Admission Arrangements
Making an application
Applications for admission to our school should be online via the Halton Borough Council Website between specified dates in September and January of the academic year prior to entry as determined by the local authority.
https://www3.halton.gov.uk/Pages/EducationandFamilies/Schools/PrimarySecondarySchool.aspx
A paper copy of the forms can be requested via the direct link office.
Admission procedures
The number of places available for admission to the Reception class will be a maximum of 25. This arrangement follows a decision being made by Halton Local Authority and other admissions authorities in the area. The Governing Body will not place any restrictions on admissions to the Reception class unless the number of children for whom admission is sought exceeds this number. By law, no infant class may contain more than 30 children.
In the event that there are more applicants than places, Halton Local Authority will allocate places using the oversubscription criteria which are detailed separately.
Late applications for admission
Where there are extenuating circumstances for an application being received after the last date for applications, and it is before the Local Authority has established their list of pupils to be admitted, then it will be considered alongside all the others.
Waiting List
Where we have more applications than places, the admissions criteria will be used. Children who are not admitted will have their name placed on a waiting list. The names on this waiting list will be in the order resulting from the application of the admissions criteria. Since the date of application cannot be a criterion for the order of names on the waiting list, late applicants for the school will be slotted into the order according to the extent to which they meet the criteria. Thus, it is possible that a child who moves into the area later to have a higher priority than one who has been on the waiting list for some time. If a place becomes available within the admission number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place. This is not dependent on whether an appeal has been submitted.
This waiting list will operate until the end of the Autumn Term only.
Children with EHCPs
Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 requires the governing bodies of all maintained schools to admit a child with an EHCP which names the school.
Address of Pupil
The address used on the school’s admission form must be the current one at the time of application. If the address changes subsequently, the parents must notify the school. Where the parents live at different addresses, the current-at-the-time-of-application, normal address of the child will be the one used. This will normally be the one where the child wakes up for the majority of Monday to Friday mornings. Parents may be asked to show evidence of the claim that is being made for the address, by providing a Council Tax or Utility Bill. Where there is dispute about the correct address to use, the Governors reserve the right to make enquiries of any relevant third parties, e.g. the child’s GP. For children of UK service personnel and other Crown Servants returning to the area proof of the posting is all that is required.
Parents/Carers
The definition of ‘parent/carer’ is any person who has parental responsibility as defined by the courts, or has care of the child on a day to day basis.
Non-routine admissions
It sometimes happens that a child needs to change school other than at the ‘normal’ time; such admissions are known as non-routine admissions, or out of normal round admissions. Such admissions will be co-ordinated by the school. Written confirmation of the outcome of the application will be sent to the parent/carer and to the Local Authority.
Please note that you cannot re-apply for a place at a school within the same school year unless there has been relevant, significant and material change in the family circumstances.
Appeals
Where the Governors are unable to offer a place because the school is over subscribed, parents have the right to appeal to an independent admission appeal panel, set up under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998, as amended by the Education Act, 2002. Parents should notify the Pupil Admissions Team at the Local Authority within 14 days of receiving the letter refusing the place. Parents will have the opportunity to submit their case to the panel in writing and also to attend in order to present their case. You will normally receive 14 days’ notice of the place and time of the hearing.
If your child was refused a place in Reception or KS1 because of government limits on infant class sizes (30), the grounds on which your appeal could be successful are limited. You would have to show that the decision was one which in the circumstances no reasonable Governing Body would have made, or that your child would have been offered a place if the Governors’ admissions arrangements had been properly implemented.
Please note that the right of appeal against the Governors’ decision does not prevent you from making an appeal in respect of any other school.
Fraudulent applications
Where the Governing Body discovers that a child has been awarded a place as the result of an intentionally misleading application from parents, (for example giving a false address) which effectively denies a place to a child with a stronger claim, then the Governing Body is required to withdraw the offer of the place. The application will be considered afresh and a right of appeal offered if a place is refused.
Deferred admission
If your child is due to start school during the next academic year, it is important that you apply for a place for September. If your child’s fifth birthday is between the months of September and December, then, if you wish it, admission may be deferred until January; if it is between January and April, then admission may be deferred until the start of the summer term though it is likely to be in your child’s interest to start no later than January.
Twins/Multiple Birth
Where there are twins wanting admission and there is only a single place left within the admission number, then the Governing Body will exercise as much flexibility as possible within the requirements of infant class sizes. If only one place can be offered then the second twin (or other children in the case of multiples) will be admitted as an ‘excepted pupil/pupils’.
We hope that this information is helpful. Should you have any queries or require any further information, then please feel free to contact the school who will be happy to help you.
Westfield Primary School
Oversubscription Criteria
The Local Authority and Governors admit 25 children to the reception class each September. This admission limit has been agreed following statutory consultation. In the event of applications exceeding the number of places, the Local Authority and Governors will admit using the following criteria in priority order:
- Looked after children and previously looked after children, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order).
- Children who have a sibling in at the time of application and who will
continue to be in school at the beginning of the year of admission.
Once places have been allocated under criteria 1 and 2 above, the remaining places will be divided equally to be allocated under criteria 3 below.
3. Pupils living nearest to the school.
Within criteria 3 places will be allocated in order of shortest distance according to the straight-line distance measurement from the child’s permanent residence to the school as measured by the Local Authority.
Notes:
[1] A Looked After Child as defined in section 22 of the Children Act 1989.
[2] Sibling refers to brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother
or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner,
and in every case, the child should be living in the same family unit at
the same address.
[3] Distance will be measured by the Local Authority using an Ordnance Survey address point system which measures straight line distances from the address point of the school to the address point of the child’s permanent home address.
In Year Admissions
https://www3.halton.gov.uk/Pages/EducationandFamilies/Schools/ChangeofSchool.aspx