Admissions

POLICY FOR ADMISSIONS 2024 - 2025

The Governors are able to admit up to the Published Admission Number (PAN) of 20 children to the reception class in each academic year.  In the event of over-subscription, places will be allocated strictly in accordance with the priority order below.  

 

The Local Authority (LA), Hertfordshire, operates an agreed co-ordinated admissions scheme in line with government legislation. The LA will coordinate the process on behalf of the school according to the scheme published each year. The Governing Body, as the Admission Authority, will allocate the available places in line with this policy. 

 

The closing date for admission applications to be received by the LA is 15th January 2024. 

Information on completing the online application and notification dates of admission decisions are published in the LA admissions literature, available from the LA website. 

 

All applications must be made on the home LA common application form.  Parents/carers are requested to complete our Supplementary Information Form (SIF) and return it to the school office by 15th January 2024.  If a Supplementary Information Form is not completed the Governing Body will apply their Admission Arrangements using the information submitted on the Common Application Form only, which may result in your application being given a lower priority. 

 

The school provides for the admission of all successful applicants who have reached their 4th birthday by the beginning of September.  However, please note the following: 

a)  Parents offered a place may defer the date of their child’s admission until later in the year, or until the child reaches compulsory school age. Summer born children may only have admission deferred until the start of the summer term. 

b)  Parents can request part-time attendance until the child reaches compulsory school age. 

 

Where a parent of a ‘summer-born’ child (1 April – 31 August) wishes their child to start school in the autumn term following their fifth birthday, the Governors will consider the request.  If parents do not take up the offered place before the start of the summer term of the school year of entry, then they would have to re-apply for a place in Year 1.   

 

However If parents wish such a child to be educated “out-of year group” i.e. in the Reception Year rather than Y1 they may request this and should discuss it with the school as soon as possible. Such applications will be considered by the governors on a case-by-case basis. Each case will be judged on its individual merits but to admit out of year group would require exceptional and extenuating circumstances and professional evidence explaining why the child’s needs cannot be met in the chronological year group. 

 

All such parents should apply for their child’s normal age group at the usual time and may submit a request for admission out of the normal age group at the same time. 

 

The governors will respond to this request prior to the offer of a place being made. If the request is agreed to the application can be withdrawn for that year before the place is offered. 

 

If the request is refused, parents may decide whether or not to accept the offer of a place for the normal age group, or refuse it and make an in-year application for admission into Y1 for the September following the child’s fifth birthday. 

 

Where a parent’s request has been agreed, they must make a new application as part of the main admissions round the following year. 

Parents do not have the right of appeal against a decision not to place the child in a year group outside their normal age group.​ 

By agreement, and in co-operation with the Local Authority, the governors will apply their admissions policy criteria to all applications.  

 

The school does not have any specific units or facilities for pupils with particular special needs and there are no specific facilities for pupils with physical disabilities.  The school is on a sloping site.  The classrooms are on more than one level but there are ramps for access. 

 

Children who have an Education, Health and Care plan which names the school will be admitted to the school.

 

 

CATEGORIES FOR ADMISSION

Category 1  

Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those 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 or became subject to a child arrangement order or a special guardianship order. See Note 1 

 

Category 2 

Children living in AREA A on the map available from the school. 

 

 

Category 3 

Younger siblings permanently residing in the same household as children already on the school roll at the time of entry. See Note 2 

 

 

Category 4 

  1. Children of regular worshipper(s) of the Church of England living in AREA B, whose parents/guardians are regular worshippers of St. Ippolyts Parish Church.  See Note 3 

 

  1. Children of regular worshipper(s) of the Church of England living in AREA B, whose parents/guardians are regular worshippers of another Anglican Church.  See Note 3 

 

  1. Children of regular worshipper(s) of the Church of England and who are regular worshippers of St. Ippolyts Parish Church, but who live outside the parish.  See Note 3 

 

  1. Children of parent(s) or guardian(s) living in AREA B, who are regular worshipper(s) of another Christian denomination.   See Note 3 

 

 

Category 5 

Children of any other parent(s) or guardian(s) living in AREA B. 

 

 

Category 6 

Children of regular worshippers of the Church of England who are regular worshippers of other CE churches outside the Parish and who live outside the Parish.  See Note 3 

 

 

Category 7 

Children of parent(s) or guardian(s) outside the Parish, who are regular worshippers of another Christian denomination. See Note 3 

 

 

Category 8 

Children of parent(s) or guardian(s) who live outside the Parish. 

 

 

 

Continuing Interest List  

In the event of more applications than available places the governors will maintain a continuing interest list (waiting list).  Parents are requested to inform the governors if they wish their child’s name to be removed from the Continuing Interest List. The Governors will maintain the list until the end of the academic year.  

 

Fair Access protocol 

We will admit children under Hertfordshire County Council’s Fair Access Protocol before those on continuing interest, and over the Published Admission Number (PAN) if required. 

 

Twins/Multiple Births 

Every effort will be made to accommodate twins and other “multiple birth” applications. Where the 20th child admitted to the class is a twin or multiple birth, the other twin or sibling will be admitted as an exception to the infant class size rule. 

 

‘In year’ applications 

The governing body remains responsible for the allocation of all places in accordance with the school’s published admission rules. Any available places will be allocated according to the categories for admission. 

 

The school is NOT part of HCC’s In-Year (IY) coordination arrangements and so requests for admission to other year groups should be made directly to the school. Both the LA and the school can provide parents with an IY application form upon request, or parents may wish to access the following link to download a copy of the LA form www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions . This link also provides additional guidance information. The application form can be accessed by selecting ‘Apply to a school that handles its own in year admissions’.  

 

Parents can apply by completing this form and returning it to the school along with a completed SIF, available from the school office or the school website.  We will aim to inform parents of the outcome of their In Year application within 15 days. The school will inform the LA of every application and allocation and of both vacancies and numbers on roll. The LA will then be able to prevent duplicate offers being made, ensure safeguarding and that all children are offered places and to 

ensure that parents are informed of their right of appeal. The school will inform unsuccessful applicants of their right of appeal.  

 

Appeals 

In year Appeals: 

We will write to you with the outcome of your application and, if you have been unsuccessful, the county council will write to you with registration details to enable you to login and appeal online at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals 

 

Transfer Appeals: 

Parents wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log in to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details and log into www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system. 

 

NOTES 

NOTE 1:    

Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those 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 or became subject to child arrangements order¹ or a special guardianship order. 

 

Places are allocated to children in public care according to Chapter 7, Section 2 of the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012. 

These children will be prioritised under Category 1. 

Highest priority will also be given to children who were previously looked after, including those looked after outside England, but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangement order or a special guardianship order. 

 

A “child looked after” is a child who is: 

a)in the care of a local authority, or 

b)being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (section 22(1) of The Children Act 1989)  All children adopted from care who are of compulsory school age are eligible for admission under Category 1. Children in the process of being placed for adoption are classified by law as children looked after providing there is a Placement Order and the application would be prioritised under Category 1. Children who were not “looked after” immediately before being adopted or made the subject of a child arrangement order or special guardianship order, will not be prioritised under Category 1.  

 

Child arrangements order  

Under the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014, which amended section 8 of the Children Act 1989, residence orders have now been replaced by child arrangements orders which settle the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live.  

 

Special guardianship order  

Under 14A of The Children Act 1989, an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians. Children previously looked after abroad and subsequently adopted will be prioritised under Category 1 if the child’s previously looked after status and adoption is confirmed by Hertfordshire’s “Virtual School”. 

The child’s previously looked after status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children & Social Work Act 2017: 

 

i.to have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately, and 

ii.to have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted. 

A child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by – 

(a)a public authority, 

(b)a religious organisation, or 

(c)any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society 

  

NOTE 2:  SIBLINGS 

A sibling is defined as: the sister, brother, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, child of the parent/carer or partner or a child looked after or previously looked after¹ and in every case living permanently² in a placement within the home as part of the family household from Monday to Friday. 

 

A sibling must be on the roll of the school at the time the younger child starts school. 

If a place is obtained for an older child using fraudulent information, there will be no sibling connection available to subsequent children from that family. 

¹ Children previously looked after are those children adopted or with a special guardianship order or child arrangements order. This definition was amended following a determination by the OSA in August 2014. 

 

² A sibling link will not be recognised for children living temporarily in the same house, for example a child who usually lives with one parent but has temporarily moved or a looked after child in a respite placement or very short term or bridging foster placement. 

 

NOTE 3:   

A regular worshipper of a Church is defined as someone who attends the Church at least once every calendar month and has done for the previous 12 months.  There must be a note (NOT email) to confirm this level of attendance to accompany the application, which must be signed by the priest or minister of the church concerned.  

The governors define a ‘Christian’ Church to be one which is a member of Churches Together in England or the Evangelical Alliance. 

 

In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these [admissions] arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church relevant place of worship or alternative premises have been available for public worship. 

 

 

NOTE 4:   

Distance: A ‘straight line’ distance measurement is used in all home to school distance measurements for community and voluntary controlled schools in Hertfordshire. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences. 

 

Tie Break: When there is a need for a tie break where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tie break the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority. 

 

NOTE 5 

Please note that a repeat application within the same academic year will not be considered by the Governors unless there has been a significant change in circumstances. 

 

NOTE 6:   

At the point of admission the family must still be residing in the category in which the place was offered. 

 

NOTE 7: ADDRESSES 

Please note that evidence of permanent residency at the quoted address may be sought. 

 

The address provided must be the child’s current permanent address at the time of application  

  • At the time of application means the closing date for applications
  • “Permanent” means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year

Where a family has not lived at an address for a year, they must be able to demonstrate that they own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12* months and the child must be resident in the property at the time of application. 

The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one where the child lives for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, parents/carers should make a single joint application naming one address.  

 

If a child’s permanent residence is disputed, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes. If two applications are received, with different addresses and/or different preferences, neither will be processed until the address issue is reconciled.  

 

It is for a child’s home Local Authority to determine address. If two applications, with different addresses are received from the same Local Authority, it will be for that Local Authority to determine permanent address. If two applications are received from two different Local Authorities, the above process will be used 

 

If two different applications are received for the same child from the same address, e.g., containing different preferences, parents/carers will be invited to submit a joint application or provide court documentation to evidence the preferences that should be used for the admission process. Until the preference issue is reconciled neither application will be processed. 

For the transfer application rounds, if the initial differing applications (one or both) were received “on-time”, an amended joint application will also be considered “on-time” if received before the “late deadline”. If the amended joint application is received after the late date, it will be treated as “late”.  

 

* If, because of the nature of the agreement, it is not possible to provide a 12-month tenancy agreement, alternative proof of address will be requested and verified as necessary with the Shared Anti-Fraud Service. 

  

PROCEDURES 

 

 

  • Supplementary Information Forms can be obtained from the school office at any time or from the school website. 

 

  • Parents who are considering applying for a place for their child are invited to make an appointment to view the school. 

 

  • Children are invited to make introductory visits to the school during the term before entrance. 

 

  • The Governors anticipate that parents given a place for their child under the Church membership category will still satisfy the requirements of that category at the time of admission. 

 

  • Parents are reminded that there are occasionally slight changes to admissions policies and should make sure they have the most recent edition 

 

AREA MAP FOR ADMISSION