Key dates:

http://ow.ly/dZOl30gEbZR

Admissions Policy 2023/24:Holy-Trinity-Admissions-Policy-23 24

SIF 2023/24: Holy-Trinity-SIF-23 24

Admissions Policy 2024/25:Holy-Trinity-Admissions-Policy-24 25

SIF 2024/25: Holy-Trinity-SIF-24 25

 

We are currently consulting on our Admissions arrangements for 2025/26: Holy-Trinity-Admissions-Policy-25 26 Draft 1

 

Introduction

The school is a one-form entry so that children are in a class with others of their own age group.  This policy is designed to allocate places on agreed criteria in the event of there being more applications than places available. Our Published Admission Number (PAN) is 30.

Policy

The school does not have any specific units or facilities for pupils with particular special needs and there are no specific facilities for pupils with physical disabilities.  The school is however on a level site, and all the accommodation is on one floor; there are also ramps at the main entrance and at the entrance to the playground.  All classrooms may be entered without steps.  As far as possible, the school will ensure that pupils with disabilities have access to the same opportunities as other pupils. The Governing Body is responsible for the admission of pupils to Holy Trinity Church of England School and admits 30 pupils to Reception each September. This admission number has been agreed between the Governing Body and the Local Authority and applies to the year 2023/24.

The Governing Body is required by law to abide by the maximum limits for infant classes (5, 6 and 7 year olds), ie 30 pupils per class.

Parents/carers are requested to complete our Supplementary Information Form (SIF) and return it to the school office by the agreed date.  This can be optained from the office or is available on the school website. If a SIF is not completed the Governing Body will apply their admission arrangements using the information submitted on the Common Application Form (CAF) only, which may result in your application being given a lower priority. The CAF is available online via the Herts Direct Admissions website www.hertsdirect.org/admissions.

Multiple births

Holy Trinity as the admission authority will admit over the school’s published admission number when a single twin/multiple birth child is allocated the last available place at the school.

Deferred Entry.

Parents/carers can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning fo the final term of the school year for which it was made. Where parents/carers wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

Summer-born children (pupil out of chronological age).

Parents of a summer-born (1 April-31 August) child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group to Reception rather than Year 1.

The Admissions Committee will make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. They will also take into account the views of the head teacher.

When informing parents of their decision on the year group to which the child should be admitted, the Admissions Committee will set out clearly the reasons for their decision.

Where an Admissions Committee agrees to a parent’s request for the child to be admitted out of their normal age group and, as a consequence of that decision, the child will be admitted to a relevant age group (ie Reception), the admission authority will process the application as part of the main admissions round.

The statutory right to appeal does not apply if they are offered a place at the school but not in their preferred age group.

Please note that the information in this policy is correct for the year shown. Policies for future years may well be different.

How places are offered.

The Governors are required to admit a pupil with an Education Healthcare Plan (EHC) which names the school.

In the event of there being more applications than places available, the Governors will allocate places in the priority order of the following criteria. It is assumed that all parents are desirous of their children receiving an education within the Christian context of this Church of England School.

1. Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order¹ or a special guardianship order².

Places are allocated to children in public care according to Chapter 7, Section 2 of the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012.

These children will be prioritised under rule 1.

Highest priority will also be given to children who were previously looked after, including those looked after outside England, but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangement order or a special guardianship order.

A “child looked after” is a child who is:

1. a) in the care of a local authority, or
2. b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (section 22(1) of The Children Act 1989)

All children adopted from care who are of compulsory school age are eligible for admission under rule 1.

Children in the process of being placed for adoption are classified by law as children looked after providing there is a Placement Order and the application would be prioritised under Rule 1.

Children who were not “looked after” immediately before being adopted or made the subject of a child arrangement order or special guardianship order, will not be prioritised under rule 1.

Applications made for these children, with suitable supporting professional evidence, can be considered under rule 2.

¹ Child arrangements order Under the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014, which amended section 8 of the Children Act 1989, residence orders have now been replaced by child arrangements orders which settle the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live.

² Special guardianship order Under 14A of The Children Act 1989, an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians. Children previously looked after abroad and subsequently adopted will be prioritised under Rule 1 if the child’s previously looked after status and adoption is confirmed by Hertfordshire’s “Virtual School”.

The child’s previously looked after status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children & Social Work Act 2017:

1. to have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately, and
2. to have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted.

A child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by –

(a) a public authority,

(b) a religious organisation, or

(c) any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society

2. Children of parents or guardians who are practising members of Christ Church, Waltham Cross. By practising is meant attending Sunday worship at Christ Church at least six times a year and having a letter from Priest/Minister to verify attendance.

NOTE:

In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these admission arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.

3. Children who reside in the same family grouping and have a sibling at the school at the time of their proposed admission. (A sibling means the sister, brother, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, child of the parent/carer or partner or a child looked after or previously looked after* and in every case living permanently** in a placement within the home as part of the family household from Monday to Friday at the time of this application.

*Children previously looked after are those children adopted or with a special guardianship order or child arrangements order. This definition was amended following a determination by the OSA in August 2014. **A sibling link will not be recognised for children living temporarily in the same house, for example a child who usually lives with one parent but has temporarily moved or a looked after child in a respite placement or very short term or bridging foster placement.

A sibling must be on the roll of the named school at the time the younger child starts.

6. Children of parents and guardians who are practising members of a Christian congregation, which is a member of Churches Together in Great Britain, and live within the following geographical area: East of the A10 Great Cambridge Road, the south side of College Road, the south side of Windmill Lane, west of the Lea Valley railway and north of the M25 motorway. By practising is meant attending church at least six times durinng the year immediately prior to application and having a letter from Priest/Minister to verify attendance.
7. Any other children who live within that geographical area.
8. Children of parents or guardians who are practising members of a Christian congregation living outside that area. Practising to be defined as (3) above.

7. Any other children.

In the event where two different addresses are the same distance from the school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be closest to the ground and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tiebreak will be random allocation. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tie break the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.

Closing date for submissions to the LA is 15^th January 2024..

Home address

The address provided must be the child’s current permanent address at the time of application. ‘At the time of application’ means the closing date for applications. “Permanent” means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year and/or the family own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12 months.

The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one which the child lives at for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, the address of the parent/carer that claims Child Benefit/Child Tax Credit will be considered as the child’s main residence.

If a family is not in receipt of Child Benefit/Tax Credit alternative documentation will be requested.

If a child’s residence is in dispute, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes.

The date of receiving applications prior to the Governors’ meeting to allocate places has no bearing on the allocation of places. Late applications will be considered separately to those received in line with the correct timescales.

Procedure

All applicants, including In Year applicants will be asked to complete both the County Application Form (which can be done on line) and a school application form (SIF) prior to consideration by the Governors. If a SIF is not completed the Governing Body will apply their admission arrangements using the information submitted on the Common Application Form only, which may result in your application being given a lower priority. School forms may be obtained from the school office during school hours or the website. The CAF is available online via the Herts Direct Admissions website www.hertsdirect.org/admissions. Hertfordshire County Council co-ordinate In Year Admissions on behalf of the Governing Body. Information about how to apply and the online application form can be found at Herts Direct Admissions In-Year website www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/inyear The oversubscription criteria outlined previously are used to prioritise all In Year applications.

The Governor’s meeting to allocate places for Reception will be held in line with Hertfordshire’s agreed date each year. This can be found on the Herts Direct website. The LA will notify parents on behalf of the governors if a place has been allocated.

Applications for places in a Reception class received after the allocation for places has been made but before the class starts at the school will be placed on the Continued Interest (waiting) list. This list will be kept open until the end of the Autumn term of the admission year and then reviewed termly.  If places subsequently become available, the criteria specified in the Admissions Policy above will apply.

Late applications can only be considered after consideration of all applications received by the deadline date regardless of category priority.

Older pupils will be considered for admission, providing there is room in the relevant year group, according to the published admission rules. All ‘in year’ applications will be co-ordinated by the LA on behalf of the school, but a SIF is still requested.

 

The allocation date for Reception places is 19^th April 2024.

Notes

Geographical proximity will be determined by the following definition:
A ‘straight line’ distance measurement is used in all home to school distance measurements for community and voluntary controlled schools in Hertfordshire. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.

Home address

The address provided must be the child’s current permanent address at the time of application. ‘At the time of application’ means the closing date for applications. “Permanent” means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year and/or the family own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12 months.

The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one which the child lives at for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, the address of the parent/carer that claims Child Benefit/Child Tax Credit will be considered as the child’s main residence.

If a family is not in receipt of Child Benefit/Tax Credit alternative documentation will be requested.

If a child’s residence is in dispute, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes.

 2. Appeals

Parents wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log in to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details and log into www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.

For In-Year Admissions Appeals:

HCC will write to you with the outcome of your application and if you have been unsuccessful, will include registration details to enable you to login and appeal online: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions

3. Continuing interest (waiting) list.
After places have been offered, Hertfordshire County Council will maintain a continuing interest (waiting) list for all community and voluntary controlled schools. A child’s position on a CI list will be determined by the admission criteria outlined above and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it. The county council will contact parents/carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child. Continuing interest lists will be maintained for every year group until the summer term (date to be confirmed). To retain a CI application after this time, parents must make an In Year application.

4. Fair Access Protocol.

The school cooperates with the LA’s Fair Access protocol for children who are hard to place and children admitted under this protocol will be prioiritised above those on the Continuing interest (waiting) list and admitted even if the school is full.

Success criteria

The Admissions policy may be considered to show success if:

• Parents and governors have a clear understanding of the criteria and procedures for admission to the School.

 

• In the case of over subscription for places it is proved that a simple and unbiased procedure for allocation was followed.