Admissions

“There is a warm and inclusive atmosphere in the school. Students respect staff and behave well.”  - Ofsted, Nov 2008

How does the Admission Authority decide which children are allocated places?

If there are fewer applicants than there are places available, everyone who applies will be offered a place. When there are more applicants than there are places available there has to be a way of deciding which children are offered places. This is done by having admission criteria which are considered in order. These criteria can also be called oversubscription criteria. In Kirklees the admission criteria are:

• Children in public care (looked after children).
• Children who live in the school’s Priority Admission Area (PAA) who have an older brother or sister attending from the same address at the date of admission (the younger sibling rule)
• Children who live in the school’s PAA
• Children who live outside the school’s PAA who have an older brother or sister attending from the same address at the date of admission (the younger sibling rule)
• Children who live outside the school’s PAA

Community and controlled schools will admit children with Statement of Special Educational Needs where the school is named on the Statement.

Notes:

• Children in priority 1 above may be admitted above the PAN.
• If we cannot agree to requests for admission in priorities 2 to 5 above without exceeding the PAN, we will give priority up to the PAN to children living nearest the school.Distance is measured in a straight line from a child’s home address to the school. Measurements are calculated using seven-figure grid references for each address taken from
• Ordnance Survey ADDRESS-POINT ® data. This grid reference relates to a point that falls within the permanent building structure corresponding to the address. The boundary of the building structure for the address is derived from Ordnance Survey Land-Line data. For smaller, residential properties the grid reference denotes a point near the centre of the building. For larger properties, like schools with, for example, multiple buildings and large grounds, the grid reference relates to a point inside the main addressable building structure. The distance calculated is accurate to within 0.1 metres.
• ‘Live’ means the child’s permanent home at the date when applications close or, if a significant house move is involved, the latest reasonable date before the final allocation of places. It is expected the allocation process will take place on 12 January 2009.
• For children transferring from middle schools, we will give preference in priorities 2-5 above (up to the PAN) to children attending a middle school in the high school PAA.
• A PAA means a geographical area determined by Kirklees in consultation with the governing body of the school. It is called this because children living there normally have priority for admission over children who live elsewhere. It is also referred to as the catchment area.
• Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs are admitted to mainstream schools, special units and special schools separately from the general admission policies published.

The above criteria apply to Kirklees Community and Controlled schools.