St Illtyd's Catholic primary school - admission arrangements 2024 / 2025

The governing body of the school is responsible for determining and administering the policy relating to the admission of pupils to the school. It is guided in that responsibility by:

• the requirements of the law
• the advice of the Diocesan Trustees on the nature and purpose of its duties
• its duty towards the school and the Catholic community it serves
• the Catholic character of the school and its mission statement
• recognition of the parish boundary.

The school serves in the first instance baptised Catholic children living in the Parish of St Illtyd's and Sacred Heart.

Our principal role as a Catholic school is to participate in the mission of the Catholic faith. The school will help the children develop fully as human beings and prepare them to undertake their responsibilities as Catholic in society. The school asks all parents applying for a place here to respect this ethos and its importance to the school community. This does not affect the rights of parents who are not of the faith of this school to apply for and be considered for a place here.

Having consulted with the LA and others in accordance with the requirements of the law, the governing body has published its admissions limit at 30 pupils for the foundation years, for the school year commencing September 2019.

Parents should complete the local authority online common application form.

Notes

The governing body has delegated responsibility for determining admissions to its admissions committee which will consider all applications made in accordance with the criteria set out.

Pupils who are admitted to the school will enter the reception classes in September.

As required by the law the governing body will not admit more than 30 pupils to any one reception or infant class.

Oversubscription criteria

Where the number of applications exceeds the number of places available, the following subscription criteria will be applied in the order below:

1. *Baptised Catholic looked after children in the care of a local authority, within parishes served by the school.
2. Baptised Catholic children living within the parishes served by the school.
3. Other Baptised Catholic children who have a brother or a sister at the school at the time of likely admission. This includes full, half or stepbrothers and sisters, adopted and foster brothers and sisters or children of the parent/carer's partner, and in every case who are living at the same address and are part of the same family unit.
4. Looked after children who are in the care of a local authority (children in care) or provided with accommodation by them (eg children with foster parents).
5. Children who have a brother or sister in the school at the time of admission.
6. Children of other Christian Denominations. Proof of Baptism in the form of a Baptismal Certificate or confirmation in writing that the applicant is a member of their faith community from an appropriate Minister of Religion is required.
7. Non-Catholic children who have a brother or sister in the school at the time of admission.
8. Children of other faiths whose parents seek Catholic schooling. Proof of Baptism in the form of a Baptismal Certificate or confirmation in writing that the applicant is a member of their faith community from an appropriate Minister of Religion is required.
9. Non-Catholic children whose parents seek Catholic education for their children.
10. Children for whom the LA has specifically asked for a place at the school.

In the event of any over-subscription in the number of applications made under any of the categories above then the admissions committee will offer places first to children living nearest to the school measured by a straight line from the front door of the child's home address (including community entrance to flats) to the main entrance of the school using the local authority's computerised measuring system with those living nearer to the school having priority.

In rare cases where the distance tie-break does not assist, for example due to twins/triplets in the same house or where there are two or more children with an exact distance measurement, where to admit another pupil would have class size implications, random selection will be used to determine the allocation of places.

Places offered are subject to parents/carers providing proof of information stated on their application form and used during the allocation of places. The school may request, for example, evidence of baptism, date of birth and home address. Failure to provide proof documents requested may result in the place being withdrawn.

*Baptised Catholic means, within the policies and practices relating to school admissions, any child who, before the due date of application, is a baptised Catholic or who, having been baptised into another Christian denomination whose baptisms are recognised by the Catholic Church, has subsequently been formally received into the Catholic Church.

Admission arrangements

1. All applications will be considered at the same time and after the closing date and agreed by the admissions committee.
2. Parents will be informed, by the school, of the decision of the admissions committee. If their application has been successful they are required to confirm acceptance of the offer.
3. If application has not been successful the letter from the school will give reasons for the decision, will inform parents of their right of appeal and give guidance on how that appeal should be made.
4. A waiting list for children who have not been offered a place will be kept and will be ranked according to the admission criteria. Should places become available they will be re-allocated from the waiting list strictly in priority order. The waiting list will not be operated for longer than the end of the Autumn Term.

Notes

1. For a child to be considered as a Catholic, evidence of a Catholic Baptism or reception into the Church will be required.

A Baptised Catholic is one who has been baptised into full communion with the Catholic Church by the Rites of Baptism of one of the various ritual Churches in communion with the See of Rome (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1203). Written evidence of this baptism can be obtained by recourse to the baptismal registers of the church in which the baptism took place.

Or

A person who has been baptised in a separate ecclesial community and subsequently received into full communion with the Catholic Church by the Rite of Reception of Baptised Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church. Written evidence of their baptism and reception into full communion with the Catholic Church can be obtained by recourse to the Register of Receptions, or in some cases a sub-section of the Baptismal registers of the church in which the Rite of Reception took place.

The governing body will require written evidence in the form of a Certificate of Baptism or Certificate of Reception before applications for school places can be considered for categories of 'Baptised Catholics'. A Certificate of Baptism or Reception is to include: full name, date of birth, date of baptism or reception and parent(s) name(s). The certificate must also show that it is copied from the records kept by the place of baptism or reception.

Those who would have difficulty obtaining written evidence of baptism for a good reason, may still be considered as baptised Catholics but only after they have been referred to their parish priest, who after consulting with the Vicar General, will decide how the question of baptism is to be resolved and how written evidence is to be produced in accordance with the law of the Church.

Those who would be considered to have good reason for not obtaining written evidence would include those who cannot contact the place of baptism due to persecution or fear, the destruction of the church and the original records, or where baptism was administered validly but not in the Parish Church where records are kept.

Governors may request extra supporting evidence when the written documents that are produced do not clarify the fact that a person was baptised or received into the Catholic Church (ie where the name and address of the Church is not on the certificate or where the name of the Church does not state whether it is a Catholic Church or not).

2. The home address of a pupil is considered to be the permanent residence of a child. The address must be the child's only or main residence. Documentary evidence may be required eg child benefit payment address.

3. Where care is split equally between mother and father, the address used for the allocation process will be the address of the parent who is in receipt of the child benefit. Documentary evidence will be required.

4. Late applications (those received after the closing date) will only be considered alongside those received by the closing date under the following circumstances:

• the family were unable to complete an application form before the closing date because they moved into the school's parish area after the issue of application forms; OR
• the family were unable to conform with admissions timetable because of exceptional circumstances which prevented the applications arriving on time - the circumstances must be given in writing and attached to the application form.

Applications received after the notification date (after places are offered) will be added to the school's waiting list in admission criteria order.

Parents must complete the local authority common application form

Applications from nursery

Should you wish for your child to transfer to the reception class you must follow the admission procedure outlined above. There is no automatic transfer from nursery and attendance at nursery gives no priority for a reception place. Please take note of the school's over subscription policy.

Applicants for in-year admission please note:

In year applications are made directly to the school. Applicants for in-year admissions are made in the same way as those made during the normal admissions round. If a place is available and there is no waiting list then the governing body will admit the child. If more applications are received than there are places available then applications will be ranked by the governing body in accordance with the oversubscription criteria, with the following modifications. Catholic children without an offer of a school place elsewhere are given priority immediately after Catholic 'looked after' children, similarly, other children without an offer of a school place are given priority immediately after other 'looked after' children. If a place cannot be offered at the time then you may ask us for the reasons and you will be informed of your right of appeal. You will be offered the opportunity of being placed on a waiting list. This waiting list will be maintained by the governing body in the order of the oversubscription criteria, and not in the order in which the applications are received.

Names are removed from the list at the end of the academic year. When a place becomes available the governing body will decide who is at the top of the list so that the LA can inform the parent that the school is making an offer.

Late applications

Applications will be dealt with after all initial offers have been made.

Notes (these notes form part of the oversubscription criteria)

Looked after child has the same meaning as in Section 22 of The Children Act 1989, and means any child in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them (eg children with foster parents) or made subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders immediately following having been looked after.

Catholic means a member of a Church in communion with the See of Rome. This includes the Eastern Catholic Churches. This will normally be evidenced by a certificate of baptism or reception from the authorities of the Church.

Sibling means sister, brother, half brother or sister, legally adopted brother or sister of child of a parent or a partner and in every case living in the same house Monday to Friday.

Children from practising Catholic families is defined as a Catholic child from a practising family where this practise is verified by a reference from a Catholic priest in the standard format laid down by the Diocese.

Christian for the purposes of this policy means a member of one of the Churches affiliated to 'Churches Together' in Britain and Ireland.