Crawley Green Infant School Admission Arrangements for September 2024

As Crawley Green Infant School is a foundation school the governing body is responsible for admissions to the school.

In order for their child to be admitted to the Reception Year at Crawley Green in September 2024, parents must complete the Council’s common application form by 15^th January 2024. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered in the initial allocation of places, except in very exceptional circumstances. Where parents have submitted an application form before the closing date, but then seek to change their preference after the closing date, this late expression of preference will be treated as a late application and will not be considered in the initial allocation of places.

1. School operates an equal preference system; applications will be considered according to the set admissions criteria (below) regardless of any indicated

preference ranking.

An update on the school their child has been allocated can be seen on the portal from 16^th April 2024. Decision letters will be sent to parents by the Admissions Team on behalf    of the governing body of the school.

The admission number for the school is 90 in any one school year.

Admissions Criteria

In accordance with the Education Act 1996, children with a Statement of SEN or EHC Plan are required to be admitted to the school named in the Statement/Plan. Thereafter, the following priorities will apply:

1. A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order[1] including those that appear to the council to have been in state care [2] outside of England and ceased to be in care as a result of being adopted. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).

An adoption order is an order under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children’s Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders). A ‘child arrangements order’ is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 as amended by s.14 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).

     A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.

1. Brothers and sisters of pupils attending the school or the linked junior school Wenlock CA School) when the pupil starts school
2. Pupils living within the school’s catchment area**.
3. On medical grounds supported by medical evidence
4. Children of staff who work at the school
5. On the shortest distance, measured in a straight line, between the main entrance of the school site and the pupil’s home address, with those living closer to the school being accorded higher priority.

The main entrance of the school means the door used to access the School’s main reception. The home address is measured from a point at the address identified in the Local Land and Property Gazetteer.

**A pupil’s home address is where she or he spends the majority of the school week (i.e. Monday to Friday, including nights) with her/his parent or legal guardian. The address of a child-minder or family member who looks after the child before or after school cannot be used. If there is any query on the home address this will be checked against official documentation.

For the purposes of allocating places in the normal admissions round for the Reception Year, the pupil’s catchment area will be determined by their home address as at the closing date for applications.

Children who gain a place at a school because their parents/carers have given a false home address will have their place withdrawn.

Catchment area details can be found on the Council’s website

at www.luton.gov.uk/admissions. Catchment area lists are also available from the Council by telephoning the Admissions helpline on 548016

Tie-Break

Admissions criteria will be applied separately and sequentially until all places are filled. Priority is not given within each criterion to children who meet other criteria. In the event of oversubscription in any one of the above categories, the deciding factor will be the geographical proximity to the school. The distance will be measured in a straight line, between the main school gate and a point at the pupil’s home address

identified in the Local Land and Property Gazetteer. Those living closer to the school will be accorded the higher priority.

In the event of (a) two or more children living at the same address point (e.g. children resident in a block of flats) or (b) two addresses measuring the same distance from the school, the ultimate tie-breaker will be random selection, witnessed by a Council Officer, independent of the Admissions Team.

Multiple births

Where one twin/child of multiple birth qualifies for a place and the other sibling(s) do not qualify for a place, both twins/multiple birth children will be promoted to the sibling criterion. This approach will also apply to siblings in the same year group who live together at the same address.

Deferred Entry

Children are admitted into the Reception Year in the September prior to the child’s fifth birthday. Parents/carers can choose to defer their child’s entry to school or take up the place part-time until he or she is of compulsory school age, providing this place is taken up within the same academic year and they are not on roll at an alternative school.

        Parents/carers wishing to defer their child’s entry to school must put their request in writing, ideally within 21 days of being offered a place.

Admission of children outside of their normal age group

Parents seeking a place for their child outside of the chronological age group should submit their written case to the Council. Parents should include information regarding the child’s academic, social and emotional development; and whether they have previously been educated outside of their normal age group. If the child has been born prematurely, parents should include these details in their application. Applications will be discussed with the Headteacher and other relevant local authority professionals. A decision will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and parents will be informed of the reasons for the decision in writing.

Waiting Lists

Once the number of pupils reaches the admission number, a waiting list is formed. Positions on the waiting list are organised in the order of priority of the school’s admissions criteria.

The waiting list for the new Year R intake will be held until 31 July 2025, other than applications received in the summer term 2025, which will remain on the waiting list until 31 July 2026

For Year 1 and Year 2, unsuccessful applications received from the start of the autumn term 2024 until the end of the spring term 2025 will be placed on a waiting list until 31 July 2024. Applications received from the start of the summer term 2025 to the end of the academic year will be placed on a waiting list until 31 July 2026

Waiting Lists continued …

Parents will need to reapply for a place after these dates if they wish their child’s name to be carried forward on the waiting list.