Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2017/18

Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2017/18

September 2017 September/October Key Dates for Parents Information about Secondary Transfer available on the Kent Admissions website www.kent.gov.uk/ola Secondary schools hold open events so that you can visit and look around 12 October 2017 Kent Test assessment decisions sent to parents via 1st class post. If you registered online, you will also be sent an email after 4:00pm on 12 th October 2017 with scores available after 5:00pm on the same day. 31 October 2017 You must have applied for schools by this date (closes midnight). 1 March 2018 National Offer Day - Offers of school places will be sent out. E-mail messages will be sent after 4:00pm to parents who applied online, and letters will be posted to arrive on 2nd March. 16 March 2018 If you want your child s name to be put on the waiting list for any school you named on the SCAF but were not offered, you should let Kent County Council know by this date 16 March 2018 By this date you must let the school you have been offered know whether or not you are accepting the place 29 March 2018 If you want to appeal for a place at any school you named on the SCAF but were not offered, you should do so by this date 25 April 2018 Any vacant places will be reallocated by Kent County Council, using the secondary schools waiting lists.

Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) The majority of applications are now received electronically and parents are encouraged to apply using this method. Primary schools will be only sent a few blank paper SCAFs. You must fill in the Kent County Council application (SCAF) You are invited to express up to four preferences in priority order. If two schools can offer a place your higher preference will be offered. Putting down one school only will not improve the chance of getting a place.

Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) (cont d) Online applications must be submitted by 31 October 2017 which is a National closing date. Paper SCAFs returned to primary schools will need to be with the Admissions Team by 31 October 2017 and should therefore be returned to the school by 24 October. kent.gov.uk/secondaryadmissions

Supplementary Information Forms Academies/Voluntary Aided/Foundation Schools can require parents to provide additional information on a supplementary information form (SIF) but only where this is necessary to apply their oversubscription criteria (e.g. religious affiliation). Those schools requiring a supplementary information form are clearly identified in the booklet. The form should be obtained from and returned to the secondary school. Changing Preferences Kent County Council will accept late applications if there is a good reason for it and changes to applications if there is a genuine reason for doing so for example, if you have recently moved address. The deadline for these applications is 5pm on the 8 th December 2017.

Kent Selection Test You will receive a paper copy of your child s assessment result from the school office on the 13 October. The letter will include if a Headteacher appeal was made and whether the school will support you in a parental appeal later on in the year depending on the evidence accrued by your child. There will be no parental right of appeal against the outcome of your child s assessment, but you may make an admission appeal to the independent appeal panel if your child is refused admission to any school they applied for. Appeals should be lodged by 29 th March 2018. A grammar school assessment does not guarantee a grammar school place. The allocation of places rests on each school s published oversubscription criteria.

Allocating Places The LA operates an Equal Preference scheme. The LA tells schools who has applied for places, not whether they were named first, second, third or fourth, and the schools place their applicants in a rank order based on their oversubscription criteria. All applicants must be ranked, even if the school is oversubscribed or undersubscribed. The published criteria determine which children can be offered places. The order in which you name the schools on the SCAF only matters if more than one of the schools could offer a place. In that case, the LA looks back at the original order and offers a place at whichever of them you named highest on the form.

Distances Kent s software measures distances from a defined point within the child s home to a defined point within the school as specified by National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG). Some Foundation and Aided schools, Free schools and Academies may use different methods to measure distances from applicants homes. This will be clearly explained in each school s oversubscription criteria. Where a school has not explained that it will use a different method, the Kent software will be used.

Offering School Places The LA sends Kent children offer letters on behalf of all admission authorities. 1st March 2018 After 4pm those parents who applied online and provided an email address will receive an email advising which school their child has been offered. In addition, offer letters will be posted first class to all parents to arrive on 2nd March 2018. Kent LA s letters will include: 1. The name of the school at which a place is offered. 2. Information about the right to appeal against a decision. 3. Information on how to request a place on a waiting list for a school originally named as a preference. If your child has not been assessed suitable for Grammar school but you name a Grammar school anywhere on your SCAF, although you cannot be offered a place there on 1 March 2018, after that you can ask an independent panel to consider whether there could be an exceptional reason for admitting your child to that school. Appeals for admission to Kent schools should be lodged by 29 March 2018. The information which comes with your offer of a school place will explain how to do this. You must let the school you have been offered know whether or not you want the place by the 16 th March. This should be done in writing or via email.

Offering School Places (cont d) If a school is oversubscribed on the 1 March the admissions authority for that school must keep a waiting list, at least until the start of the January term 2019. The LA will allocate vacant places to children on the waiting lists, in accordance with oversubscription criteria. Once the school reaches its Published Admission Number it can only admit children as a result of Independent Appeal Panel decisions, or through a Fair Access Protocol. A Grammar school can only put children on its waiting list who have been assessed suitable for Grammar school. A school which is below its PAN must fill its spaces from the waiting list in priority order until it reaches the PAN. After this, children can only be admitted through the appeal process, or through a Fair Access Protocol. Parents who gain a place on appeal will need to inform the LA so that it cannot offer vacancies to someone else. On 25 April 2018 the Council will run a reallocation process to offer any vacant places to children on schools waiting lists.

Online Admissions You will need to register with the website before submitting an application. If you have previously submitted a Kent Test registration online, from September you can log on, pick up your previously submitted details and add your preferences, then re-submit the application rather than starting a new one. You will receive an e-mail confirmation of your registration/application, if you provide an e-mail address. If you do not have an email address the school can support you with this. You can use your log on details to view and edit your application at any time until the closing date for applications NB Parents who apply online must not submit a paper SCAF as well. Only one application will be accepted, and checking duplicates will slow processing down.

Home to School Transport Home to school transport is a consideration for many parents of children that are transferring to secondary school. The criteria to receive home to school transport are that the child must be attending the nearest appropriate school for transport purposes AND the distance between the home and school must be more than three miles via the shortest available walking route.

Transport Entitlement A list of areas and parishes are under each school entry in the Admission to Secondary School Booklet The most appropriate school for admissions may not necessarily be the nearest appropriate school for transport purposes Children will not automatically receive travel assistance to any school that offers them a place

Transport for children from low income families To qualify to receive transport assistance under the low income criteria, your child must be entitled to receive free school meals or you must be in receipt of one of the benefits listed below: Income Support Income based jobseekers allowance Child Tax Credit (without Working Tax Credit and with an annual income of no more than 16,190) Guaranteed element of state pension credit Income related employment and support allowance Maximum level of Working Tax Credit.

Also, In addition to receiving the above benefits, to be eligible for transport assistance, the child must be aged between 11 and 16 and: attend one of the three nearest schools to their home that is between 2 and 6 miles from the home OR The school has been selected on the basis of the parent s stated religion or belief, is the nearest school of that type to the child s home and is between 2 and 15 miles from the home. Additional information can be found within the Home to School Transport booklet. These can be obtained, along with the application forms, from primary schools, from County Hall on: 03000 412121 or can be downloaded from www.kent.gov.uk/schooltransport This applies to non-selective schools and grammar schools if your child has met the entry requirements of the grammar school

Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) The eligibility criteria above will also apply to children with an EHC plan, who are transferring from a mainstream or Special Primary school to a Mainstream or Special Secondary school. In exceptional cases Kent County Council may provide transport assistance to a child who does not meet the eligibility criteria if it is justified in the light of that child s special educational needs (e.g.: mobility or medical requirements). Further information around transfer to Secondary school for Children with a Statement or ECHP can be found on our website: www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educationalneeds

Advice Parents can get help from: Borough Green School Inclusion Manager, Mrs Pilfold Kent County Council s Education Line: 03000 41 41 21. or e-mail kent.admissions@kent.gov.uk homeschooltransport@kent.gov.uk Worrall House, 30 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4AE. Telephone: 03000 420997 Email: SENwest@kent.gov.uk for Admission for Children with Statements of Special, Educational Needs or Education, Health and Care Plans

Thank you for coming along this evening. Please remember that your child is the most important person in this process. We are here to help