ADMISSION POLICY 2011/12
Radwinter C E Primary School is a Voluntary Aided school which provides for the needs of pupils within 5 – 11 age range.
As a Voluntary Aided school the Governors are the Admission Authority. Essex County Council is the Local Authority. Applications are
made to Essex County Council who review the applications and parents preferences (which the school does not see) and, in the case of
oversubscription, how children fit with each school’s admission criteria – they then allocate places. Parents can then appeal if they want
a place other than the one allocated. The Governors set the admission number, which is currently 15.
In the event that the school is oversubscribed the following criteria will be applied in the order set out below, to decide which pupils to
admit.
(a) Children in care
(b) Pupils whose home address is within the ecclesiastical parish boundaries of Radwinter and Hempstead (giving a higher
priority to pupils who also meet criteria (c) below
(c) Pupils with a sibling who will continue to be at the school in the next academic year i.e. not in Year 6. (see definition of sibling
below).
(d) Pupils whose parents are attached to St. Mary’s, Radwinter or St. Andrews, Hempstead.
(e) Pupils whose parents are attached to another Anglican Church and for whom this is the nearest Aided School.
(f) Pupils whose parents are active members of a non-Anglican Christian denomination and for them this is the nearest Church
School.
(g) Pupils whose parents are active members of another faith and also express a desire for a Church School education.
(h) Other pupils.
Within each category those living nearest to the school are accorded higher priority. The distances are calculated by the Local Authority,
as defined in the Primary Education in Essex booklet, by use of a Geographical Information System which accurately measures the
straight line distance from the home address to the school.
Exceptional medical circumstances (supported by medical evidence) may override the above.
Please note, any child for whom the school is named in a statement of special educational needs will be admitted before the application
of oversubscription criteria.
For criteria d-g the Governors will seek information about the frequency of attendance at services and degree of involvement in the work
of the church and seek confirmation of these details from the local priest or minister.
Sibling definition
For applications made in the normal admission round a relevant sibling is a child who has a brother, sister, stepbrother or stepsister
living in the same family unit in the same family household and address who attends the preferred school in any year group excluding
the final year. Biological siblings who attend the preferred school in any year group excluding the final year will also be treated as siblings
irrespective of place of residence. Children residing in the same household as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not
be treated as siblings. For mid-year applications a sibling is a child who has a brother, sister, stepbrother or stepsister living in the
same family unit in the same family household and address as a child who attends or has been offered a place at the preferred school
at the time of application and determination and with a reasonable expectation that the sibling will be attending at the time of admission.
The Admission
Pupils will be admitted in the Autumn (September) term without reference to ability or aptitude. If a child’s birthday falls between 1st May
and 31st August, he/she will be admitted in September part time until the October half term then full time.
Applications
For children who will be starting school in the 2011/12 academic year, applications for admission to Reception will be handled in
accordance with the co-ordinated admission arrangements operated by Essex County Council and published in the Primary Education
in Essex 2011/12 booklet. The closing date for applications, which should be posted directly to Essex County Council, using the
Common Application Form provided by them, is 15th January 2011. Applications can also be made online up to the closing date at
www.essex.gov.uk/admissions.
Applications received after the closing date and the operation of the waiting list in the event of oversubscription will be handled in accordance
with the co-ordinated admission scheme. Essex County Council will hold any waiting list until the end of the first week of the
Autumn term, thereafter the Governors will hold any list(s) until the end of the following Spring term.
If you are applying under criteria d-g a Supplementary Information Form can be obtained direct from the school. The SIF is to be
returned to the school by 30th January 2010. The SIF alone does not constitute an application; parents must complete the County
Council’s Common Application Form.
Where a child is offered a place before they are of compulsory School age, parents have the option of deferring their child’s entry until
later in the same academic year, by agreement with the Head Teacher.
The Governors reserve the right to refuse admission if the appropriate year group has reached the published admission limit. If
admission is refused, information on how to appeal will be sent via the refusal letter.