St. Bartholomew's CE MAT

2025/2026

2023/2024 & 2024/2025

Admission arrangements 2025/2026

Published Admission Numbers (PANs)

Our PAN for Reception Year 2025-26 is:

•Gnosall St Lawrence: 45

•Haughton St Giles: 15

•Woodseaves: 15 

Reception Admissions  

The admission arrangements outlined in this section apply to children starting Reception for the first time. The admissions process for Gnosall, Haughton and Woodseaves is part of the Staffordshire County Council co-ordinated admissions scheme.  

The closing date for admissions will be 23:59 on 15 January. Allocation results will be notified on 16 April by the applicants’ home Local Authority (LA). 

Parents/carers who would like their child to be admitted during the year their child is five should ensure they complete all the necessary application forms. Admission to nursery does not mean automatic entry to the Primary school.  

Admission Criteria for the schools in our MAT for Reception  

A child with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) which names the school will be admitted. Remaining places are allocated as detailed below.   

Where there are fewer applicants than the PAN, all children will be admitted. In the event the school is oversubscribed, the admission authority will apply the following oversubscription criteria in order of priority:   

1. Looked After Children and all previously Looked After Children   

A ‘Looked After Child’ is a child who is: 

1. in the care of the local authority, or 
2. being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of the social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time the application is made to school.  

If the child has previously been in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them and has subsequently been adopted, or is subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order, this must be indicated on the common application form and evidence (e.g. adoption certificate/copy of court order) to support this claim must be submitted with the common application form.

For children in state care outside England who ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, the relevant legal document(s) must be supplied. 

2. Medical/Social  

Whether there are specific medical or social circumstances that can be met only by the child’s attendance at the preferred school.   

Supporting Evidence 

If parents/carers believe there are specific reasons, medical or social, for claiming priority for their child to attend a particular school these special factors must be indicated on the application form and evidence (e.g. a letter from a registered health professional such as a doctor or a social worker) to support this claim must be submitted to the School Admissions Team, Staffordshire County Council.  

The information submitted must state clearly the effects of the condition/illness and why the preferred school is the only school that can meet their child’s needs. This is necessary because parents/carers would be asking the Admitting Authority to assess their child as having a stronger case than many other children, even some who live closer to the school in question than they do. The information provided will be used to prioritise the request for a particular school. Please note that only in exceptional cases are places prioritised in respect of a child’s/parent’s/carer’s medical/social grounds.   

This supplementary information will not be regarded as a valid application, unless the parent/carer has also completed an application with the LA where they reside.   

3. Children with a sibling already attending the at the time of admission.  

For admission purposes, a sibling is a child who resides permanently at the same address as the child for whom a place is being requested, and is one of the following:- 

• brother/sister 
• half brother/sister (i.e. share one common parent) 
• or stepbrother/sister (i.e. related by a parent’s marriage) 
• any other child for whom it can be demonstrated that s/he is residing permanently at the same address (e.g. under the terms of a residence order)  

The sibling connection only applies where the child concerned has a sibling attending the school at the time of the application as well as at the time of admission, (i.e. for normal year of entry applications siblings are expected to be attending the same school in September 2025). A sibling connection will not be accepted if the original place was obtained by using fraudulent or false information.    

4. Children whose parent/carer is a member of staff employed at the school

This applies where the parent/carer has been employed by the school for two or more years at the time at which the application of admission to the school is made, and/or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post at the school for which there is demonstrable skills shortage. This criteria applies to all permanent staff members, and excludes staff employed on a casual/temporary contract. This criteria only applies to staff that are employed specifically to work at the school and does not apply to staff that work at other schools within the multi-academy Trust, or within the central team.

Supporting Evidence

Parents/carers must complete the school’s Supplementary Information Form (SIF) and return it to the School Admissions Team, Staffordshire County Council.

5. Children living within the catchment area of the preferred school 

The catchment area is defined by Staffordshire Local Authority as detailed on the Staffordshire County Council website as follows:

• Gnosall
  
  
• Haughton
  
  
• Woodseaves

6. Children who live closest to our schools  

How close the child lives to the school requested with those living closest to the school getting the highest priority. The distance from the applicant’s home and school is taken in a straight line between the respective school and the child’s home address. The distance is measured using the City of Wolverhampton Council’s software, with those living closest to the school receiving the highest priority.   

If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the above criteria, children who live in the same block of flats will be offered the available spaces randomly selected by drawing lots. 

Child’s Home Address 

Parents are asked to provide their child’s home address, i.e. the usual place of residence on weekdays and nights. 

Please note that childminders’ addresses will not be accepted. This applies to both formal childminders and relatives or friends acting in a childminding capacity. 

The home address of a pupil is considered to be the permanent residence of a child in a residential property when the place is offered. The address must be the child’s only or main residence and is either: 

• Owned by the child’s parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s)
• Leased to or rented by the child’s parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) under lease or written rental agreement. 

Documentary evidence of ownership or rental agreement may be required together with proof of actual permanent residence at the property concerned. 

Acceptable proof of address includes: 

• A copy of a council tax bill;
• A copy of a recent utility bill (gas, electric, dated within the last six months);
• A solicitor’s letter stating that contracts have been exchanged and specifying a completion date;
• A copy of your Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit award letter (if you receive either of these benefits);
• A signed and dated tenancy agreement. 

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child and the child lives with both parents for part of the week, then the main residence will be determined as the address where the child lives for the majority of the school week. 

If the child equally shares living with both parents, the parents must inform the City of Wolverhampton Council (and the home Local Authority if this is not the same) which address should be used for admission purposes and which parent will make the application. Parents may be requested to supply documentary evidence to support the address used for the application. 

In the event that the family moves between the application and date of allocation, it is the parent’s responsibility to inform the Staffordshire County Council School Admissions Team (and the home Local Authority if this is not the same) as soon as possible of these circumstances. 

Late Applications  

Applications received after the closing date will be treated as late. This includes a change of preference for the school, a change in order of preference for the school or the addition of the school as a preference. Changes should be sent to the home LA of the parent/carer.  

Therefore applications received after the closing date and before 12 February will only be incorporated into the initial allocation process if the late submission is for a good and valid reason i.e. parents/carers can demonstrate a material change of circumstances, or the request is for an academy that has not reached its admission limit.   

When submitting late applications parents must give reasons in writing for the late submission. The admission authority will give consideration to the reasons, following which the application will be either:   

1. Incorporated into the initial allocation and assessed against the oversubscription criteria 
2. Considered only after all other applications 

Late applications without written reasons for the late application or those received after 12 February will only be considered after all other applications.  

Material Changes of Circumstance  

In claiming a material change of circumstance the applicant, at the time of application, must supply documentary evidence to confirm the changes. An example of material changes of circumstances is a house move that necessitates a change of preferences.   

If applicants’ circumstances change during the course of making the application that relate to any of the published criteria it is the applicant’s responsibility to provide evidence to the Staffordshire County Admissions and Appeals Team as this may affect the outcome of the application.  

Waiting lists  

The Admitting Authority will maintain the waiting lists until 31 December.  

The waiting list will be ranked in admission criteria order.  

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed. This means that a child’s position on the waiting list could go up or down during the time that it is on the list. Any late applications accepted will be added to the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria.   

In Year Fair Access Protocol  

The Directors of St Bartholomew’s CE MAT are committed to taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols.  

Children who are the subject of a direction by the Local Authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol take precedence over those on a waiting list.   

Fraudulent or Misleading Applications  

The Admitting Authority will follow up any reports they receive that allege that a fraudulent or misleading application has been made. 

Multiple Births  

We understand that parent/carers would like to keep twins, triplets and other children of multiple births together. In the event that there is an insufficient number of places to allocate to twins, triplets, etc. all children will be allocated together.   

Tie-Breaker for Oversubscription  

If there are an insufficient number of places to accommodate all the children of a particular criterion, the next criterion will be used to assess the applications concerned in order to prioritise applications. 

Applications for children to be admitted outside their normal age group  

Summer-born children 

Parents/carers 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 outside their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1. Any parent/carer wishing to make such a request must put their requests in the first instance in writing to the LA where they reside by 15 January.   

Requests will be considered on an individual basis and decisions will be reached taking into account the parents’/carers’ views, information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development, where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional, whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group if it were not for being born prematurely. The view of the Headteacher/Head of School of the school concerned will also be sought as part of the decision-making process.   

Any agreement to defer a child’s admission to Reception class does not guarantee a place at the preferred school, nor does it give the child any additional priority for a place. Parents/carers are required to make a new application next year for Reception 2026 and the application will be considered alongside all other applications for that round in accordance with the criteria.  

Deferred Entry  

A child’s parents/carers may defer the date at which their child, below compulsory school age, is admitted to the school, until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the first day of the summer term 2025. A child may take up a part-time place until later in the school year, but not beyond the point at which the child reached compulsory school age. Upon receipt of the offer of a place a parent/carer should notify the school, as soon as possible, that they wish to either defer their child’s entry to the school or take up a part-time place.   

In-Year Admissions  

Parents or carers seeking to transfer to a particular Academy may make an application using the appropriate application form, which can be obtained from Staffordshire County Council Admissions website. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements and parents and carers need to be aware that any date set for joining the new school may be after the next term or half term holiday and those parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child continues to receive appropriate education in the interim.

In the interests of safeguarding, it is school procedure to inform the Local Authority that a pupil has left in order to attend another school in the UK or abroad.  

Admission Appeals  

In the event that an applicant is denied a place at the school, the parent/carer will have the right to appeal to an Independent appeal panel. Information relating to this can be found at Admission Appeals - Staffordshire County Council   

Withdrawing Offer Places  

Any allegations received by the admission authority of people providing false accommodation addresses when applying for school places shall be fully investigated and, if found to be true, allocated places may be withdrawn, as appropriate. Our schools have been advised by Staffordshire County Council to ask parents/carers to provide proof of residence (for example utility bill) before admitting a child. A child’s home address is defined as the address at which a child normally resides or, where the child lives at more than one address, the address at which the child lives for the majority of the time. Where the home address is unclear parents/carers will be required to provide documentary proof of the child’s residence.   

Financial Implications  

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to St Bartholomew’s CE Multi Academy Trust.

Admission arrangements 2024/2025 & 2023/2024 

Our PAN for Reception Year 2023-24 is:

• Gnosall St Lawrence: 45
• Haughton St Giles: 15
• Woodseaves: 15

Reception Admissions 

The admission arrangements outlined in this section apply to children starting Reception for the first time in 2023-24. The admissions process for Gnosall, Haughton and Woodseaves is part of the Staffordshire County Council co-ordinated admissions scheme. 

The closing date for admissions will be 23:59 on 15 January 2023. Allocation results will be notified on 17 April 2023 by the applicants’ home Local Authority (LA). 

All applicants must complete the Common Application Form by applying online to the Local Authority where they reside.

Parents/carers who would like their child to be admitted during the year their child is five should ensure they complete all the necessary application forms. Admission to nursery does not mean automatic entry to the Primary school. 

Admission Criteria for the schools in our MAT for Reception 

A child with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or Statement of Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND) which names the school will be admitted. Remaining places are allocated as detailed below. 

Where there are fewer applicants than the PAN, all children will be admitted. In the event the school is oversubscribed, the admission authority will apply the following oversubscription criteria in order of priority:

1. Looked After Children and all previously Looked After Children, including internationally adopted previously looked after children (IAPLAC)

A ‘Looked After Child’ is a child who is: 

a)        in the care of the local authority, or

b)        being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of the social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time the application is made to school. 

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. Medical/Social 

Whether there are specific medical or social circumstances that can be met only by the child’s attendance at the preferred school. 

Supporting Evidence

If parents/carers believe there are specific reasons, medical or social, for claiming priority for their child to attend a particular school these special factors must be indicated on the application form and evidence (e.g. a letter from a registered health professional such as a doctor or a social worker) to support this claim must be submitted to the School Admissions Team, Staffordshire County Council. 

The information submitted must state clearly the effects of the condition/illness and why the preferred school is the only school that can meet their child’s needs. This is necessary because parents/carers would be asking the Admitting Authority to assess their child as having a stronger case than many other children, even some who live closer to the school in question than they do. The information provided will be used to prioritise the request for a particular school. Please note that only in exceptional cases are places prioritised in respect of a child’s/parent’s/carer’s medical/social grounds. 

This supplementary information will not be regarded as a valid application, unless the parent/carer has also completed an application with the LA where they reside.

3. Children with a sibling already attending the at the time of admission. 

For admission purposes, a sibling is a child who resides permanently at the same address as the child for whom a place is being requested, and is one of the following: 

• brother/sister
• half brother/sister (i.e. share one common parent)
• or stepbrother/sister (i.e. related by a parent’s marriage)
• any other child for whom it can be demonstrated that s/he is residing permanently at the same address (e.g. under the terms of a residence order) 

The sibling connection only applies where the child concerned has a sibling attending the school at the time of the application as well as at the time of admission, (i.e. for normal year of entry applications siblings are expected to be attending the same school in September 2023. A sibling connection will not be accepted if the original place was obtained by using fraudulent or false information. 

4. Children living within the catchment area of the preferred school 

The catchment areas are defined by Staffordshire Local Authority and are detailed on the Staffordshire County Council website. 

5. Children who live closest to our school 

How close the child lives to the school requested with those living closest to the school getting the highest priority. The distance from the applicant’s home and school is taken in a straight line between the respective school and the child’s home address. The distance is measured using the Staffordshire County Council's software, with those living closest to the school receiving the highest priority. 

If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the above criteria, children who live in the same block of flats will be offered the available spaces randomly selected by drawing lots.

Child’s Home Address 

Parents are asked to provide their child’s home address, i.e. the usual place of residence on weekdays and nights. 

Please note that childminders’ addresses will not be accepted. This applies to both formal childminders and relatives or friends acting in a childminding capacity. 

The home address of a pupil is considered to be the permanent residence of a child in a residential property when the place is offered. The address must be the child’s only or main residence and is either:

• Owned by the child’s parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s)
• Leased to or rented by the child’s parent(s), carer(s) or guardian(s) under lease or written rental agreement. 

Documentary evidence of ownership or rental agreement may be required together with proof of actual permanent residence at the property concerned. 

Acceptable proof of address includes:

• A copy of a council tax bill;
• A copy of a recent utility bill (gas, electric, dated within the last six months);
• A solicitor’s letter stating that contracts have been exchanged and specifying a completion date;
• A copy of your Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit award letter (if you receive either of these benefits);
• A signed and dated tenancy agreement. 

Where parents have shared responsibility for a child and the child lives with both parents for part of the week, then the main residence will be determined as the address where the child lives for the majority of the school week. 

If the child equally shares living with both parents, the parents must inform Staffordshire County Council (and the home Local Authority if this is not the same) which address should be used for admission purposes and which parent will make the application. Parents may be requested to supply documentary evidence to support the address used for the application. 

In the event that the family moves between the application and date of allocation, it is the parent’s responsibility to inform the Staffordshire County Council School Admissions Team (and the home Local Authority if this is not the same) as soon as possible of these circumstances.

Late Applications 

Applications received after the closing date will be treated as late. This includes a change of preference for the school, a change in order of preference for the school or the addition of the school as a preference. Changes should be sent to the home LA of the parent/carer. 

Therefore applications received after the closing date and before 13 February 2023 will only be incorporated into the initial allocation process if the late submission is for a good and valid reason i.e. parents/carers can demonstrate a material change of circumstances, or the request is for an academy that has not reached its admission limit. 

When submitting late applications parents must give reasons in writing for the late submission. The admission authority will give consideration to the reasons, following which the application will be either: 

1. Incorporated into the initial allocation and assessed against the oversubscription criteria
2. Considered only after all other applications 

Late applications without written reasons for the late application or those received after 13 February 2023 will only be considered after all other applications. 

Material Changes of Circumstance 

In claiming a material change of circumstance the applicant, at the time of application, must supply documentary evidence to confirm the changes. An example of material changes of circumstances is a house move that necessitates a change of preferences. 

If applicants’ circumstances change during the course of making the application that relate to any of the published criteria it is the applicant’s responsibility to provide evidence to Staffordshire County Council's Admissions and Appeals Team as this may affect the outcome of the application. 

Waiting lists 

The Admitting Authority will maintain the waiting lists until 31 December 2023. 

The waiting list will be ranked in admission criteria order.

A child’s position on a waiting list is not fixed. This means that a child’s position on the waiting list could go up or down during the time that it is on the list. Any late applications accepted will be added to the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria.

In Year Fair Access Protocol 

The Directors of St Bartholomew’s CE MAT are committed to taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols. 

Children who are the subject of a direction by the Local Authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol take precedence over those on a waiting list. 

Fraudulent or Misleading Applications 

The Admitting Authority will follow up any reports they receive that allege that a fraudulent or misleading application has been made. 

Multiple Births 

We understand that parent/carers would like to keep twins, triplets and other children of multiple births together. In the event that there is an insufficient number of places to allocate to twins, triplets, etc. all children will be allocated together. 

Tie-Breaker for Oversubscription 

If there are an insufficient number of places to accommodate all the children of a particular criterion, the next criterion will be used to assess the applications concerned in order to prioritise applications.

Applications for children to be admitted outside their normal age group 

Summer-born children

Parents/carers 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 outside their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1. Any parent/carer wishing to make such a request must put their requests in the first instance in writing to the LA where they reside by 15 January 2023. 

Requests will be considered on an individual basis and decisions will be reached taking into account the parents’/carers’ views, information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development, where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional, whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group if it were not for being born prematurely. The view of the Headteacher/Head of School of the school concerned will also be sought as part of the decision-making process. 

Any agreement to defer a child’s admission to Reception class does not guarantee a place at the preferred school, nor does it give the child any additional priority for a place. Parents/carers are required to make a new application next year for Reception 2024 and the application will be considered alongside all other applications for that round in accordance with the criteria. 

Deferred Entry 

A child’s parents/carers can defer the date at which their child, below compulsory school age, is admitted to the school, until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the first day of the summer term 2024. A child may take up a part-time place until later in the school year, but not beyond the point at which the child reached compulsory school age. Upon receipt of the offer of a place a parent/carer should notify the school, as soon as possible, that they wish to either defer their child’s entry to the school or take up a part-time place. 

In-Year Admissions 

Parents or carers seeking to transfer to a particular Academy may make an application using the appropriate application form, which can be obtained from Staffordshire County Council Admissions website. This application will be processed in line with the procedure outlined in the determined admission arrangements and parents and carers need to be aware that any date set for joining the new school may be after the next term or half term holiday and those parents/carers are responsible for ensuring that their child continues to receive appropriate education in the interim. In the interests of safeguarding it is school procedure to inform the Local Authority that a pupil has left in order to attend another school in the UK or abroad.

Admission Appeals

In the event that an applicant is denied a place at the School, the parent/carer will have the right to appeal to an Independent appeal panel. Information relating to this can be found at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/admissions. 

Parents are only entitled to one appeal per year group, per school, per academic year unless there is a material change of circumstances. 

Withdrawing Offer Places

Any allegations received by the admission authority of people providing false accommodation addresses when applying for school places shall be fully investigated and, if found to be true, allocated places may be withdrawn, as appropriate. Our schools have been advised by Staffordshire County Council to ask parents/carers to provide proof of residence (for example utility bill) before admitting a child. A child’s home address is defined as the address at which a child normally resides or, where the child lives at more than one address, the address at which the child lives for the majority of the time. Where the home address is unclear parents/carers will be required to provide documentary proof of the child’s residence. 

Financial Implications

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to St Bartholomew’s CE Multi Academy Trust.