Admissions
We admit children to our school in the September after their fourth birthday at our infant site in the Bourne and admit an extra 76 children after their seventh birthday at our junior site in Menin Way.
Whenever possible we like children to visit the school before they are admitted to get to know the building, and the staff with whom they will be working. In the Summer Term of each year children due to join us in September visit us for part of the working day, and their parents make an evening visit.
Our staff visit all the Infant Schools to discuss the children due to transfer and we also co-operate closely with staff from local Secondary Schools to ensure a smooth transition to the next stage of education.
Admissions Policy for September 2013
The school participates in the Local Authority co-ordinated admissions scheme where an equal preference system operates (for details see LA website).
The current Published Admission Number PAN is 60 in Year R and 76 in Year 3.
All children whose statement of special educational needs (SEN) names the school will be admitted.
Priority for admission arrangements from 2013 will be as follows:
Infant – Reception (Age 4)
1. Looked After Children
Children who are registered as being in the care of a Local Authority (LA), children who were previously looked after but who ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a residence or special guardianship order.
2. Exceptional Arrangements
Occasionally there will be a very small number of children for whom exceptional arrangements apply. Evidence from a consultant doctor will be required for medical cases or documented evidence from any support services involved for other sensitive family circumstances will be required. These exceptional arrangements may override other admissions priorities.
3. Children of staff at the school
Priority will be given to children of full-time members of the senior leadership team who have been employed at the school for two or more years and for new staff employed to a difficult to recruit position. For normal round admissions the date that will be used to assess this will be the closing date for applications (15 January 2013). For in-year applications the date that will be used will be the date the application is made.
4. Siblings
Places are then offered to siblings of pupils who would be attending the school at the time of admission i.e. September 2013. A sibling is a brother or sister, or a half-brother or half-sister or a step-brother or step-sister, living at the same address, or foster children or adopted children living at the same address.
5. Distance from the school
This will be measured in a straight line from the address point of the child’s home, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the nearest gate for pupils to use.
Junior – Year 3 (Age 7)
1. Looked After Children
Children who are registered as being in the care of a Local Authority (LA), children who were previously looked after but who ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a residence or special guardianship order.
2. Exceptional Arrangements
Occasionally there will be a very small number of children for whom exceptional arrangements apply. Evidence from a consultant doctor will be required for medical cases or documented evidence from any support services involved for other sensitive family circumstances will be required. These exceptional arrangements may override other admissions priorities.
3. Children of staff at the school
Priority will be given to children of full-time members of the senior leadership team who have been employed at the school for two or more years and for new staff employed to a difficult to recruit position. For normal round admissions the date that will be used to assess this will be the closing date for applications (15 January 2013). For in-year applications the date that will be used will be the date the application is made.
4. Siblings
Places are then offered to siblings of pupils who would be attending the school at the time of admission i.e. September 2013. A sibling is a brother or sister, or a half-brother or half-sister or a step-brother or step-sister, living at the same address, or foster children or adopted children living at the same address.
5. Children attending a named feeder school
In alphabetical order these are:
All Saints C of E Infant, Tilford
St Andrew’s C of E Infant, Farnham
St John’s C of E Infant, Churt
St Mary’s C of E Infant, Frensham
6. Distance from the school
This will be measured in a straight line from the address point of the pupil’s house, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the nearest gate for pupils to use.
If there is oversubscription in any of the above criteria priority will be given on the basis of nearness to school measured in a straight line from the address point of the pupil’s house, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the nearest gate for pupils to use. The child’s home address excludes any business, relative’s or childminder’s address and must be the child’s normal place of residence. In the case of shared custody it is the address where the child spends most of the time. All distances will be measured by the computerised Geographical Information System maintained by Surrey’s Admissions and Transport team. Any offer of a place on the basis of address is conditional on the child being resident at the address provided.
The address to be used for the initial allocation of places to Reception and Year 3 will be the child’s address at the closing date for application. Changes of address may be considered in accordance with Surrey’s Co-ordinated Schemes if there are exceptional reasons behind the change, such as if a family has just moved to the area. The address to be used for waiting lists, after the initial allocation, will be the child’s current address. Any offer is conditional upon the child living at the appropriate address on the relevant date. Parents have a responsibility to notify the school of any change of address.
Where two applicants live equidistant and share priority for a place we will apply a random allocation to determine which child would receive priority. In the case of multiple births where children are ranked consecutively in their order of priority for a place and there are not sufficient vacancies remaining for each of them, wherever it is logistically possible, each child will be offered a place. Where it is not logistically possible to offer each child a place the child(ren) to be offered the last remaining place(s) will be determined by the drawing of lots.
Children of full-time members of leadership team staff who don’t initially fulfil the two year requirement will have their position on the waiting list updated according to eligibility on the date in question.
Starting School
There is a single intake into Reception. All children whose date of birth falls between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009 will be eligible to apply for a full time place in Reception for September 2013. Parents may request to defer their child’s entry to Reception until later in the school year, but this will not be agreed beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the original application was accepted. Parents may also request for their child to start part time until their child reaches statutory school age.
Waiting Lists
Where there are more applicants than places available, waiting lists will operate for each year group according to the oversubscription criteria shown and without regard to the date the application was received or when a child’s name was added to the waiting list. As part of the initial intake to Reception and Year 3, applicants will automatically be placed on the waiting list if they have not been offered a higher preference school.
Waiting lists for the initial intake will be maintained until the last day of the Autumn term when they will be cancelled. Parents wishing to remain on the waiting list after this date must write to the school by 31 December 2013, stating their wish and providing their child’s name, date of birth and the name of their child’s current school. After 31 December 2013, parents whose children are not already on the waiting list but who wish them to be so must apply for in-year admission. Waiting lists for all year groups will be cancelled at the end of each academic year.
From 1 September 2013 in-year admissions for Years 3 – 6 will be administered using the criteria referred to above excluding criteria 5 regarding named feeder schools.
Late applications
Late applications for the initial intake to Reception and Year 3 will be considered in accordance with Surrey's Primary Coordinated Admissions Scheme.
Following a determination by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator this revised policy was agreed by the Governing Body on 5th September 2012 and will be reviewed annually.
ADMISSIONS CONSULTATION FOR SEPTEMBER 2014
Please see below a copy of the proposed admission arrangements for South Farnham School for 2014/15.
Should you wish to make any comments, please send them to the Chair of Governors, marked Admissions Consultation via the following email address: admissions@south-farnham.surrey.sch.uk or by post at the school address. The consultation period runs until 1 March 2013.