ASHURST CE AIDED PRIMARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS POLICY
Introduction
Ashurst CE Aided Primary School is an aided primary school taking pupils from age 4-11. We are an inclusive school that welcomes children from a wide range of faiths and no faith, abilities, and social backgrounds. Whilst promoting the values and ethos of a Christian community, we welcome all applications and ask all families applying for a place at Ashurst CE Aided Primary School to support the Christian ethos and values of their school.
Application Procedures
As a Church of England School, the Governors are the Admissions Authority for the school. Admissions are, however, coordinated by the Local Authority which is West Sussex County Council. If you would like your child to come to Ashurst CE Aided Primary School, you must complete an application through the Local Authority and return it online (applicants from outside West Sussex should follow their home Local Authority’s application process).
Website: www.westsussex.gov.uk/admissions.
If you do not have access to the internet, please call: 03330 142 903
In addition, any parent wishing to apply for a place for their child starting primary education at Ashurst CE Aided Primary School should complete and return a supplementary information form (See the link below) if applying for a place under categories 4 or 6. It should be addressed as follows: -
Admissions Authority
Ashurst CE Aided Primary School
School Lane
Ashurst
Nr Steyning
West Sussex BN44 3AY
Website: www.ashurstcofe-pri.w-sussex.sch.uk
The deadline for the submission of the supplementary information form and a clergy reference form for criteria 4 or 6 (see oversubscription criteria) must be submitted to the school by the national closing date for primary school applications, which can be found at www.westsussex.gov.uk/admissions
Co-ordinated scheme
Ashurst CE Aided Primary School is part of a co-ordinated scheme with West Sussex County Council. The Local Authority also co-ordinates in- year admissions for Ashurst CE Aided Primary School
Published Admission Numbers
PAN – The admission number for the Year of Entry (Reception – Year R) is 8 for the 2024/25 admission year. Children are admitted to Year R in the academic year following their 4th birthday.
Infant Class Size
In accordance to Section 1 of the SSFA 1998, infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils. Ashurst CE Aided Primary School has one infant class where children in YR, Y1 and Y2 are taught together.
Deferred entry
Where a place has been offered at Ashurst CE Aided Primary School, the following is applicable: -
a) The child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their 4th birthday.
b) 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 (Summer Term) of the school year, for which the offer was made.
c) Where parents wish, children may attend part-time in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.
At the request of the Governing Body, parents must inform the school if opting for options b) or c)
Delayed Entry
Parents of summer born children (April-August) may also delay entry for the whole of that academic year and apply for a place in Reception class in the September following the child’s fifth birthday. We recommend that parents who are considering delaying admission to Reception to the following academic year discuss their plans with us and any other relevant professionals.
Parents wishing to apply for delayed entry must apply in writing to the Governing Body, as the Admission Authority for the school, giving their reasons for this application. If delayed entry is granted then parents must follow the application round for the year group in which their child is to be admitted, even if a place was applied for and granted in the ‘normal’ round of application, as this is not carried forward to the next academic year.
Admission of children outside their normal age group
The governing body adopts the West Sussex County Council policy in relation to admission of children outside their normal age group. Please refer to their website: www.westsussex.gov.uk/admissions
Oversubscription Criteria
We welcome all applications to Ashurst CE Aided Primary School, but in the event that the school is oversubscribed, the admission authority will apply the following oversubscription criteria in order of priority:
1a) A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order * including those who appear [to the admission authority] to have been in state care outside England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).
*An adoption order is an order under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see Section 46 adoption orders). A ‘child arrangements order’ is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or guardians).
1b) Children with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school will be allocated a place before other children are considered. In
this way, the number of places available will be reduced by the number of children with an EHCP that have named the school. This is in accordance with requirements set out in section 324 Education Act 1996 and section 43 Children and Families Act 2014.
2) Children of UK Service Personnel and Crown Servants will be allocated a place in advance of the family living in the area (as long as one is available), provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date. Applicants will not be refused a place solely because the family do not yet have an intended address, or do not yet live in the area. The Unit or quartering address will be used as the child/ren’s home address where Parents request this.
3) Children who will have a brother or sister in the school at the time of admission.
4) Children of parents who reside within the West Sussex County Council boundaries of Ashurst and where at least one parent is a regular* attendant at divine worship in a church as defined below.
5) Children of parents who reside within the West Sussex County Council boundaries of Ashurst.
6) Children of parents who do not reside within the West Sussex County Council boundaries of Ashurst and where at least one parent is a regular* attendant at divine worship in a church as defined below.
7) Other children.
‘Regular’ is defined as attendance at a Sunday service once a month, over a period of one year prior to formal application. In the event of parents taking up residence in Ashurst Parish within the one-year qualifying period, the Governors will accept a reference from the Parish Priest where the parents were formerly resident.
Distance from home to Ashurst CE Aided Primary School
In the event of applications being received under the same oversubscription criteria, then these shall be ranked according to distance from the application home address to ‘Ashurst CE Aided Primary School as the crow flies’ (the most direct path between two points, which is measured using the Local Authorities measuring system).
Home Address
The home address is where a child normally lives. Where a child lives with parents with shared parental responsibility, each for part of a week, the address where the child lives is determined using a joint declaration from the parents stating the pattern of residence. If a child’s residence is split equally between both parents, then parents will be asked to determine which residential address should be used for the purpose of admission to school.
If no joint declaration is received where the residence is split equally by the closing date for applications, the home address will be taken as the address where the child is registered with the doctor. If the residence is not split equally between both parents, then the address used will be the address where the child spends the majority of the school week.
Multiple Births
Where there are children whose twin or sibling have applied there is only one place left within the admission number, then the governing body may choose to admit, under limited exceptional circumstances.
These children will remain an ‘excepted pupil’ for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant size limit.
In Year Admissions
If your child needs to move to another school within the same year, you will need to apply for an in-year admission. You can apply for an in-year admission at any time of the year. Applications need to be made through www.westsussex.gov.uk/admissions . If you do not have access to the internet, please call: 03330 142 903. In addition, any Parent wishing to apply for a place at Ashurst CE Aided Primary School, should complete and return a supplementary information sheet and return to: -
Admissions Authority
Ashurst CE Aided Primary School
School Lane
Ashurst
Nr Steyning
West Sussex BN44 3AY
Admission Appeal
When an application for a school place is refused because the school is oversubscribed, Parents have the right of appeal to an independent admissions appeal panel, under the provisions of the Education Act 2002. Parents wishing to appeal can access an online appeal form and details of the appeals process at:-
www.westsussex.gov.uk/education-children-and-families/schools-and-colleges/school-places/school-appeals/
If you require a paper form you can download from the website or ring 03330 142 903 to request one. If you decide to appeal, you will receive advance notice of the hearing date. You will be invited to attend the appeal and you may take someone with you for support. The hearing will be conducted as informally as possible and you will have the opportunity to put forward your case and ask questions.
Glossary
Academic Year – A period commencing with 1 August and ending with the next 31 July, as defined by Section 88M of the SSFA 1998
Admission Authority - The body responsible for setting and applying a school’s admissions arrangement. The governing body is the admission authority for Ashurst CE Aided Primary School
Compulsory school age – this is set out in Section 8 of the Education Act 1996 and the Education (Start of Compulsory School Age) order 1998. A child reaches compulsory school age on the prescribed day following his or her fifth birthday (or on his or her fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day). The prescribed days are 31 December, 31 March and 31 August.
Co-ordinated Scheme - The process by which local authority’s co-ordinate the distribution of offer of places for schools in their area. All local authorities are required to co-ordinate the normal admissions round for primary schools
Determination Year – The school year immediately preceding the offer year. This is the school year in which admission authorities determine their admission arrangements.
Distance - All distances are measured by a straight line from the school to the child’s home address, using Ordnance Survey address point data from a central point in each building.
EHCP – Educational Health Care Plan, replaces SEN from 1 September 2014.
Fair Access Protocol – This a requirement of the School Admissions Code to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round - unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible. The operation of the Fair Access Protocol is triggered when a parent of an eligible child has not secured a school place under in-year admission procedures.
Home Address – where the child spends the majority of their time with the person who legally have care of the child. A copy of the council tax bill will be required as proof of address.
In-year admission is the admission of a pupil to a school which takes place outside of the normal year of entry
Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children - This includes children who appear (to the admissions authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Where Governors are unsure about the validity of the application advice will be sought from the Local Authority’s “Virtual School Head”
Oversubscription – Where a school has a higher number of applicants than the school’s published admission number
Oversubscription Criteria – This refers to the published criteria that an admission authority applies when a school has more applications than places available in order to decide which children will be allocated a place.
PAN – The number of school places that the admission authority must offer in each relevant age group of a school for which it is the admission authority.
School year – The period beginning with the first school term to begin after July and ending with the beginning of the first such term to begin after the following July, as defined by Section 579 of the Education Act 1996.
Siblings - A brother or sister. Brothers and sisters can be half or step siblings (by marriage or cohabitation) or foster siblings that are living permanently at the same address. Cousins are not classed as siblings.
Waiting list – A list of children held and maintained by the school when the school has allocated all of its places, on which children are ranked in priority order against the school’s published oversubscription criteria.
Approved by FGB: December 2023
Next Review Date: December 2024