St Patrick S Primary School Plumstead

St Patrick’s Primary School Plumstead

ADMISSIONS Policy 2011-2012

ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL, PLUMSTEAD ADMISSIONS POLICY 2011-2012

St Patrick’s is a Catholic School in the Archdiocese of Southwark. It was established over 100 years ago to support the local Catholic community in educating their children in the Faith and still continues today to support local Catholic families in passing on the Faith to their children. The distinctive Catholic nature of the school permeates all that goes on in school and overflows into the local community and beyond. The ethos of the school encourages an active participation in the partnership between the local church, families and the school. Parents are expected to recognise and support the Catholic ethos of the school. The School Governors have responsibility for offering places in the school.

Parents/carers must complete a Common Application Form (CAF) available as a hard copy from the Admissions Section at their home Local Authority (LA) or the school and return it to the home LA. Alternatively, parents/carers mayapply online via the home LA’s website.

In addition to the CAF supplied by the LA, the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) should be completed by applicants applying under the faith criteria and sent to St Patrick’s School no later than the closing date published by the LA. This should be done even if the CAF is completed online. If the SIF is not completed, the governing body of the school will consider the application under criterion 7 (the last criterion). A hard copy of the SIF is available from the school office and the LA. It may also be downloaded from the LA’s website. You are advised to make two copies of the forms. You should retain one copy and pass the second copy to the school or your priest, as indicated.

The governors admit 45 children each year to the school and have a maximum of 52 x15 hour sessions in the nursery.

The principle on which our policy is based is that the children can best benefit with the school, parish and home working together.

Thus priority will be given to ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL CATHOLIC CHURCH COMMUNITY.

Priority will be given to the following criteria, in the order specified.

1. Baptised Catholic childrenwho are looked after by a local authority.

2. Baptised Catholic children whose parent(s)/carer(s) worship regularly at the Catholic churches of either StPatrick's, Plumstead or Holy Cross, Plumstead Common.

3. Other Baptised Catholic children.

4. Other looked after children.

5. Other children whose parent(s)/carer(s) are practising members of other Christian traditions.

6. Other children whose parent(s)/carer(s) are practising members of other faiths.

7. Any other applicant.

When we become oversubscribed in any of the above categories the following criteria are used in the order below:

a. Siblings of children on roll at the time of admission.This is defined as natural brothers/sisters, adopted brothers/sisters, step-brothers/sisters and foster-brothers/sisters but not other relatives (e.g. cousins) or unrelated children who live at the same address.

1. Distance from home to school. This will be measured in metres and in a straight line between thechild’s home and the main entrance of the school using the measurement supplied by the Greenwich Local Authority derived from their geographical information system. The computerised mapping system measures from a single fixed point in the centre of the home address to the main entrance of the school.

Regular worship is defined as the frequency of attendance at Mass. Applicants will be ranked in the order shown on the SIF, i.e. weekly, fortnightly, monthly, occasionally, with weekly attendance being given highest priority. Applications will be ranked weekly, fortnightly, monthly, occasionally, with weekly attendance being given the highest priority.

Home is defined as the principal home address at which the child lives for the majority of his/her time and with the parent who is in receipt of child benefit.If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building e.g. flats, priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically.

Sibling is defined as natural brothers/sisters, step-brothers/sisters and foster-brothers/sisters but not other relatives e.g. cousins or unrelated children who live at the same address.

Vacancies will be offered strictly in accordance with the school’s over-subscription criteria.

Right to appeal: Under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, you have the right to appeal against the decision not to offer your child a place at the school. If you wish to appeal for a place at St Patrick’s, an appeal form and guidance notes on the procedure are available from the school office at the above address and should be returned to the School Governors c/o St Patrick’s school Office.

Waiting lists: Parents of children who have not been offered a place at the school may ask for their child’s name to be placed on a waiting list. The waiting list will be operated using the same admissions criteria listed above. Waiting lists are held indefinitely. Placing a child’s name on the waiting list does not guarantee that a place will become available. This does not prevent parents from exercising their right to appeal against the decision not to offer a place. You need to state how long the waiting list is kept i.e. a term after the start of the academic year or for the entire academic year.

Late application: Any late applications will be considered by the Governors' Admissions Committee, in the event of there being any available places using the above criteria. If all places have been filled, parents/carers will be offered the opportunity of placing their child’s name on the waiting list. This does not prevent parents/carers from exercising their right to appeal against the decision not to offer a place.

In-Year Admissions: Procedures for in-year admissions will be in accordance with the LA’s scheme for the co-ordination of primary school admissions and Fair Access Protocol.

Full details of the admissions arrangements can be found in the school prospectus available from the school office.

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