Admissions
Shropshire Council is the admission authority for St Andrew’s CofE Primary School
Shropshire Admissions
For admissions to Reception Year, application must be made through Shropshire Council (or the relevant home local authority) by 15th January prior to the academic year in which the child is due to start school. All applications received by this date will be considered and parents will be informed by the home authority on 16th April (or next working day) if they have been allocated a place for their child. Further details can be found in the Parents’ Guide to Education booklet on the website www.shropshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions.
The school has an admission limit (PAN) of 50 for entry into Reception. The school will accordingly admit at least 50 each year if sufficient applications are received. All applicants will be admitted if 50 or fewer apply.
When can my child start school?
Children can attend primary education from the September following their 4th birthday. The law requires that children attend school from the prescribed day4 following their 5th birthday. Parents can request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the school year, or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that year. They can also request that their child attends part-time until they reach compulsory school age. However, the offer of a place cannot be held over until the next academic year.
Children become of compulsory school age on the first prescribed day following their 5th birthday: 31 August, 31 December or 31 March (or on that day if any of these dates are the child’s birthday).
For more information on deferring the start of Reception to a different cohort, please see below.
Admission of children outside their normal age group (not Reception)
Parents may seek a place for their child outside their normal year group with a different cohort. Such requests may be appropriate, for instance where the child is gifted or talented, or where a child has suffered from particular social or medical issues impacting his or her schooling. All such requests will be considered on their merits and either agreed or refused, on that basis. If a request is refused, the child will still be considered for admission to their normal age group.
The process for requesting such an admission is as follows:
With the application, parents should request that the child is admitted to another year group (state which one), and the reasons for that request. Parents will submit any evidence in support of their case with the application, for instance from a medical practitioner, headteacher etc. Some of the evidence a parent might submit could include:
- information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development;
- where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional;
- whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and
- whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely.
Requests for admission out of the normal year group will be considered alongside other applications made at the same time.
Requests to defer starting Reception
Children must have started school when they reach compulsory school age and cannot start school before the September following their fourth birthday.
Requests to defer starting Reception, must be made to Shropshire Council’s School Admissions Team at the same time as the application for a school place and by the closing date of 15 January.
Shropshire Council will gather as much information about the child as possible. Parents may submit documentation in support of their request and information may be provided by the current educational or early years setting. (See examples in section above.)
Consideration will be given to exceptional circumstances in a child’s development, medical history and premature birth, if applicable. Very exceptionally, an assessment by an educational psychologist may be appropriate.
When all the information is collated, the request will be considered by the admission authority. The decision will be made on the individual circumstances of the case and whether it is in the child’s best interests to join a different cohort.
If a deferred entry is approved, the school place application will be withdrawn, and parents will need to re-apply the following year. An agreed Reception deferral does not guarantee a place at the school the following year; a fresh application must be considered in terms of oversubscription criteria along with all the other applications received for that year group. If a request is refused, the child will still be considered for admission to their normal age group.
Admissions Arrangements
Please click for Shropshire's latest admissions arrangements:
Mid-term applications
Mid-term applications should be made directly to the school and will be considered using the same admissions criteria given above. To apply for a place other than the start of Reception, parents should apply directly to the school on a mid-term application form available the Shropshire Council website www.shropshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions or from school. If there is a space available in that year group, a place will be granted. If the application is for a place in an over-subscribed year group, then the school will consider whether additional places can be offered above the published admission number. Decisions will be notified to parents within 15 school days.
If a place cannot be offered, parents will receive a formal letter and information on how to appeal against the decision.
Waiting list
Other than the first term of Reception year, the school will maintain a waiting list for unsuccessful applicants held in order of oversubscription criteria. Shropshire Council will operate the Reception waiting list for the first term of the academic year of admission after which the school will operate the waiting list. If any vacancies arise, places will be offered to applicants at the top of the waiting list. If a place can be offered, the applicant will be expected to take up the place within 6 school weeks or by the start of the next half term, whichever is the earliest date, with the exception of Reception children who have deferred entry until later in the same academic year. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves it. If an offer of a place is refused, the name will be removed from the waiting list.
Appeals
All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.
Appellants should contact Shropshire Council School Admissions Team for information on how to appeal. Information on the timetable for the appeals process is on the website www.shropshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions. Parents must be given at least 10 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to lodge an appeal.
Catchment Area
The proposed catchment area for the school is the area South of the railway line in Shifnal.
For admissions to the Reception Year or Year 7 application must be made through Shropshire Council by 15th January or 31st October in the academic year prior to which your child is due to start school. All applications received by this date will be considered and parents will be informed by Shropshire Council on 16th April or 1st March if they have been allocated a place for their child. Please see the Parents Guide to Education booklet on the Shropshire Council website:
Notes:
A sibling connection is defined as a brother or sister, step-brother or step-sister, or half-brother or half-sister, living at the same address as part of the same family unit and of compulsory school age (i.e. 5 - 16 years). Adopted siblings are also included. Older siblings must be attending the school on the date the younger sibling is due to start there. However, cousins or other relatives who take up residence in a home in order to establish an 'in catchment area' address will not be given priority under the sibling criterion.
Useful Links:
Includes:
- Applying Online
- Waiting List and Reviews
- Special Needs
- Oversubscription Criteria
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Mid Term Transfer Application Form & Guidance Notes
- Appeal against allocation of school place