Proposed Admission Arrangements for 2008

Appendix 2

Admission Forum – March 2007

Proposed Admission Arrangements for 2008

1Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs

• Children with statements – reference to these children should not be part of the oversubscription criteria. Each admission authority (AA) needs an overarching statement such as:-

“Children with statements of special educational needs are not subject to the oversubscription criteria. The school will admit all children whose statement names the school.”

• Some schools specify that the statement must name the school at the point of application. This is unrealistic. Schools need to be clear about the timescales for consultation, issuing amended drafts and issuing final amended statements naming the school.

• Several schools ask parents to attach a child’s statement. This is not acceptable. It is for the LA to issue statements to those schools it is consulting formally about possible admission.

*2Supplementary Forms

• A number of schools refer to their own “application forms” rather than supplementary forms.

• Schools need four separate forms and should not be attempting to amalgamate them.

i)the supplementary information form (SIF) which complements the HCC CAF and must only ask for that information which is essential in order for governors to apply their admissions criteria;

ii)an application for casual or in-year admissions;

iii)an admission form used only when a place has been offered and accepted, this form collects the essential information such as emergency contact details, medical condition etc;

iv)a home school agreement, again only used when a place has been offered and accepted; this is the correct place to cover the parent’s commitment to the ethos of the school etc. See Note 20

• Thus supplementary forms should not be asking for such information as:-

ethnicity

detail of periods in hospital

languages spoken at home

allergies

doctor’s details

immunisations

place of child in family

permission to go on school visits etc

None of the above examples is necessary to apply the admissions criteria. (1.71 – 1.73)

• Some supplementary information forms provide the opportunity for parents to provide additional evidence/supporting information. This is subjective and cannot be used by governors when applying the criteria. These sections must be deleted. When parents are applying under exceptional medical/social need they are required to attach independent evidence from relevant professionals.

• The completion of the supplementary information form is not a requirement. Applications must be considered even if there is no SIF. It is reasonable for admission authorities to state that SIF must be completed but then go onto say that, without it, the governors will have difficulty assessing the application and it is likely to be considered under one of the lower criteria.

NB. if a SIF exists but no CAF, there is noapplication to consider, hence the importance of not calling the SIF an application.

• Some schools are asking parents to list their preferred schools and their ranking. This is not acceptable and is unnecessary information, as first preference first and conditionality do not apply in Hertfordshire.

• As mentioned in 2(iv) above, commitment to the schools ethos/mission is properly dealt with in the home-school agreement. Parents should not be asked to sign statements of commitment at the point of application, nor should admission arrangements rely on subjective judgements. For example: “Parents must satisfy the governors that they are in sympathy with and support the catholic aims and ethos of the school.” If challenged by the adjudicator, the test for governors is, can they prove that each child has been correctly ranked using objective evidence which complies with the published admission arrangements.

*3.Defining Terminology

• Several schools need to define terminology more precisely. For example, terms such as ‘actively involved’, “regular attendance” and “habitually worship” need to be explained. Each potential applicant must have a shared understanding of the meaning. So do the various priests and ministers who are being asked to validate applications. For example, one policy states: ‘regular attendance at Sunday mass means attendance more often than not as judged by a priest.’ This is too vague and could lead to different interpretations.

The Archdiocese of Westminster produces a terminology handbook which is available to all of its schools in order to assist them in defining admissions terminology. The handbook explains that “more often than not” means attending mass three out of every four weeks. Parents need to be told this in the published admission arrangements.

*4.Exceptional social/medical need

• Exceptional social/medical needs should be a criterion in its own right. In some schools it is such a low priority that no child would gain access under this criterion in a popular school. In other schools it is a general tiebreaker applied to all criteria. This means that there could be a child with really compelling social/medical needs who qualifies under a low priority so, in fact, would not gain entry to an oversubscribed school. The number of such children is small and it is acceptable for schools to qualify the criterion by stating that the evidence is such that their school is the only appropriate school within a reasonable distance of home.

*5.Siblings

• Some schools need to alter the sibling rule to the time of admission, rather than application.

*6Withdrawing Places

• Some schools state that an offered place will be withdrawn if the family’s circumstances change (e.g. house move) before the place is taken up. This is not lawful and must be deleted. Either the application qualifies at the point at which all applications are considered or it does not. Once offered, the place must be honoured unless a fraudulent application has been submitted or the place has not been accepted within a designated period of time.

*7.Children of Staff

• Some schools give priority to the children of staff and such references must be deleted. However, following the offer date, if there is a demonstrable skills shortage the child(ren) of a new appointee can be admitted. For further detail see 2.14 of the Code.

8.Proof of Residency

• If proof of residency will be required when a place is offered, the admission arrangements should specify what evidence parents will be asked to produce.

9.Good Practice

• Some schools include helpful information on 2006 admissions to show parents how many applications there were and how many allocations there were under each criteria. All over-subscribed schools should do this.

• Some schools mention uniform grants and hardship funds. This is good practice and is recommended.

• All AAs should include a paragraph about vulnerable children and there are some good examples:

“The school is committed to taking its fair share of vulnerable children who are hard to place, in accordance with locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal round of admissions, the governing body is empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under any local protocol which carries the agreement of both the governing body and the Diocese for the current admission year. The governing body has this power even when admitting such a child would exceed the Published Admission Number.”

• The entire admissions process is explained very clearly in several policies.

10.Primary Issues

• Some schools expect evidence of worship at a named church for two or three years. This discriminates against families who have moved into the area more recently and, in particular circumstances, could contravene the Race Relations (Amendment) Act. St Andrew’s, Hitchin deals with this by saying: “for families who move into Hitchin during this time and become worshippers at one of the churches, it can also include previous attendance at such other Christian churches as the Governors approve.”

• Nursery admission arrangements should give top priority to LAC. The number of such children must be very small but it is essential such children receive good pre-school experiences.

• All schools explain the parent’s right of appeal but few explain the nature of appeals when infant class size regulations apply. Doing so, might reduce the number of appeals.

*11Secondary Issues

• Many schools admit on ability/aptitude grounds. All such schools should offer assistance to children taking tests who have SEN or are disabled i.e. “If you consider that your child may be disadvantaged because of their special educational needs or disability, please include independent written evidence with your supplementary information form so we can make appropriate provision.”

• Many schools allocate proportions of applications to different criteria. In all cases the words “up to” x% should be included and for clarity the actual number should be included. Arrangements must specify how any unfilled places are re-allocated

• Many schools select on the basis of ability or aptitude for a proportion of places. The admission arrangements need to specify how unsuccessful candidates are dealt with. For example: “Those who have applied for a specialist place but are unsuccessful, will be considered under the remaining criteria.”

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