Admissions Policy

The proposed policy for admission to community and voluntary controlled primary schools is listed below:

 

Parents will be asked to express preferences for three primary schools. Parents are given the opportunity to express three preferences for a primary school. Published criteria are used to decide which children should be offered the available places. In primary schools an equal preference scheme has been introduced to comply with the Schools Admission Code, whereby three parental preferences are given equal status to the preference and will be considered equally against the admissions criteria. If a school is oversubscribed, the following criteria will be applied in priority order:

 

Primary Schools

 

When a school is oversubscribed on parental preferences, then the following priorities apply in order:

 

1. Children in public care when preferences are expressed and who are still in public care at the time of their admission to school, and those who have been previously looked after, (See note (xi) below) then;
2. Children for whom the Local Authority accepts that there are exceptional medical, social or welfare reasons which are directly relevant to the school concerned (see note (i) below), then;
3. Children with older brothers and sisters attending the school when the younger child will start, (see note (iii) below) then;
4. Remaining places are allocated according to where a child lives. Those living nearest to the preferred school by a straight line (radial) measure will have priority (see note (v) below.

 

Notes

 

1. The medical, social and welfare criterion will consider issues relevant to the child and/or the family. This category may include children without a statement who have special needs.
2. As required by law, all children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs naming a school will be admitted before the application of the over-subscription criteria. Children who have a statement for special needs have their applications considered separately.
3. Brothers and sisters includes step children, half brothers and sisters, fostered and adopted children living with the same family at the same address (consideration may be given to applying this criterion to full brothers and sisters who reside at different addresses).
4. The distance criterion will be used as the tie breaker if there is oversubscription within any of the admission criteria. The distance measure is a straight line (radial) measure. If the Local Authority is unable to distinguish between applicants using the published criteria (eg twins or same block of flats) places will be offered via a random draw.
5. The distance measure is a straight line (radial) measure, centre of building to centre of building.
6. A child’s permanent address is the one where he/she normally lives and sleeps and goes to school from. Proof of residence may be requested at any time throughout the admissions process, (including after a child has accessed a school place).
7. The Local Authority will keep waiting lists for all Lancashire primary schools until 31 August. These are kept in priority order using the school’s published admission criteria. From 1 September for one school term only waiting lists will be retained by individual admission authorities (the Local authority for community and voluntary controlled schools and individual voluntary aided and trust schools will each retain their own list).
8. Children will not normally be able to start school other than at the beginning of the term unless they have moved into the area or there are exceptional circumstances.
9. Applications for school places which are received late will not necessarily be dealt with at the same time as those received by the set deadline. The reasons for a late application may be requested and where these are not exceptional the relevant admission criteria will be initially applied to all others received on time. The late application will be dealt with after this process.

 

Application forms received after the published closing date will only be considered at that time if the following conditions apply:

 

1. If the number of preferences received for the school is below the published admission number, or;
2. There are extenuating circumstances justifying a late application.

 

These may include:

 

1. parents moving into the County after the closing date;
2. parent/carer illness which required hospitalisation for the major part of the period between publication of the composite prospectus and the closing date for applications.

 

1. Where a child lives with one parent for part of the week and another for the rest of the week only one address will be accepted for a school admission application. This will normally be the one where the child wakes up for the majority of school days (Monday to Friday).
    
2.  The highest priority must be given to looked after children and children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order). Further references to previously looked after children in the Code means children who were adopted (or subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after.