Admission

If you would like your child to attend our school, please see full details of our admission arrangements below:

St Luke’s C of E (Aided) Primary School Shireoaks

ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS 2024/2025

The published admission number for St. Luke’s CE Primary School is 30 children per year.  In the event of over subscription, all applicants for the reception year will be considered in accordance with admission criteria, as set out below.

FIRST ADMISSIONS

Children who are allocated a place will be admitted full-time in September.

All children will be offered a school place from the September of the academic year in which they turn 5. Parents have the legal right to defer beyond this point and in such cases these arrangements need to be agreed with the school on an individual basis. Parents will be able to express preferences for schools and Parent's do have the right to defer entry until later in the school year or to take up a part time place.  The Local Authority will make offers of places on the Offer Day.

In the case of multiple births (twins/triplets etc) the school will offer places, over and above the planned admission number where the child whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted.

Applications must be made through your home local authority. For Nottinghamshire residents, this can be found on the NCC website www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/learning/schools/admissions

The school operates a waiting list for its intake year group in partnership with Nottinghamshire LA.  This is kept for a period of one year and prioritised following the oversubscription criteria. Please note the place on the waiting list can change.

Children with an Educational, Health and Care Plan and/or children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs that names St. Luke’s C of E Primary School will be admitted.

Any late applications received after the closing date will be accepted but considered only after those received by the closing date in line with the co-ordinated scheme.  You are therefore encouraged to ensure that your application is received on time.

ADMISSIONS TO YEAR GROUPS OTHER THAN THE INTAKE YEAR

In the first instance contact should be made with the Admissions team at Nottinghamshire County Council or by contacting the school office on 01909 475821.

https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/school-admissions/changing-school

In Year application will follow the same criteria as for the first admissions. The school participates in Nottinghamshire County Council’s in-year coordinated scheme. In the event of a place being available in the appropriate year group then that will be offered by Governors but communicated to parents by Nottinghamshire County Council. If no places are available, the child’s name will be added to the waiting list and will be subject of movement up or down the waiting list as described above; parents will be offered the right of appeal.

Where mid-term applicants are received from children for whom this school is the named school in a statement of special educational needs or from children ‘looked after’ by the Local Authority the school will admit regardless of whether or not a place is available in that year group.

All other admission requests will necessitate the completion of the appropriate application form by parents/carers.  Children will be admitted except where the admission would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.  If the school is not oversubscribed all applicants will be offered a place.

All students admitted will normally be placed on the school roll at the start of the next term or half term unless there are genuine reasons for an earlier admission (e.g. students moving into the catchment area or coming under the Special Circumstances).

ADMISSION OF CHILDREN OUTSIDE THE NORMAL AGE GROUP

Parents may seek a place for their child outside of the normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. In addition, the parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to reception rather than year 1. Children should only be educated out of the normal age group in very limited circumstances. Nottinghamshire residents should submit a request in writing to Nottinghamshire County Council’s School Admissions Department.

ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR FIRST ADMISSIONS AND IN-YEAR ADMISSIONS           (in order of priority)

1. Looked after children and previously looked after children including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. 
2. Children who live in the Ecclesiastical Parish of Shireoaks and Rhodesia      (catchment area) and have a sibling attending the school at the time of admission.
3. Children who live in the catchment area of the school.
4. Children who live outside of the parish of St Luke’s who have attended worship at a Church of England church or a church that is a member of  “Churches Together in England” at least once per calendar month for the past year.  Applications on denominational grounds must be supported by a supplementary form available from the school completed by the parent(s) with verification from a minister of religion that the child and parent(s) have practised their faith by worship at least once per calendar month at the minister’s place of worship for at least the past year.  (Please see supplementary form above).
5. Children who live outside the catchment area and have a sibling attending the school at the time of admission.
6. Other children living nearest to the school at the time of application.  Distances will be measured “as the crow flies” from the child’s home address to the main entrance of the school (using Local Authority software).  In the event of two distances being equal, lots will be drawn and independently verified.

Within each category priority will be given to pupils who live closest to the school “as the crow flies”.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

The following groups of children will be given special consideration by the Governing Body in their application to the school.

Children whose particular medical needs, mobility support needs, special educational needs or social circumstances are supported by written evidence from a doctor, social worker or other relevant professional stating that the school is the only school which could cater for the child’s particular needs.  The evidence must be presented at the time of application.

Cases agreed under ‘special circumstances’ will take precedence over all the above numbered criteria. Except for criterion 1(looked after children).

RIGHTS OF APPEAL

For first admissions Nottinghamshire County Council will inform applicants of the outcome of their application and of their right to appeal.

The deadline for lodging appeals allows appellants at least 20 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to prepare and lodge their written appeals. The appeal letter should be addressed to the Headteacher at the school. 

NCC Fair Access Protocol

The school participates in the NCC Fair Access Protocol.

DEFINITIONS

Parent

The term ‘parent’ is defined as:

The mother of the child

The adoptive parent

The father of the child where he was married to the mother either when the child was born or at a later date

The father of the child (since 1 December 2003) was registered as the father on the birth certificate

Looked after children and previously looked after children

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 in accordance with section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making an application to a school.

Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order). This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 and children who were adopted under section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. In addition previously looked after children who were in state care outside of England (looked after by a public authority, religious organisation or another provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society, such as orphanages or other settings).

Child arrangements orders are defined in section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by section 12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order. Section 14A 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 special guardians)

Home address

The child’s place of residence is taken to be the parental home, other than in the case of children being fostered by a local authority, where either the parental address or the foster parent/s address may be used.  Where a child spends part of the week in different homes, their place of residence will be taken to be their parent or parent’s address. If a child’s parents live at separate addresses, where the child permanently spends at least three ‘school’ nights i.e. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, will be taken to be the place of residence.

Siblings

• A brother or sister who share the same parent
• A half brother or sister where two children share one common parent
• A step brother or step sister, where two children are related by a parent’s marriage
• Adopted or fostered children living in the same household under the terms of a residence order

Displaced sibling definition

A child is considered to have been displaced if they applied on time for a reception place for their Nottinghamshire community or voluntary controlled catchment area school and they were not allocated as the school was oversubscribed with catchment area children at national offer day. If the older sibling was subsequently offered a place at the community or voluntary controlled catchment area school from the waiting list and this offer was declined, the child will not be considered as displaced and any younger siblings would not be given any additional priority in the oversubscription criteria.

If we receive an application which contains fraudulent or deliberately misleading information any offer of a place based on that information will be automatically withdrawn.

Governors of St Luke’s CE Aided Primary School Shireoaks