ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2022

“This policy was updated in August 2021 to be compliant with the Admissions Code which comes into force in September 2021, to expand upon the criteria giving priority to previously looked after children”

HEADTEACHER:  MRS C DICKENS

ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2022

Set out in this document are the oversubscription criteria for The Bewbush Academy for September 2022.    

Admissions are managed by West Sussex County Council’s admission team. Parents may apply online at www.westsussex.gov.uk/admissions

The oversubscription criteria apply when the school receives more applications than its admission number of 90. 

The oversubscription criteria are:

1. Children in public care, and those who have been in care and have been subsequently adopted or have been made subject of a residence order or special guardianship, 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 need a place at the school on exceptional and compelling social, psychological or medical grounds.

3. Children who live in the catchment area with brothers or sisters already attending the school who will still be there when he/she starts.

4. Other children who live in the catchment area.

5. Children who live outside the catchment area with brothers or sisters already attending the school and who will still be there when he/she starts.

6. Other children who live outside the catchment area.

In the case of oversubscription in any of the above categories, priority of placement is given to applicants who live nearest the school.

Please note:

1. Any child with an EHCP (Education Health Care Plan) of Special Educational Needs naming the school will automatically be admitted to a school, under section 324 of the Education Act 1996.

2. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be because they were adopted or became subject to a residence order or a special guardianship order. For the purpose of this criterion this includes:

An Adoption Order – “made under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002”;

A Special Guardianship Order - “made under Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 (as amended by the Adoption and Children Act 2002”;

A Residence Order – “made under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989”.

3. Parents/carers must provide written supporting evidence from an appropriately qualified person (usually a doctor or social worker) if they wish to apply under the exceptional and compelling social, psychological or medical grounds. The evidence should state clearly why the school asked for is the best one to meet the child’s specific needs.  Letters from parents are not considered sufficient evidence. Letters that do not address educational provision or address why the named school is the best to meet the child’s needs are not considered sufficient evidence.

The school will not contact doctors or social workers to obtain evidence relating to an application. It is parents’ responsibility to attach any evidence relating to their child to their application form.

A panel of West Sussex senior education officers will decide whether the reasons expressed are sufficient to override the oversubscription criteria and allow admission on exceptional and compelling grounds.

4. The term ‘parent’ includes other legal guardians.

5. A catchment area is a geographical area served by a specific school and defined on a map. Parents are informed of the catchment school for their home address. Maps are available from admissions.north@westsussex.gov.uk.

6. Brothers or sisters may be half or step-siblings, adopted siblings or the child of the parent/carer’s partner but must be living permanently at the same address.  

7. Distances are measured in a straight line from school to home using Ordnance Survey address point data from a central point in each building.

8. Parents may decide to defer entry to primary school until the spring or summer term as long as their child has not reached compulsory school age (the start of the term following the child’s 5th birthday). This must be formally agreed with the school. Parents may request the child to start either full or part-time before the child reaches compulsory school age and schools must comply with this request.

9. Families who applied for a place at this school as their catchment school for their eldest child and whose application was refused will have their applications for younger children considered as if they lived in the catchment area of the school the elder child was offered, while the elder child remains at that school. It is parents’ responsibility to indicate these circumstances in their application.

10. Any parent refused a place at the school has a statutory right of appeal. Appeals will be organised and heard in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.

11. Parents may request their child’s name to be added to the waiting list for the school. Waiting lists will be kept on the basis of the calendar year. If parents wish their child to remain on the waiting list, they will need to request this in December. They will not receive a reminder. Waiting lists must be kept in the order of the oversubscription criteria.