request a part time place.

Explanations and Definitions;

1. A child in public care is a child who is in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them in accordance with section 22 of theChildren Act 1989.
2. Sibling
3. A full brother or full sister, whether or not resident in the same household.
4. Another child normally resident for the majority of term time in the same household, for whom an adult in the household has parental responsibilityas defined in the Children Act 1989 or Section 579 of the 1996 EducationAct.
5. In the case of twins (or two siblings in the same age cohort) and where there is only one place available in the school, both will be consideredtogether as one application. The school will be authorised to exceed itsadmission number by one, except if this breaches infant class sizeregulations. In this case, parents will be given the choice, either to acceptthe one place available and a place in a different school for the other twin(or sibling) or to accept places in the nearest school with two places. Inthe latter instance, the County Council may provide free transport for bothchildren, provided the distance from home to school qualifies.
6. Distance from home to school
7. Driving distance. This is the shortest measured route on the public highwaybetween the post office address point of the home and the post office addresspoint of the school.
8. Home address This is the address where the child lives for the majority of the school term timewith a parent who has parental responsibility as defined in the Children Act1989 and a parent includes a person who is not a parent but who hasresponsibility for them. This could include a pupil’s guardians but will not usuallyinclude other relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc unless they have all the rights, duties, powers and responsibilities and authority which bylaw a parent of a child has in relation to the child and their property.Where a child lives normally during the school week with more than one parentat different addresses, the home address for the purposes of school admissionswill be that of the parent who lives closest, by straight line distance.Equally, where a family possesses more than one home, the Governors willtake as the home address the address where the family and child normally livefor the majority of the school term time.

Reserve list

For entry into reception a reserve list, sometimes known as a waiting list, iskept. This list will be used if the number of children falls below the publishedadmission number. If you listed the school on the common application formyour child’s name will automatically be placed on our reserve list. This list willbe kept until 31 August of each following year by the School Admission Team.The list will then be kept by the school until the end of the autumn term. If afamily move into the area they may be placed higher on the reserve listbecause the governors take account of where you are in relation to theoversubscription criteria and not the length of time you have been on the list.

Mid-year admissions

The governors will accept admissions into other year groups if there are places. If there are more applications than places then the oversubscription criteria willbe used to decide who should be offered the place. If there are no places thenyou will be told of the independent appeal system.

Fair Access

The government has stated that all Local Authorities must have a Fair Access agreement that allows hard to place children, for example those that have beenpermanently excluded, to be given a place before any oversubscription criteriaare applied and before anyone is considered from the reserve list. Suchchildren are shared out to make sure no one school has to take too many ofthese children.

The Governors have the right to investigate any concerns it may have with respect to the accuracy of information provided by parents on an applicationform and to withdraw the offer of a school place if there is evidence that parentshave made fraudulent claims, for example concerning parental responsibility oraddress given.

Appendix 1

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