St. Mary’s Bryanston Square School Admissions Policy
INFORMATION ABOUT PRIMARY SCHOOL ADMISSIONS: 2010/2011
Admission Arrangements
St Mary’s is a Church of England Voluntary Aided School and we participate in the Westminster scheme for coordinated admission arrangements. Applicants to St Mary’s must complete the Westminster Common Application Form. The school also has a supplementary form that needs to be completed in addition to the Westminster Common Application Form. All forms are available from the school office.
Families are encouraged to visit the school (this is not part of the admissions process) and the school administrative officer will be able to answer your questions about the school.
As well as providing you with a supplementary form we will: - put your name and address on our mailing list. - give you a copy of our school brochure which includes our Admissions Policy. - answer any questions about how to apply. - ask you if you would like to be invited to an open afternoon when you would have an opportunity to look round and ask questions before applying.
In January, before the school year in which your child will be five years old, you will receive your supplementary form. The Local authority Common Application Form is also available either from the school or by contacting the School Admissions Team (020-7641-1817).
The closing date for applications is 1st March 2010.
We are allowed to admit 30 children each year but we often have more applicants than places. You may, therefore, wish to apply to other schools in the neighbourhood as well as St. Mary’s.
Children are admitted to the Primary Schoo1 reception class twice a year
Pupils born between 1 st September and the last day of February will be admitted in September, while those born between 1 st March and 31 st August will be admitted in the January preceding their birthday.
Places in Reception class will be offered on 10 th May 2010. If you are offered a place, which you accept, you will be invited to come with your child to spend an afternoon with us shortly before he or she starts school.
ADMISSIONS CRITERIA: 2010/2011
There are 30 places available for our Reception class. Should there be more applications than places, places will be offered in the following order of priority:
1. Children in care (looked after by a Local Authority).
2. Baptised (1) children living with parent(s) (2) who are resident (1) in the combined parish of St. Mary’s Bryanston Square and St. Mark’s, Old Marylebone Road and whose parents (3) are practising members of one of those churches.
3. Children living with parent(s) who are resident in the combined parish of St. Mary’s Bryanston Square and St. Mark’s, Old Marylebone Road and whose parents are practising members of a Christian (4) Church
4. Other children living in the combined parish of St. Mary’s Bryanston Square and St. Mark’s, Old Marylebone Road.
5. Children living with parents who are resident in, and practising members of a Christian (5) church within, the local area (the local area is defined below).
6. Other children living with parent(s) in the local area, with preference being given to siblings of pupils who are already in the school (who will still be in the school on the younger sibling’s starting date) who have not been offered a place under criteria 2 to 5.
7. If there are remaining places these will be offered to children living outside the local area and decided on distance from the school (as measured by the shortest walking distance from the main school entrance).
In exceptional circumstances a child may be admitted by the governors following consultation and where there are exceptional medical or social reasons and provided that they are satisfied that there is a medical/social need for that child’s admission. Letters from appropriate professionals would be needed to support such an application detailing how the school can meet their needs and how they would suffer detriment if they went to another school.
In the event of equal qualification the place will be offered to the child who lives nearest to the school as measured by the shortest walking distance from the main school entrance.
Footnotes
(1) Confirmation of residence and/or baptism (if appropriate) is required. (2) This includes those having parental responsibility as defined by the Children’s Act 1989. (3) For the purposes of Admission, the Governors deem “practising” to mean, on average, at least twice
monthly attendance at Church for at least a full year. (4) For the purposes of Admission, the Governors deem “Christian” to mean membership of churches recognised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland or the Evangelical Alliance.
Information provided by applicants about Church membership will be verified by contact with the churches concerned.
(5) The local area is defined as:
The eastern boundary consists of a line running through: Hollies Street, western side of Cavendish Square, Harley Street and Brunswick Place. south/south-west of The Outer Circle/Cornwall Terrace, Hanover Gate, part of Park Road, Wellington Road to the junction with Circus Road.
The northern boundary consists of a line running through: Circus Road (west of Wellington Road), Hall Road and Sutherland Avenue.
The western boundary consists of a line running through: Warrington Crescent, Warwick Avenue, crossing the Harrow Road to part of North Wharf Road, beside Paddington Station (London Street), Sussex Place, along Stanhope Terrace and Brook Street.
The southern boundary consists of a line running through : Bayswater Road (east of the junction with Brook Street), Marble Arch and Oxford Street to its junction with Hollies Street.
See attached map.
APPEALS AND WAITING LIST PROCEDURES
The decision to admit or to refuse to admit a particular child is the responsibility of the Governing body.
Parents of children who have been refused admission to the school have the right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel which has been set up for the purpose. The procedures to be followed are the Local Authority procedures.
Unsuccessful applicants will be added to the school's waiting list. Any places that subsequently arise will be offered to children on the waiting list strictly in accordance with the oversubscription criteria described above.
Parents of children who have been refused admission may obtain a copy of the procedures from the school office.
CASUAL ADMISSIONS
Casual admissions are those which take place at times other than normal admission to the Nursery or Reception class. If there are no children waiting for places, admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Where we have more applicants than vacancies, admissions will be made from the waiting list in accordance with our admissions criteria. Unsuccessful applicants can choose to be placed on our waiting list; however parents are advised that the length of time on the waiting list does not determine admissions decisions. Our waiting list is reviewed and updated regularly
This policy will be reviewed annually in November Local Area Map
Diocese of London City of Westminster
St. Mary’s Bryanston Square Church Of England Primary School Enford Street, London, W1H 1DL Headteacher: Mr Peter Hadfield
Tel: 0207 641 4130 Fax: 0207 641 5438 Email: [email protected]
School Supplementary Information Form
Surname of child:______
Forenames: ______
Date of birth: ______
Address: ______
______
______Postcode: ______
Home telephone No:______Email: ______
Mobile number(s): ______
Name of mother :
Surname: ______Title: (Mrs, Miss, Ms, etc)______
Forename(s) ______
Name of father:
Surname: ______
Forename: ______
Mobile phone numbers: ______
Address of mother/father if not living with child: ______
______
Do you have a child who already attends St Mary’s School? YES / NO If the answer is yes, please write his / her name below.
______
All parents should sign this form (on the last page)
Families seeking a place under Christian criteria should complete the following sections and ask their priest, or minister, to complete the separate clergy form. If you are not applying under Christian criteria you DO NOT need to complete the following sections – just sign at the end.
Please return this form as soon as you can as we cannot offer a Christian place until the information has been verified. All forms must be returned to the school office in order for an application to be considered by the Governors.
1. Religious denomination of mother: ______
2. Religious denomination of father:______
CHURCH ATTENDANCE Do you regularly worship in a Church of England Church ? If so, please tell us:
3. The name of your church:______
4. Name of minister: ______
5. Address of church:______
______Postcode ______
OR
Do you regularly worship in a church of another Christian denomination (not Church of England)? If so, please tell us:
6. The name of the priest or minister:______
7. The name of the church: ______
8. Address: ______
______Postcode ______
9. Approximately how often do you attend church? Please tick
occasionally
monthly
twice monthly
more than twice monthly
Baptism/Christian Welcoming Form
If your child has had a baptism or other formal Christian welcoming ceremony, please complete this form.
Please tick one box for each of the following two statements
1. My child has had a ceremony in church: BAPTISM
WELCOMING CEREMONY
2. The church was: CHURCH OF ENGLAND
OTHER CHURCH
Please supply some details for us.
1. The name of the priest or minister who performed the ceremony:
______
2. The address of the church: ______
______
______
3. Were you given a certificate? YES / NO (please circle either YES or NO)
It is important to enclose a copy of the certificate if you were given one .
______
Signed ______Date ______(Parent/Guardian)
NB. Completion of this form does not guarantee your child a place. It is in your interests to fill this form in as fully as you can. Information will be confirmed..
Please return this form to the school Administrative Officer
Please ensure all forms are returned promptly. Missing forms may jeopardise your application. St Mary’s Bryanston Square
Church of England Primary School
Enford Street, Headteacher: Peter Hadfield
London, W1H 1DL. Deputy Headteacher: Sarah Taylor
Telephone: 020 7641 4130 Administrative Officer: Margaret Browning Fax: 020 7641 5438 Administrative Assistant: Sanae Serhani Email: [email protected] Finance Officer: Bruce Manson
To the Minister or Priest.
Please complete the attached form and post it in the envelope provided.
We have recently received an application for a place at this school for:
Name:
Date of Birth: whose parents state that they worship in your church.
Because we are very oversubscribed, we have to try to gain some idea of the extent of parents’ participation in the life of the worshipping community, in order that genuine practising Christian families are given priority over nominal members or children attending without parental participation.
Would you be so kind as to return the form overleaf, in the envelope provided, straight to the school.
We are sorry to have to ask you to undertake yet another chore when we know how busy you are and we are most grateful for your help.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Hadfield Headteacher
(please tick box where appropriate)
Name of child: ______
The parent(s) of this child are fully participating members of our Church: (please provide brief details below)
The parent(s) of this child attends occasionally
monthly
twice monthly
more than twice monthly
The parent(s) of this child are known to me or my staff (please comment briefly below)
How long have the parents been known to you or your staff? ______
The parent(s) of this child are unknown to us
The parent(s) of this child do not attend church themselves although their child attends the Sunday School/Junior Church (please comment briefly below)
To your knowledge , has this child been baptised? YES / NO (please circle) and, if so, where and by whom?
Signed: Post held:
Denomination:
Name & address of church:
Telephone number:
Please return this form, in the envelope provided, to the school Administrative Officer.