The Olive School, Hackney

The Olive School, Hackney This policy is in line with the Mission Statement of the school To promote a culture of educational excellence, from within a caring and secure Islamic environment enriched with the values of discipline, mutual care and respect which extends beyond the school into the wider community Admission Policy 2015-16

School Admission Arrangements for 2015 2016 The Olive School, Hackney, is a primary free school. The school was founded by the Tauheedul Education Trust and is conducted as a Muslim Faith School. Making an application Reception Admission In the autumn term, all applicants are advised to request a copy of the Local Authority s Primary Admission Booklet which gives details of all primary schools in their area. These are available from the borough's Admissions Team. Hackney residents can obtain a booklet from Hackney Learning Trust, Hackney Technology & Learning Centre, 1, Reading Lane, London E8 1GQ. Applications for admission to the school for September 2015 should be made on the Hackney Common Admissions Form (CAF) enclosed with the Primary Admission Booklet, between September 2014 and 15th January, 2015. Applications may also be completed on-line at www.eadmissions.org.uk. The reception class admissions process is co-ordinated London-wide, so you only need to complete the home Local Authority application form, listing all the London schools you prefer. All applications received by the closing date, which is 15th January, 2015, will be considered at the same time, in accordance with the published admissions criteria. Parents wishing to be considered under the faith priority group are also required to complete a supplementary information form. This needs to be returned separately, to the school, by the closing date, which is 15 th January 2015. Letters informing parents of whether or not their child has been allocated a place will be sent out by their home LA s Admissions Team on 17th April, 2015. Parents of children not admitted will be informed of the reason and normally, offered an alternative place. Hackney residents instead will be informed by Hackney Learning Trust of the schools that have places available, if a place has not been secured at any of their preference schools. Children whose fifth birthday falls between 1st September, 2015 and 31st August, 2016 will be admitted in to Reception on 1st September, 2015. 2

Reception admissions in to The Olive School, Hackney for 2015/16 academic year The admission number for the Reception intake in 2015 will be 90. The admissions process is part of the Hackney Local Authority s primary co-ordinated scheme for Reception admissions. All applications will be considered equally. Oversubscription criteria If undersubscribed, the school will admit all applicants. If oversubscribed, the school will admit children under two priority groups once all children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an education, health and care plan, in which the school is named, have been admitted. Priority Group A A maximum of 50% of the remaining places will be allocated to children who are members of the Muslim faith* in the following order: 1. Looked after Muslim children (children in public care) or a Muslim child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order (see note 1). 2. Muslim children with a sibling who is a pupil already attending The Olive School, Hackney, at the time of admission (see note 2). 3. Muslim children of staff employed at The Olive School, Hackney for at least 2 years or who have been recruited to fill a post where there is a skills shortage on the date that they are due to start 4. Muslim children for whom the Governing Body accepts that they have proven exceptionally strong special medical or social circumstances, which are directly relevant to attendance at The Olive School, Hackney. Professional supporting evidence should be provided from e.g. a consultant, doctor, psychologist, social worker or others as requested by the school. It is essential if admission is to be made under this criterion that this evidence should set out the reasons why The Olive School, Hackney, is the most suitable school for this child and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school. 5. Muslim children who live nearest to The Olive School, Hackney. The distance will be measured in a straight line using geographical information provided by the local council. If a number of addresses have the same geographical property reference (such as a block of flats), or if there are a number of applicants living the same distance away from the school, random allocation by The Olive School will then be used to decide which of the children can be offered a place. 3

Faith Priority A child will become eligible for consideration under the faith priority group by completing a supplementary information form, which is available from The Hackney Learning Trust and the School. This supplementary information form needs to be returned separately, to the school. Tie-breaker If any categories are oversubscribed, then the geographical proximity (as set out in category 5 above), will be used as a tie-breaker. If the distance between two children s homes and the school is the same, then random allocation by The Olive School will be used as a tie-break. Priority Group B A maximum of 50% of the remaining places will be allocated to community applicants in the following order: 1. Looked after children (children in public care) or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order (see note 1). 2. Children with a sibling who is a pupil already attending The Olive School, Hackney, at the time of admission (see note 2). 3. Children of staff employed at the school for at least 2 years or who have been recruited to fill a post where there is a skills shortage on the date that they are due to start 4. Children for whom the Governing Body accepts that they have proven exceptionally strong special medical or social circumstances, which are directly relevant to attendance at The Olive School, Hackney. Professional supporting evidence should be provided from e.g. a consultant, doctor, psychologist, social worker or others as requested by the school. It is essential if admission is to be made under this criterion that this evidence should set out the reasons why The Olive School, Hackney, is the most suitable school for this child and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school. 5. Children who live nearest to The Olive School, Hackney. The distance will be measured in a straight line using geographical information provided by the local council. If a number of addresses have the same geographical property reference (such as a block of flats), or if there are a number of applicants living the same distance away from the school, random allocation by The Olive School will then be used to decide which of the children can be offered a place. Tie-breaker If any categories are oversubscribed, then the geographical proximity (as set out in category 5 above), will be used as a tie-breaker. If the distance between two children s homes and the school is the same, then random allocation by The Hackney Learning Trust will be used as a tie-break. All applicants will be considered equally for a place under both priority groups A and B. 4

Allocation of places if either group A or group B are undersubscribed If after the admission of children with a statement for special educational needs fewer than 50% of the remaining children qualify for admission under Priority Group A, additional places will be offered using the criteria listed under Priority Group B until the admission number of 90 is met. If after the admission of children with a statement for special educational needs fewer than 50% of the remaining children qualify for admission under Priority Group B additional places will be offered to applicants who were not allocated a place under Priority Group A. These applicants will be considered without reference to faith in line with the over-subscription criteria in Priority Group B until the admission number of 90 is met. Notes 1. 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 (see the definition in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989). An adoption order is an order under section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. A residence 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. 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). 2. Siblings refers to full sister/brother, half-sister/brother, adopted sister/brother, step sister/brother, foster sister/brother, or the child of the parent/carer s partner, and in every case, the child should be living in the same family unit at the same address. Twins/Multiple births Where there are twins, etc. wanting admission and there is only a single place left within the admission number, then the governing body will exercise as much flexibility as possible within the requirements of infant class sizes. In exceptional circumstances cases we are now able to offer places for both twins and all triplets, even when this means breaching infant class size limits. This may also apply to siblings who are in the same year group. Late Applications for Admission to Reception Where there is a good reason for an application being received after the closing date for applications and where it is received before the Governing Body has established their list of pupils to be admitted, the Governing Body, following consultation with Hackney Learning Trust, may consider the application at the same time as all the others that were received on time. Otherwise, applications which are received after the closing date will be considered after all the others that were received on time and placed on the waiting list in order, according to the Oversubscription Criteria. 5

Waiting List Children who are not admitted will have their names placed on a waiting list. The names on this waiting list will be in the order resulting from the application of the admissions criteria. It is possible for a child who moves in to the area later, to have a higher priority than one who has been on the waiting list for some time. If a place becomes available within the admissions number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place. This waiting list will operate for the autumn term only. After that, parents requesting a place at the school will be required to complete the in-year application form. Points of Admission The law does not require any child to start school until the start of the term following the fifth birthday. At The Olive School, however, all children who have their fifth birthday between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 may start school in the Autumn Term 2015. If you want your child to start at a later date during the reception year, you will need to discuss this initially with the School. Deferred admission Parents can delay their child starting school until the term after their fifth birthday. This is known as deferred admission. Parents who are considering deferred admission are strongly advised to still apply for a school place by the closing date. The offer of a reception place at The Olive School will be kept open, even if the child does not take it up until later in the academic year. Free nursery places would cease at the end of the term when the child turns five. If parents delay their child starting school until September 2016, they will have to re-apply for a place in the school as this is a new academic year. The original offer of a place in the reception class will be withdrawn. The Governing Body will make the decision about which year group the child can be offered a place in on the basis of the individual circumstances of each case. If the child is refused admission to the school, then parents have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel but please be aware that the school may claim class size prejudice (i.e. breach of the Infant Class Size limits) at your appeal. Please also note that this right of appeal does not apply if your child is offered a place in another year group at the school. The law states that all children must receive suitable education from the term after their fifth birthday. If you do not make suitable arrangements you could be breaking the law and be prosecuted. Non-Routine Admissions It sometimes happens that a child requires admission other than at the normal time; such admissions are known as In-Year Admissions. Applications for In-Year Admissions are made in the same way as those made during the normal admissions round. Applications should be made on the Common Admissions Form (CAF), available from Hackney Learning Trust. If requested the form can be sent to you by post. If there is a place available in the year group this will be offered, otherwise parents will be offered a right of appeal to the Independent Appeal Panel. 6

Address of Pupil The address used on the application form must be the current one at the time of application. If the address subsequently changes, the parents should notify the LA and school. Where the parents live at different addresses, the address that is current at the time of application and is the normal address of the child will be the one used. This will normally be the one where the child wakes up for the majority of Monday to Friday mornings. Parents may be asked to show evidence of the claim that is being made for the address. In the case of shared residence the child s address will be taken as the one at which they are registered with the GP. Appeals Where the Governing Body is unable to offer a place, parents have the right to appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel, set up under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998, as amended by the Education Act, 2002. Parents should notify the Clerk to the Governing Body at the school, within 14 days of receiving the letter refusing a place. Parents will have the opportunity to submit their case to the Panel, in writing, and also to attend in order to present their case. They will normally receive 14 days notice of the place and time of the hearing. Re-appeals You are normally only allowed to appeal once for The Olive School, Hackney, during any school year. The school s policy is to allow parents a re-appeal for The Olive School, Hackney, within the same school year, only if there are significant and material changes in the circumstances of the parent, child, or the school where a place is requested. Please note that distress caused to a pupil because of not gaining a place at The Olive School, Hackney, will not normally be considered sufficient grounds for granting a re-appeal. Fraudulent Applications Parents must put the correct details on the application form and give the address where the child normally lives not a child minder s or a relative s address. The Governing Body will consider an alternative address if parents provide a letter from a solicitor confirming exchange of contracts for buying a house, or a long term tenancy agreement. When the school receives more applications than there are places available, the Governing Body will check the information provided on the application form. Parents may be required to provide copies of their council tax bill or utility bill, to make sure the information given on the application form is correct. The Governing Body reserves the right to visit properties to check who actually lives there. If the Governing Body finds false information has been given, the child will not be given a place at the school. If a place has been offered and the information given turns out to be false, that place may be withdrawn. In the event that the child has already started attending the school, even though the information was false, their siblings will not be given priority for admission under the sibling category at the school. 7