Admission Arrangements

St Philip's CE Primary Academy is part of Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust.  Therefore, the Trust is our admissions authority, and the process of how to apply for a place at our academy can be found on the Trust website: BDAT Admissions arrangements: https://www.bdat-academies.org/admissions-process-bdat-academies/

Below is an outline of our admissions procedure for Nursery.

All pupils will be considered for a place at St Philip's following our Admissions Policy.  All applications from pupils with Special Educational Needs or who have a disability will be treated fairly using the same criteria as all other applications.  Please also refer to Children with Disabilities Policy on our policy page https://www.stphilipsceacademy.co.uk/policies/ 

Nursery Admissions

Our Nursery caters for children in the Foundation Stage, between the ages of 3 and   

5 years. Parents/Carers can put their child's name on the waiting list as soon as the child is born.

It is our aim to offer all children at least 3 terms Nursery provision prior to them starting in Reception. The majority of admissions to Nursery take place over the first few weeks of the Autumn term.

Children are offered places according to their position on the waiting list. The list is divided into months to ensure that summer birthdays have equal access. The same number of children from each month’s list are offered places. (This number varies according to the number of vacancies)

Pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan

The admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is dealt with by a separate procedure.  Such children are dealt with through a separate legislative process and without reference to the oversubscription criteria below.  Children who have an EHCP which names a specific school, will normally be admitted to the school.

Criteria for Admissions

If at point of admission there are more children on the waiting list than available places we refer to the local authorities’ Oversubscription Criteria. In case of oversubscription places will be allocated to children in the following priority order:

1. Looked after children – a child who is looked after by a local authority in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989(b) at the time an application is made. Looked after children or children who were previously looked after but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a residence or special guardianship order. Looked after children who are regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.
2. Children who have exceptional social or medical needs, supported by a written recommendation from the child’s paediatrician/consultant or professional from Children’s Services. The letter must explain why the school is the only suitable school to meet the child’s needs and why no other school could provide the appropriate support for the child.
3. The children of parents who are members of the Church of England or other Christian denominations.
4. Sisters and brothers of children living at the same address who are at present on roll at the school and will still be attending the school at the time of admission.
5. Other children

Multiple Births

Where a parents of multiple births (twins, triplets etc) request admission and only one of the siblings can be offered a place, the remaining siblings will also be offered places above the admission number. The terms “siblings” refers to children who live with the same family at the same address. Children living with the same family e.g. foster children and step-sisters and brothers are also included. Cousins are not siblings.

Note 1: For admission under the fourth criterion, parents will be asked to demonstrate membership of the appropriate Christian denomination.

Note 2: A ‘looked after child’ is a child who is in the care of the local authority, or being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (as defined in the Children Act 1989).

In Year Transfer

The LA keeps a waiting list for places in Reception –Year 6, as vacancies arise, places are allocated according to the criteria for admissions.  Further information can be found here.

Tie Break

When demand exceeds places in any of the following policies, the distance between the child’s home and school, measured by a straight line distance from the Ordnance Survey address point of the home to the main entrance to the school building, will be used to decide who is given a place; those living nearest being given the available places. Where the offer of places to applicants with equi-distant addresses would lead to oversubscription, the decision of who will be offered the place will be made by random selection.

Note: ‘Home address’ refers to the child’s permanent home at the date of admission.  Where the child lives with split parents who have shared responsibility, it is for the parents to determine which address to use when applying for a primary school. Proof of residency may be required at any time during or after the allocation process.

Admission Appeals

If we do not offer a child a place at this academy, it is because to do so would prejudice the education of other children by allowing the numbers of children in the academy to increase too much. If Parents/Carers wish to appeal, the process to do so can be found here.  An appeal panel’s decision is binding for all parties concerned. If the appeal panel decides that we should admit a child to our academy, then we will accept this and continue to do all we can to provide the best education for all the children at our academy. (Details of appeal arrangements are set out in the School Admission Appeals Code 2014 

Class Size

The maximum class size in classes is 30 children.