Admissions Policy 2020 - Limpsfield CE Infant School, Oxted

Achieving together in God’s light

            Admissions
            Policy 2020
This School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young
     people and expects all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment.

                      Last reviewed: from November 2018

                       Next review due: November 2019

Admissions Policy for Admissions in September 2020
                   Achieving together in God’s light
The Governing Body is responsible for the admission of pupils to Limpsfield Church of England
School and admits 60 children to the Reception Year each September. This admission number has
been agreed between the Governing Body and the Local Authority.

Ethos Statement – We are a vibrant school with a Christian ethos flowing throughout the school
day. We value the links with St Peter’s Church, our Diocese and the local community. Our central
purpose is to provide an excellent all round education and promote an enjoyment of learning.

The school does not have any specific units for pupils with particular special needs or physical
disabilities. There are two toilets for the disabled. The school is on a level site and all the
accommodation is on one floor. The school will take every possible measure to ensure that pupils
with disabilities have access to the same opportunities as other pupils.

The Governing Body is required to abide by the maximum limits for infant classes (4, 5, 6
and 7 year olds), i.e. 30 pupils per class.

In order to gain admission to Limpsfield C.E. Infant School at the beginning of a new academic year
a Surrey County Council application form needs to be completed and returned to the LA. If you live
in a different authority you must use that authority’s admission form to apply for our school. If you
are applying to the school under criteria 5 or 6 of our admissions policy, indicating membership of a
church, you will need to complete a Limpsfield CE Infant School supplementary information form
which should be returned direct to school. All forms need to be completed by 15 January 2020. The
supplementary information form and details of how to apply on line and outlining how to obtain a
hard copy of the Surrey form will be available from the school. It is vital that these forms are
completed and returned by the date specified on them.
N.B: The Surrey County Council application form will not be available from the school.

On-line applications are encouraged. You can get free internet access at any Surrey Library.
Confirmation of these applications will be by email. For more information on applying online go to
www.surreycc.gov.uk/admissions. Please note the school’s own supplementary information form
(available from www.limpsfield.surrey.sch.uk) will need to be completed and returned to the school
if you are applying under criteria 5 or 6.

All schools in Surrey now have an equal preference system for admissions. Further details can be
found on the Surrey website, together with information on how to apply for a school place.

Where there are more applications than there are places available, the governors will admit pupils
according to the criteria, in order of priority:
   1. Looked after children or previously looked after children. (See note A)
   2. Children with an exceptional and professionally supported medical or social need for a place
      at this school (See note B)
   3. Children who will have brothers and/or sisters, living at the same address, in the school at
      the date of application (See note C)
   4. Children living in the civil parish of Limpsfield (See note D)
   5. Children whose parents are committed members of, and regularly worship in, an Anglican
      Church and for whom Limpsfield is their nearest church infant school (See note E)
   6. Children whose parents are committed members of, and regularly worship in, churches which
      are full members of Churches Together in England and for whom Limpsfield is their nearest
      church infant school. (See note E )

7. Children residing in the civil parish of Oxted (See note D)
   8. Any other applicant

In the event that there are insufficient places for children within the same category, the Governing
Body will use distance to determine priority for those nearest the school. The distance is measured
in a straight line from the address point of the pupil’s house, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the
nearest school gate available for pupils to use. This is calculated using the Admission and Transport
Team’s Geographical Information System. If applicants live equidistant from the school the
Governing Body will draw lots to decide between applicants.

For blocks of flats, apartments or buildings where there are multiple addresses with only one address
point (where two or more applicants to the school would have the same distance measurement), the
Governors will draw lots to decide between applicants.

In the case of formal equal shared custody it will be up to the parents to agree which address to
use. In other cases it is where the child spends most of the time.

Applications in the Main Round
Limpsfield C.E. Infant School is, by virtue of being a voluntary aided school, its own admissions
authority and, therefore, has the power to decide its own admissions policy and criteria.
Nevertheless it is also a Surrey School and falls within the co-ordinated admissions scheme for
Primary Schools within Surrey. It is a requirement of this scheme that all parents in Surrey will be
sent their allocation letters by Surrey LA on the same date in April. The results of each application
will, therefore, be sent out in April before the September in which the child is due to start school.
Successful applicants are invited to visit the school on a number of occasions in the summer term
in order to begin to get to know the school.

Late Applications
(Application Forms received after the closing date up until the end of the admissions round on 31 st
August)

The Governors will consider late applications in accordance with Surrey’s Coordinated Admissions
Scheme.

Educating children out of their chronological year group
Applicants may choose to seek a place outside their child’s chronological (correct) year group.
Decisions will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and what is in the best
interests of the child concerned.

         Applicants who are applying for their child to have a decelerated entry to school, i.e. to
          start later than other children in their chronological age group, must initially apply for a
          school place in accordance with the deadlines that apply for their child’s chronological
          age. If, in liaison with the headteacher, governors agree for the child to have a
          decelerated entry to the school the place cannot be deferred and instead the applicant
          will be invited to apply again in the following year for the decelerated cohort.

         Applicants who are applying for their child to have an accelerated entry to school, i.e. to
          start earlier than other children in their chronological age group, must initially apply for a
          school place at the same time that other families are applying for that cohort. If, in
          liaison with the headteacher, governors agree for the child to have an accelerated entry
          to the school, the application will be processed. If it is not agreed for the child to have an

accelerated entry to the school, the applicant will be invited to apply again in the
           following year for the correct cohort

Applicants must state clearly why they feel admission to a different year group is in the child's best
interest and provide what evidence they have to support this. More information on educating
children out of their chronological year group and the process for making such requests is available
at www.surreycc.gov.uk/admissions.

Applications for Places during the School Year
Parents wishing to apply during the school year for a place for their child should first contact the
school. A Surrey In-Year Application form should then be completed and returned to Surrey’s
Admission Team. This form is available direct from Surrey via their website.

Appeals
Parents who are not offered a place for their child have the right to appeal to an independent appeal
panel. Parents wishing to appeal should obtain an appeal form from the Surrey County Council
website, or alternatively from the school. The form should be sent to reach the Clerk to the Appeal
Panel, care of the school, within 20 school days of the date of the letter confirming the governors’
decision not to offer a place. Should some appeals be unsuccessful, the governing body will not
consider further applications from those parents within the same academic year unless there have
been significant and material changes in their circumstances.

Waiting Lists
Parents who are refused admission may request in writing to have their child’s name put on the
waiting list. The list will be ordered in accordance with the admission criteria set out in this policy.
Late applicants may also request that their names be added to the waiting list. Any places that
become available will be offered to the child at the top of the waiting list. The waiting list will be kept
until the end of the Autumn Term at which point parents will be contacted to establish whether they
wish their child to remain on the list

Deferred entry
The School admits children to the Reception class in the September of the school year in which a
child attains the age of 5 years. (The school year runs from 1 September to the 31st August.) All
parents/carers are entitled to a full-time place for their child in the reception class from September,
but may defer entry until the beginning of the term after their child is five years old (i.e., when the
child reaches compulsory school age) or until the beginning of the summer term whichever is
earlier. Children may attend part-time until their child reaches compulsory school age.
Parents/carers wishing to defer entry for their child and/or attend part-time must contact the
headteacher at the earliest opportunity to discuss the arrangements.

Fair Access
The School is committed to taking its fair share of pupils who are hard to place in accordance with
the locally agreed fair access protocol. Pupils admitted under the protocol will take priority over any
children on the waiting list and this may include, on occasion, admitting above the planned admission
number.

Special Educational Needs
Parents of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs, or Education, Health and
Care (EHC) Plan are required to apply for school places separately through the local authority
from whom advice is available. If a child with a statement, or EHC Plan, is placed in the school by

the local authority before the normal admission round, the number of places available to other
applicants will be reduced. The Governors will admit all those pupils whose statement, or EHC
Plan, names the School.

Note A: Looked after children are children who are in the care of a local authority, or being provided
with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions as defined
by Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making an application to the school.
Previously looked after children are children who were looked after immediately prior to being
adopted, or who became subject to a residence order, (now termed child arrangement order under
the Children & Families Act 2014), or special guardianship order (in accordance with Section 14A
of the Children Act 1989). The Governors will require written confirmation that the child is looked
after, or previously looked after, and will be so at the time of making an application to the school.

Note B: This must be supported by written evidence at the time of application, eg, from a specialist
health professional, social worker or other care professional. The evidence must set out the reasons
why this school is the most suitable school and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had
to attend another school.

Note C: “Brothers and sisters” refers to blood relatives, step-siblings, foster and adopted children.

Note D: A copy of the map showing the Civil Parish Boundaries is available at school.

Note E In criteria 5 and 6 “Committed members of, and regularly worship in,” means people who
have been worshipping in their church on average twice a month and who are actively involved in
the life and worship of the church for at least a year prior to the date of application.
Active involvement can be evidenced by any one of the following but must relate to the worship
and mission of the church and must not be social in nature:
Being on church committees, leading church youth groups, belonging to house groups,
participating in home/study, mission and /or worship groups, reading in church, singing in the
choir, having responsibilities in the church, e.g., steward or sides person, working as a Sunday
school teacher or leading worship.
The relevant clergy will be asked to confirm details of church membership on the supplementary
information form that is submitted to school.

N.B. Please note that if it is found that a place has been obtained on a fraudulent basis, the offer of
the place will usually be withdrawn.