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From October Essex parents will be able to apply for primary school places by visiting the Essex County Council admissions website. Click here for details.

applying for places - admissions policy

Parents wishing their children to attend the School should apply to the Local Authority (LA), who will send relevant details to the School. The School will then send parents a Supplementary Information Form (SIF), in order to gain additional information to enable the Governors fully to apply the admission criteria. The SIF will not give any details of the ranked order of parental preferences. If a SIF has not been returned by the closing date, the Governors will base their decision on the information that is available.

In considering applications for admission the Governors will have regard to the following criteria in order of priority:

  1. ’Looked after’ children: These are children who are in the care of a local authority or who are provided with accommodation by that authority - details are given in Section 22 of the Children Act 1989. In the case of the school being oversubscribed, such children will be given priority.
  2. Up to ten places will awarded to children whose parents are regularly involved in the work and worship of St Peter’s Church, South Weald. In the event of over-subscription, places will be prioritised on the depth of the parents’ involvement in the work and worship of the church. (A reference will be required from the Vicar of St Peter’s Church.)
  3. The child has a sibling attending the School at the time of admission.
  4. The family lives within the Ecclesiastical Parish of South Weald plus the following additions: the eastern side of Honeypot Lane and Kavanaghs Road together with Weald Close, Ashford Avenue and Kavanaghs Terrace.
  5. The parents are regularly involved in the work and worship of another Christian church which subscribes to the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity (a reference will be sought from the Priest/Minister). Also considered under this category will be any children not awarded places due to over-subscription under Criterion 1 who have not met the requirements of Criterion 2 or 3. In the event of over-subscription, places will be prioritised on the basis of the parents’ involvement in the work and worship of the church.
  6. The parents, although practising another faith, wish their child to attend a Christian school because of its specific religious ethos.
Applicants not offered places under Criterion 2 will be automatically reconsidered under Criteria 3, 4 and 5 as relevant. In the event of over-subscription in categories 3 and 4 above, places will be awarded to applicants who satisfied Criterion 2 but were not offered places owing to the restriction on numbers, provided that they satisfy Criterion 3 or 4.

In the event of a tie for a place, it will be awarded to the child living the shortest distance from the School. Between children living within the area defined in Criterion 4, this will be the shortest walking distance, using public paths, of the child’s home from the School. Between the children living outside the area defined in Criterion 4, this will be the straight-line distance from the child’s home to the School. The distance will be taken from the front door of the place of residence to the pedestrian entrance to the School.

Children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs under the Education Act 1996 Section 324 specifying St Peter’s Church of England School South Weald will be offered a place.

Church references (both from St Peter’s and from other churches): The Governors have accepted the recommendation of the Diocese of Chelmsford Board for Education that ’regularly’, in the context of worship, should indicate attendance at least fortnightly for at least a year prior to the application. Families that move will be able to refer to attendance at their former church.

A parent is a person who has a responsibility for the child (within the meaning of the Children Act 1989) or is otherwise legally liable to maintain him/her.

A sibling is defined as a child living in the same family unit in the same family household and address as a child who attends the School and with a reasonable expectation that the brother or sister will still be attending at the time of admission. This, therefore, includes brothers and sisters, and step-brothers and sisters. In addition, biological siblings will be treated as siblings irrespective of place of residence.

The LA will hold a waiting list until the end of the first week of the autumn term and continue to allocate places from the waiting list if spaces become available. After that date the school will hold a waiting list for those expressing a wish to remain on that list for the academic year. The above criteria will apply if a place becomes available; priority will not be given on the date that the application was added to the list.

Applications received outside the normal admission round will be subject to the above admissions criteria.

The published admission number is 45

PATTERN OF INTAKE

The Governors’ Admissions Committee will admit pupils to the school in two intakes.

The Autumn Intake (September) will be for pupils with their fifth birthday between 1st September and 31st December.

The Spring Intake (January) will be as follows:
  • Full time for pupils who have their fifth birthday between 1st January and 30th April.
  • Part time (mornings only) for pupils who have their fifth birthday between 1st May and 31st August.
  • In the Summer Term these pupils will attend school on a full-time basis.
When places are offered in Reception to parents before their children are of compulsory school age, they have the option of deferring the child’s entry until later in the year.

Parents will appreciate that if a school is oversubscribed it will not always be possible for them to be offered a place in their first choice of school. The School Standards and Framework Act (1998) states that parents who are refused a place have the statutory right of appeal to an independent appeal panel.

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