The Violet Way Academy
2024/2025 and 2025/2026
2023/2024
Introductory statement
Our vision for Violet Way 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, a Violet Way 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 Violet Way 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 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 13 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. Other references to previously looked after children in the Code All references to previously looked after children in the Code mean 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 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 the admission arrangements of schools with a religious character, selective arrangements, and boarding priority) apply to IAPLAC in exactly the same way as they do to PLAC.
Admission number
The school has an admission number of 90 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 numbers for the relevant year group are received, the Academy Trust will offer places at the school to all those who have applied.
Application process
All 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. An online application form can be completed.
Oversubscription criteria
When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan or a Statement of Special Educational Needs 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 England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted
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 their 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 (Violet Way Academy or Edge Hill Academy) at the time the application is received. Where an elder sibling is in Year 6, siblings will not be prioritised under this criterion.
4. Children living within the defined catchment area of the Academy. For Information regarding the catchment area please contact the Academy or visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/local view.
5. Children who are attending the nursery (Our Pride, Our Joy) at Violet Way Academy which is based at the school and who are in receipt of the Early Years Pupil Premium.
6. Other pupils arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the Academy determined by a straight line measurement. This measurement is undertaken on the Academy's behalf by the Local Authority (Staffordshire County Council) as part of the admissions agreement. Details on measurement can be found in the booklet, "Primary Information for parents”
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 co-ordinates of an applicant’s home address are 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 (Published Admission Number).
Notes
Children in care:
Children in care means children who are looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989 and who is (a) in care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see definition in Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders).
Child arrangements orders are defined in s.8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by s.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:
For the purpose of admission the home address is considered to be the child's, along with their parent’s main and genuine principal place of residence at the time of the allocation of places i.e. where they are normally and regularly living. If a child is resident with friends or relatives (for other than legal guardianship) the friends or relatives address will not be considered for allocation purposes.
Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for a part of the school week, parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation purposes.
Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for part of the week then the home address will be determined as the address where the child lives for the majority of the school week (i.e. 3 out of 5 school nights). Parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation.
Sibling:
For admission purposes a sibling is a child who lives at the same address and either, have one or both natural parents in common; are related by marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.
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 to 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 outside the 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. 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
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@violetway.org or Staffordshire County Council by the date provided in the decision letter for information on how to appeal.
Introductory statement
Our vision for Violet Way 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, a Violet Way 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 Violet Way 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 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 13 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. Other references to previously looked after children in the Code All references to previously looked after children in the Code mean 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 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 the admission arrangements of schools with a religious character, selective arrangements, and boarding priority) apply to IAPLAC in exactly the same way as they do to PLAC.
Admission number
The school has an admission number of 90 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 numbers for the relevant year group are received, the Academy Trust will offer places at the school to all those who have applied.
Application process
All 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. An online application form can be completed at.
Oversubscription criteria
When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan or a Statement of Special Educational Needs naming the school, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order:
- 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 England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted
- Children of members of staff who have been employed by the Academy, Nursery or Care Club for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the Academy is made, and or, the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
- Pupils who would, in the first year to which the application relates, have an older brother or sister in attendance at the Academy (or at Edge Hill Junior School).
- Children living within the defined catchment area of the Academy. For Information regarding the catchment area please contact the Academy or visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/local view.
- Other pupils arranged in order of priority according to how near their home addresses are to the Academy determined by a straight line measurement. This measurement is undertaken on the Academy's behalf by the Local Authority (Staffordshire County Council) as part of the admissions agreement using a Geographical Information System Details on measurement can be found in the booklet, "Primary Information for parents” and at: www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions.
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 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 co-ordinates of an applicant’s home address are 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 (Published Admission Number).
Notes
Children in care:
Children in care means children who are looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989 and who is (a) in care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see definition in Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders).
Child arrangements orders are defined in s.8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by s.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:
For the purpose of admission the home address is considered to be the child's, along with their parent’s main and genuine principal place of residence at the time of the allocation of places i.e. where they are normally and regularly living. If a child is resident with friends or relatives (for other than legal guardianship) the friends or relatives address will not be considered for allocation purposes.
Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for a part of the school week, parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation purposes.
Where parents have shared responsibility for a child, and the child lives with both parents for part of the week then the home address will be determined as the address where the child lives for the majority of the school week (i.e. 3 out of 5 school nights). Parents will be required to provide documentary evidence to support the address they wish to be considered for allocation.
Brother or sister:
For admission purposes a brother or sister is a child who lives at the same address and either, have one or both natural parents in common; are related by marriage; are adopted or fostered by a common parent or are unrelated children who live at the same address, whose parents live as partners.
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 to 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 outside the 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. 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
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@violetway.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