REIGATE PARISH CHURCH SCHOOL
ADMISSION POLICY APRIL 2011 (FOR SEPTEMBER 2012 ENTRY)
Reigate Parish Church of England Infant School has a distinctive Christian ethos which is at the heart of this School and provides an inclusive, caring and supportive environment where children learn and flourish in a setting shaped by Christian values. We welcome applications from all members of the community and we expect all parents to respect the Christian ethos of our school and its importance to our community.
The school has a planned admissions number of 60. There are two categories of entry to Reigate Parish Church School: Foundation Places and Open Places. Reigate Parish Church School works with Surrey County Council using the equal preference admissions’ procedure under their co-ordinated admissions’ scheme.
The Governing Body is required to abide by the maximum limits for infant classes (5, 6 and 7 year olds), ie 30 pupils per class.
ALL applicants MUST return the Surrey County Council application form to the Local Authority by the declared closing date. Applicants for Foundation Places MUST return the Supplementary Information Form to Reigate Parish Church School by the declared closing date.
Applications received after the closing date will be considered after places have been offered to those who applied by the closing date. After the initial offers are made, late applicants will be included on the appropriate waiting list.
Separate waiting lists are kept for Foundation and Open places for each year group and the published admission policy criteria are applied when spaces become available. We will hold these lists until the end of the summer term 2013. Looked After Children will be given priority ahead of any other applicant regardless of the category in which the vacancy arises. The Governing Body will not consider further applications or changes to applications after the declared closing date unless there is a significant or material change, in accordance with the Surrey County Council guidelines.
Where we offer a place to parents before their children are of compulsory school age, we must allow parents to request that their child’s entry be deferred until later in the same school year. The effect is that the place is held for your child and is not available to be offered to another child. In law your child is required to be in education at the start of the school term following their fifth birthday.
If your child is not offered a place, you have the right to appeal to an independent panel.
Definitions used in this policy [PLEASE READ THESE CAREFULLY AS THEY ARE USED THROUGHOUT THE POLICY]
- “Active Participants”- is taken to mean adult membership as usually understood by the relevant church along with regular attendance at organised worship or spiritual gathering (not necessarily on a Sunday but not including business or social events).
- “Brothers and Sisters” – are related brothers and sisters, step-siblings, foster and adopted siblings who share the family home.
- “Closest to the School” – is defined as the closest, as the crow flies. This distance is measured from the address point of the pupil’s house, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the external south western corner of the school hall building (where it meets the access slope to the playground). This is calculated using the Admission and Transport Team’s Geographical Information System based on the child’s home address at the date of application as stated on the application form. The child’s home address is his or her permanent address or, in cases of shared custody, where he or she spends most of the time. If your child does not live with you, you must tell us when filling in the application form and explain why this is the case. If you do not tell us about an arrangement like this or use a relative’s address for your application, we may consider this to be an attempt to get a school place using false information and withdraw any place offered.
- “Local Anglican Church” is taken to mean St Mary’s Parish Church or one of the neighbouring Anglican (Church of England) Churches of St Mark’s, St Luke’s with St Peter’s, Holy Trinity, St Philip’s, St Matthew’s and St John’s.
- · “Medical or Social Need” - is an exceptional medical or social need of a child, supported by written evidence from an appropriate professional, e.g. from a hospital consultant, social worker, or educational psychologist, which sets out (a) material reasons why the characteristics of Reigate Parish Church School make it the most suitable school for that child, and (b) the difficulties that would be caused to that child if he or she had to attend another school. Letters from parents or other relatives or connected persons would not normally be considered as suitable evidence
- “Other Christian Churches” is taken to mean churches and chapels of any Trinitarian Christian denomination.
- “Parents” – in this policy means one or both parents, or at least one legal guardian.
- “Regularly Worship” - is taken to mean that the Parents regularly attend their church a minimum of twice per month during the eighteen months preceding the date of application.
FOUNDATION PLACES
The Governing Body has designated 30 places each year as Foundation Places. These places will be offered to children whose Parents are Active Participants of, and Regularly Worship in, a Local Anglican Church or other Christian Churches in the following order of priority:
F1. Children in public care (Looked After Children).
F2. Brothers and Sisters of pupils attending the school at the time of the younger sibling’s admission whose Parents are Active Participants of, and Regularly Worship in a Local Anglican Church.
F3. Brothers and sisters of pupils attending the school at the time of the younger sibling’s admission whose Parents are Active Participants of, and Regularly Worship in other Christian Churches.
F4. Children whose Parents are Active Participants of, and Regularly Worship in a Local Anglican
Church.
F5. Children whose Parents are Active Participants of, and Regularly Worship in other Christian Churches.
A written reference from a member of the clergy of the Church you have recorded on the Supplementary Information Form will be required for all the above which the school will seek. If the reference does not vouch that the parents are Active Participants and Regularly Worship at the church, then a Foundation place cannot be offered. If it becomes necessary to choose between children in a particular category, available places will be awarded to children whose homes are Closest to the School. Identical distances will be determined by the drawing of lots. If, by the Surrey County Council declared closing date, we are oversubscribed and there are fewer than 30 applicants for Foundation places, any unfilled places will be offered to Community applicants.
If there are too many Foundation Place applicants for the number of places, unsuccessful Foundation applicants can, on written request, be placed on a Foundation Place waiting list. The waiting list will be administered in accordance with the admission policy.
OPEN PLACES
The Governing Body has designated 30 places each year as open places. Parents applying for an open place do so knowing that the school provides an education based on Christian principles. The Governing Body hopes that all pupils will take part in the Christian worship and religious education.
These places will be offered in the following order of priority:
O1. Children in public care (Looked After Children).
O2. Brothers and sisters of pupils attending the school at the time of the younger sibling’s admission.
O3. Children whose homes are Closest to the School.
If it becomes necessary to choose between children in a particular category, available places will be awarded to children whose homes are Closest to the School. Identical distances will be determined by the drawing of lots. If, by the Surrey County Council declared closing date, we are oversubscribed and there are fewer than 30 applicants for Open places, any unfilled places will be offered to Foundation applicants. Unsuccessful Open applicants can, on written request, be put on an Open Place waiting list. The waiting list will be administered in accordance with the admission policy.
If there are any unallocated places by the declared Surrey County Council closing date, any further applicants will be considered on an individual basis by the Admissions’ Panel in accordance with the admissions’ criteria.
EXCEPTIONAL NEEDS
At the sole discretion of the Governing Body, children with a known Medical or Social Need to come to Reigate Parish Church School, will be considered in priority to other applicants, other than looked after children. The Exceptional Circumstances Supplementary Admission Form, available from the school office, must be completed and returned to Reigate Parish Church School before the declared closing date, accompanied by appropriate written evidence. This applies to both Open and Foundation applications.
