Anna Seward Primary School
Admission arrangements 2023/2024
Introductory statement
Our vision for The Anna Seward Primary School is to provide an exceptional educational offer which builds a strong community of lifelong learners. Our school will be the beating heart of the community; the ‘go to’ place for all our local residents who love where they live. As a result of our rich educational roots, our children will have deep knowledge, skills, inspiration and ambition that will empower them for their futures. They will be happy, healthy, honest, trustworthy and respectable young people committed to their successful futures.
Our new school provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate diversity and experience as we bring together a new community, it is our moral purpose and vision to be the glue that forges positive relationships, support and trust: a wider family who are there for each other. For us, this will not be just a school, it will be the central hub of the community, the centre for new community groups, and a meeting place to expand skills, experiences, to have fun, be healthy and to learn. In the spirit of the family of schools whom we work with, 'children lie at the heart of everything we do' and through our collaborative working, 'together we are stronger.'
Admission number
The school has an admission number of 30 for entry in year Reception.
The school will accordingly admit this number of pupils if there are sufficient applications. Where fewer applicants than the published admission number for the relevant year group are received, the Academy Trust will offer places at the school to all those who have applied.
Application process
The applications will be processed through the normal Staffordshire local authority process for co-ordinating school offers. You will need to complete your local authority Common Application Form for all your choices of school, including this school.
The closing date for applications is 15/01/2023.
Offers will be made on 16/04/2023. If we have not entered into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State opening the school by that date, they will be conditional offers and will be confirmed once we have a signed funding agreement.
An online application form can be completed at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions
If you live outside of Staffordshire, you must complete your local authority’s application form found on their website.
Oversubscription criteria
When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order:
1. Looked after children and children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order. And children previously in care outside of England or Wales who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order).
2. Children who satisfy both of the following tests:
a. the child is distinguished from the great majority of other applicants either on their own medical grounds or by other exceptional circumstances. Medical grounds must be supported by a medical report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application). This report must clearly justify, for health reasons only, why it is better for the child’s health to attend the preferred school rather than any other school. Exceptional circumstances must relate to the choice of school and the individual child, i.e. the circumstances of the child, not the economic or social circumstances of the parent/carer. They should be supported by a professional report (obtained by the applicant and provided at the point of application), e.g. social worker. This report must clearly justify why it is better for the child to attend the preferred school rather than any other school. and
b. the child would suffer hardship if they were unable to attend the preferred school. Hardship means severe suffering of any kind, not merely difficulty or inconvenience, which is likely to be experienced as a result of the child attending a different school. Applicants must provide detailed information about both the type and severity of any likely hardship at the time of application.
3. Priority will next be given to the siblings of pupils attending the school at the time the application is received. Where an elder sibling is in Year 6 at the point of allocation, siblings will not be prioritised under this criterion.
4. Priority will be next given to children residing within the catchment area of the school, a copy of which can be obtained from the school office or Staffordshire County Council.
5. Other children arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the main gate of the school determined by a straight-line measurement.
Tie-break
If necessary, random allocation undertaken by the local authority will be used as a tie-break in categories 2-5 above to decide who has highest priority for admission if the distance between a child’s home and the academy is equidistant in any two or more cases.
The Local Authority uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate home to school distance in miles. The measurement is calculated using Ordnance Survey (OS) data from an applicant’s home address to the main front gate of the school. The coordinates of an applicant’s home address is determined and provided by the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and OS Address Point data.
Random allocation will not be applied to multiple birth siblings (twin and triplets etc.) from the same family tied for the final place. We will admit them all, as permitted by the infant class size rules and exceed our PAN.
Notes:
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.
Sibling:
‘Sibling’ means a natural brother or sister, a half brother or sister, a legally adopted brother or sister or half-brother or sister, a step brother or sister or other child living in the same household as part of the same family who, in any of these cases, will be living at the same address at the date of their application for a place.
Late applications
Applications received by the local authority after the closing date will be considered alongside those applicants who applied on time wherever possible. Where it is not practicable because places have already been allocated or are shortly to be allocated, then late applicants will be considered only after those that were made on time.
A late application does not affect the right of appeal or the right to be placed on the school’s waiting list.
Deferred entry for infants
Parents offered a place in reception for their child have a right to defer the date their child is admitted, or to take the place up part-time, until the child reaches compulsory school age. Places cannot be deferred beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the offer was made.
Children reach compulsory school age on the prescribed day following their 5th birthday (or on their fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day). The prescribed days are 31 August, 31 December and 31 March.
Admission of children outside their normal age group
Parents may request that their child is admitted outside their normal age group. To do so parents should include a request with their application, specifying why admission out of normal year group is being requested and the year group in which they wish their child to be allocated a place.
When such a request is made, the academy trust will make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of the case and in the best interests of the child concerned, taking into account the views of the headteacher and any supporting evidence provided by the parent.
Waiting lists
The school will operate a waiting list. Where the school receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until 31 December 2023. This will be maintained by the Academy Trust and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child’s name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application.
Children’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves the waiting list.
In Year Admission Arrangements
Parents or carers seeking admission to an established year group “midyear” may make an application directly to the school using the in-year application form available from Staffordshire county council admissions page.
Appeals
All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.
Appellants should contact Staffordshire County Council by the date provided in the decision letter for information on how to appeal. Information on the timetable for the appeals process can be found on our admissions page.
