If you are interested in your child attending Holy Innocents' Catholic Primary School please read our Admissions criteria on the policy below.
You will also find a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) attached which we require to support your application. Please print the form and complete Part 1. If you are a Catholic family, please then ask your priest to complete Part 2. If your are of another faith or denomination, your minister should complete Part 3. The form should then be returned to the school office.
Please note we have an Open Afternoon every October for parents of children who are due to start school the following September. If you are unable to come along at that time please contact the School Office to arrange a separate visit.
Over subscription Criteria
The following order of priorities will be applied when applications within any of the above categories exceed the places available and it is necessary to decide between applications.
1. For Category 2,3,4 & 5 above – The strength of evidence of commitment to the faith as demonstrated by the family’s Mass attendance on Sundays. Commitment is defined using the frequency of Mass attendance asked for on the Supplementary Form.
Applications will be ranked using the information provided on the Supplementary Form with those who attend Mass weekly being ranked highest, then those who attend Mass once or twice a month, etc. This evidence must be provided by the parents/carers and be endorsed by a priest at the church(es) where the family normally worship.
Catholics include members of the Ordinariate and the Latin and Oriental Rite Churches that are in union with the May 2022 Bishop of Rome. Reference to other Christian denominations refers to denominations that are full members of Churches Together in England.
2. For category 9, 10 & 11 - Siblings of Non Catholic pupils - A brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner, attending the school at the beginning of their first term. In every case the child must be living in the same family unit at the same address Evidence of the relationship may be required.
3. Social and medical needs which make the school particularly suitable for the child in question. Strong and relevant evidence must be provided by an appropriate professional authority (e.g. qualified medical practitioner, education welfare officer, social worker or priest).
4. Distance from home to school –distance will be measured (in a straight line/by the shortest walking route) from the front door of the child’s home address(including flats) to the main entrance of the school, using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving the highest priority. Where the last remaining place is to be allocated and two or more children are deemed to live at the same distance from the school the place will be decided by the drawing of lots. Evidence of residence may be required.
Appeals
Parents whose applications for places are unsuccessful may appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel set up in accordance with section 85(3) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Appeals must be made in writing and must set out the reasons on which the appeal is made. Appeals should be made to the Admissions Appeal Clerk at the school address. Parents/Carers have the right to make oral representations to the Appeal Panel. Infant classes are restricted by the legislation to 30 children. Parents should be aware that an appeal against refusal of a place in an infant class may only succeed if it can be demonstrated that:- a) the admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size limit; or b) the admission arrangements did not comply with admissions law or had not been correctly and impartially applied and the child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had complied or had been correctly and impartially applied; or c) the panel decides that the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority would have made in the circumstances of the case