SS Mary & John CE Primary School

DRAFT ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2013–AUGUST 2014

Entry to Foundation 1

Foundation 1 (F1) for SS Mary & John CE Primary School is sited in Comper Foundation Stage School, Hertford Street, which works in partnership with SS Mary & John.

The governors of SS Mary & John are responsible for admissions to F1, in consultation with the Local Authority (LA) and the Diocese.

The school conforms to all the dates and procedures given in the Oxfordshire LA admissions booklet Starting School.
To apply for a child to be admitted to F1, parents (see note 1) must complete the Oxfordshire Common Admissions Preference Form, CAPF (Primary), naming SS Mary & John as one of their three preferred schools. The form is available from the LA, on paper and also via the Oxfordshire County Council website ( All applications will be given equal consideration, regardless of whether the school is listed as first, second or third preference. Parents do not need to provide any information, other than that requested on the CAPF form, or fill in any supplementary form.

The school has an agreed admissions number of 60 pupils for entry to F1, which reflects the school’s net capacity. Children are admitted without reference to ability, aptitude or religious affiliation.

Children are admitted at the beginning of the school year (1 September - 31 August) in which they reach their fifth birthday. Entry in September 2013 is therefore open to children born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009. Governors will not consider requests for earlier admission to the school.

Parents may defer entry to the school up until the point where the child reaches compulsory school age (beginning in September,January or April after his/her fifth birthday), in which case the school will hold the place for the child, provided the place is taken up within the school year 2013-2014. If parents wish to defer entry for a child born between 1 April and 31 August 2009 to September 2013, they should submit a fresh "in-year" application in 2013 for a Year 1 place in September 2013. It should be noted that there might not be any vacancies in Year 1, which could have 60 children transferring from the F1 Year. Parents may also request that their children attend part-time until the point where they reach compulsory school age. In such cases parents should discuss detailed arrangements with the Headteacher.

Late applications will be considered, but only after all the applications which are received by the deadline (specified on the CAPF form) have been allocated places.

There are established arrangements for appeals against non-admission, details of which are available from the school.

The school maintains a “continuing interest” list for children who have not been admitted. In the event of places becoming available for children on this list, priority will be determined using the same criteria as initially applied (see above). No account will be taken of the length of time a name has been on the list. If a place becomes available, it will be allocated to the first child on the “continuing interest” list as it stands at the point at which the school receives confirmation from the LA that the place has become available.

Entry to Years 1 to 6 (In-Year Admissions)

Admissions for places in Years 1 to 6 (when a family has moved to the area, for example, or wish for a child to transfer from another school) are often referred to as “in-year” admissions.

Applications must be made to the Headteacher and will be considered by a committee of the Governors.

Children will be admitted provided there are spaces available in the relevant year group. Each of Years 1 to 6 has 60 places. In the case of over-subscription, the governors will apply the same criteria as for admission to F1. .

Requests from parents for places outside a normal age group will be considered carefully, eg for those who have missed education because of ill health. Each case will be considered on its own merits and circumstances. However cases will not normally be agreed without a consensus that to do so would be in the pupil’s interests. The governors will ask relevant professionals for their opinion on the case. Those refused places will be informed of their statutory right to appeal.

In accordance with the Schools Admissions Code, which recommends strategies to allow all school to admit a more even share of children with difficulties, the school participates in the Oxfordshire CC Fair Access Protocol.

The governors will not consider repeat applications for the same year group unless there has been a material change in circumstance eg. a move from outside to inside the designated area

Contacting the School

Contact: Mrs Liz Burton, Headteacher, SS Mary & John CE Primary School, Hertford Street, Oxford OX4 3AJ. Tel. 01865 248865. Website

Visits are welcome. Please ring the school office to arrange an appointment.

The school’s admissions policies comply with all relevant legislation, including that on infant class sizes and equal oppies.
Notes

Note 1. Here “parent” means either of the child’s natural parents; or any person who, although not one of the natural parents, has parental responsibility for the child; or any person who, although not one of the natural parents, has care of the child. If you are in any doubt, please contact the school for advice.

Note 2. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions.

Note 3. The definition of disability used will be that of the Disability Discrimination Act, as amended.

Note 4. Members of staff include Teachers and support staff, who have worked for the school for more than two years and for more than 25 hours a weekd..

Note 4. Here “normal home address” means a permanent address, where the child spends the majority of the school week (Monday to Friday, including nights). If the child does not live at the home address given on the CAPF form, this must be declared and reasons given. (Childcare arrangements will not be considered to be sufficient reason.) The school reserves the right to check the validity of the home address given.

Note 5. Information about the school’s designated area can be found by postcode at or a paper copy of the road guide for a particular town can be requested from the LA admissions team on 01865 815175. Maps showing the school’s designated area are also available in the school offices at Hertford Street and Meadow Lane. If you are not yet resident in the designated area but are intending to move into it, please be aware that before the governors will consider an application for a place at the school they will need evidence that the child will be resident in the area on 1 September 2013.

Note 67 .Here “sibling” means a brother or sister of whole or half blood, or any other child (including an adopted child) who permanently resides at the same address as the child and for whom the same adult has parental responsibility.

Note 7 Members of staff are teachers and support staff who have worked at the school for more than two years and for more than 20 hours a week,

Note 88. The “nearest designated public route” used will be as defined by the Geographic Information System of the Directorate for Children, Young People and Families. The measurement will be taken to the school site (main gate of either Hertford Street or Meadow Lane) nearest to the child’s home address.

In the unlikely event that the measurement of distance produces an identical measurement for two or more children and there are too few places available for both/all those children to be admitted, random allocation (see note 97) will be used to determine who will be offered a place.

In the case where there is one place available, and the next child on the list is a twin, triplet etc., we would admit both twins (and all the children in the case of other multiple births) even if this means exceeding the agreed admission number of 60 . Places will be offered to both twins and all children from multiple births living at the same address, even in the case that the offer will lead to exceeding the Infant class size.

Note 9. If it is necessary to use random allocation, an independent party (usually the Admission’s Officer from Oxfordshire Local Authority) will draw names out of a hat. The interested parties will be notified when the draw is to take place and may be present to observe the draw.

Comment on these draft admissions arrangements should be made to the Chair of Governors at the school or by email to

Consultation will end 15 March 2012

Appendix 1 Admissions figures for 2011/12

There were 147 applications naming the school as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice .

Of the places offered:

1 was a child with Special Educational Needs

9 had siblings already in school and lived in the school’s designated area.

19 had siblings already in school and lived outside the school’s designated area.

31 lived in the school’s designated area.

There were three appeals: none were successful

We have been over over-subscribed for the last four years.