Admissions Policy
INTRODUCTION
This policy outlines the purpose and management of child admission to this school.
If you are interested in sending your child to our school, please do visit us to meet with the Headteacher and staff. We would love to show you round and discuss with you about how our school can meet the needs of your child. As schools are busy places, it is advisable for you to make an appointment so that the necessary staff can be present for your visit.
ADMISSIONS FOR RECEPTION
The school’s PAN (Planned Admissions Number) is a maximum of 8 pupils per year group. This number is reviewed and formally determined by the Governors by 28 February each year.
Arrangements for applications for places in Reception will be made in accordance with Lincolnshire County Council’s co‐ordinated admission arrangements.
The preferred method for applying for a Reception place is online:
Going to Primary School in Lincolnshire
You can also apply by telephoning the Customer Service Centre on 01522 782030. Alternatively, you can request a paper application using the same number.
You can apply for up to three state schools, in or out of county on your application.
If you do not live in Lincolnshire, you must apply through your home Local Authority. You can name Lincolnshire schools on this application.
In accordance with legislation, the allocation of places for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (Children and Families Act 2014) where the school is named will take place first.
Attending a nursery or a pre-school does not give any priority within the oversubscription criteria for a place in our school.
ADMISSION CRITERIA
Applications open in November and must be received by the Local Authority in early January. The School Admission Team then co-ordinates all admissions for schools in Lincolnshire. All places are allocated by the Local Authority, according to the admissions criteria. Offers are sent out in mid-April.
Places at Hackthorn Church of England Primary School are allocated based on the following criteria (definitions of terms can be found on LCC’s admission policy):
- The child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (Children and Families Act 2014).
- The child is in the care of the local authority or had previously been in care.
- There is a brother or sister at the school who will still be attending when the child is due to start.
- The school is the nearest one to the home address (measured by straight-line distance).
- Increasing order of straight-line distance.
RESERVE LIST
For admission into Reception, the governors will keep a waiting list, which we call a reserve list. This list is in the order of the oversubscription criteria, as required by the School Admissions Code. This means that names can move down the list if someone moves into the area and is higher placed on the oversubscription criteria. For Reception, the list is kept by the School Admissions Team until the end of August each year. We will keep the list to the end of the school year. If you do not wish our school to add your child to the reserve list you must let us know. We will clear the reserve list at the end of each school year. If you wish your child to remain on the list you must let us know. If your circumstances change you must also let us know so that we can rank the list accurately and allocate places in accordance with the oversubscription criteria to comply with the School Admissions Code. The governors do not take account of the time you have been on the list.
APPEALS
The procedures for appeals relating to admissions will be in accordance with all relevant legislation. They are independent and organised by the County Council Legal Services Section and entirely separate from the admission system. The decision of the independent appeal panel is binding on all parties.
Key dates for the admissions/appeals timetable are posted here
MID-YEAR ADMISSIONS
If you wish to change your child’s school for other reasons outside the normal admissions rounds, such as moving house, we call this a mid-year admission. You should make an application for a place at the school to the Local Authority using the link below:
www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions
If you are not moving house and wish to change your child’s school for personal reasons outside the normal transfer process, you should discuss this with the Headteacher of your child’s present school. This may resolve any issues which prompted you to think about changing your child’s school.
The governors will accept admissions up to the Published Admission Number into all year groups. If the Governors are concerned that this would cause an infant class to be unlawfully large or prejudice to the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources they can ask County Council officers to review the information they will provide illustrating their concerns. In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to refuse a place although the year group has not reached the school’s published admission number. The final decision to refuse places in this way will be made by County Council officers. If there are more applications than places then the oversubscription criteria will be used to decide who should be offered the place. If it is necessary to refuse a place then you will be told of the independent appeal system.
FAIR ACCESS
Local Authorities are required to have Fair Access Protocols in order to make sure that unplaced children who live in the home local authority, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. This includes admitting children above the published admissions number to schools that are already full.
Children of UK Service Personnel (UK Armed Forces)
In order to meet the government’s military covenant aimed at helping UK service personnel, and Crown Servants returning from abroad we have adopted the following arrangements. For families of service personnel with a confirmed posting to the area, or crown servants returning to live in the area from overseas, the Governors will:
- Process an application in advance of the family arriving in the area provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and a Unit postal address or quartering area address. This address will be used when considering the application against the school’s oversubscription criteria.
- Accept a Unit postal address or quartering area address for admissions purposes for a service child.
For late co‐ordinated applications and midyear applications supported by the appropriate military documentation we will aim to remove any disadvantage to UK service personnel (UK Armed Forces).
The school’s Governors will consider whether:
- An application from that address would normally succeed in an oversubscribed year.
- There is any child on the reserve list with higher priority under the oversubscription criteria. This is because we must only allocate places based on the criteria and must not admit a Services child ahead of another child with higher priority under the criteria.
- The prejudice from admitting an extra child would be excessive.
The Governors have discretion to admit above the admission number in these circumstances if they wish, but are not obliged to do so.
We will need the notice of posting or official government letter and posting address before we can consider an application under these arrangements. We allocate a school as soon as possible by applying the policies and practices that we normally follow.
Admission of Children below Compulsory School Age
We provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday.
Where a child has been offered a place:
- That child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday;
- The child’s parents 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 of the final term of the school year for which it was made, whichever is the sooner;
- Where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.
- Parents interested in deferring admission or arranging part-time attendance must contact the school to discuss this.
- Parents of summer born children deferring admission until the child starts Year 1 risk losing the offered school place.
Admission of Children outside their Normal Age Group
Parents may seek a place for their child outside their normal age group, for example if the child is gifted and talented, or has experienced problems such as ill health. Parents wishing to make these requests must contact their home local authority for guidance on the procedure to follow. It is important for parents to note that they will have the opportunity and responsibility to provide whatever evidence they wish to support their request.
Decisions will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned.
This will include taking account of:
- the parent’s views;
- any available information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development;
- where relevant, the child’s medical history and the views of a medical professional;
- whether the child has previously been educated out of their normal age group;
- any evidence that the child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely
- the views of the head teacher
Review
Refer to Policy Review Timetable
Policy Last Updated: February 2020
