Anker Valley Primary Academy

Admission arrangements 2024/2025, 2025/2026 & 2026/2027

Introductory Statement

Our vision for Anker Valley Primary Academy is to work in close collaboration with parents, the local and wider community, to inspire all to excellence. Pupils will reach the highest standards of achievement and personal success through engaging with a range of learning experiences that foster curiosity and capitalise on their unique talents. Our ethos will reflect the values of the Fierté Trust: we care, we leave no one behind, we celebrate individuality, and we are brave. As a result, an Anker Valley pupil will stand out as a child who is compassionate, never gives up on others, takes their own opportunity but also allows others their moment to shine and relentlessly aspires to achieve more overcoming obstacles or setbacks. They will reach for the stars and ensure that they display the five Golden Virtues intrinsic to being part of the Anker Valley family.

IAPLAC Admission Arrangements

The 2021 School Admissions Code (the Code) requires 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 to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC).

This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children –“IAPLAC”. The draft Code and associated regulations were laid before Parliament on 13th May 2021. All applications received before 1 September 2021 will have been processed in accordance with the existing (2014) Code and offers made and places allocated will be unchanged.

Any applications received on or after 1 September 2021 will need to be processed in accordance with the new Code. By way of example, when dealing with in-year applications for the 2021/2022 academic year, children who are determined as being IAPLAC must be given equal highest priority with LAC and PLAC.

Any child who is on a waiting list for a school before 1 September 2021 and meets the definition of an IAPLAC must be ranked again on 1 September 2021 following the new Code coming into force so that the child is given equal highest priority with LAC and PLAC.

How will admission authorities be able to verify that a child is an IAPLAC?

Responsibility for determining whether a child is eligible for IAPLAC priority rests with the admission authority. Subject to ministerial approval, we plan to publish non-statutory guidance on the admission of IAPLAC in time for the new Code coming into force. The guidance will recommend that admission authorities should request advice from their Virtual School Head (VSH), if they are in any doubt about the acceptability of evidence provided by the parent of an IAPLAC.

All references to previously looked after children in the Code means ‘children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after, as well as 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.’ This means that the other provisions in the Code which apply to PLAC (for example, in relation to

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. Applications for this school should be sent to Staffordshire School Admissions Service.

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. Children in care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order), 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 satisfy both of the following tests:
   
   
   1.  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
      
      
   2. 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, siblings will not be prioritised under this criterion. 
   
   
4. Priority will be next given to children resident within the catchment area of the school, a copy of which can be obtained from the school office or Staffordshire County Council.
   
   
5. Children who are attending the nursery (Our Pride, Our Joy) at Anker Valley Primary Academy which is based at the school and who are in receipt of the Early Years Pupil Premium.
   
   
6. 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 2-6 above to decide who has the 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 a 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 parents. 

Transfer to junior/middle/secondary/high school - When considering deferred entry, parents need to be aware that there is no automatic right of admission to a deferred year group on transition to junior/middle/secondary/high school. An application complete with reasons why your child should not be admitted to their chronological age group would need to be submitted, and the same process applies as with application for reception.

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. 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.

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 the School Administrator via Office@ankervalley.org or Staffordshire County Council by the date provided in the decision letter for information on how to appeal. Information on the timetable for the appeal process can be found at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions.