September 2017
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Secondary Admission Information September 2017 Information for parents applying for a school place Apply online at thurrock.gov.uk/admissions Information for parents applying for a secondary school place Apply online at thurrock.gov.uk/admissions Foreword Starting secondary school is a very important Thurrock secondary schools offer a range of time in a child’s life and here in Thurrock specialisms and each will have something to Council we appreciate what a worrying time this offer your child. Thurrock secondary schools is for parents. We are determined to make this achieve well at GCSE in comparison to national as straightforward and worry free as we can. standards and are amongst the most improved The information that follows is designed to help schools in the country. you make informed decisions when you come to make an application for a secondary school I wish your child an enjoyable and fruitful time place. at secondary school and every success for the future. 3 Our online application facility has proved to be very popular and almost 9 out of 10 Please go online at applications are now made this way. The thurrock.gov.uk/admissions and advantages are that it is immediate, you will get follow the instructions on screen. automatic confirmation your application has been received and it will remove any risk of an application being delayed or lost in the post. Rory Patterson Apply online and you will, from 12.30am on Corporate Director of Children’s Services 1 March 2017, be able to check online which school place has been allocated. This is nearly two days earlier than offers in response to paper applications are likely to arrive. Information for parents applying for a secondary school place Apply online at thurrock.gov.uk/admissions Who is this chances of being offered one confirmation that your of your preferred schools you application has been received. brochure for? must get your application in Once you have submitted your If you have a child who was on time. application online, if you make born between 1 September any changes e.g. change 2005 and 31 August 2006, you What happens if I preference order, you must must apply for a secondary re-submit the application. school place for September miss the closing 2017. date? If you change your email Applications received after address you must notify the Here we describe how to the closing date will be Admissions Team by emailing transfer your child from a considered after those that are school.admissions@ primary to a mainstream received on time and after the thurrock.gov.uk secondary school and set first round of offers have been out for you what you need to made. do in order to maximise your chance of obtaining a school How do I apply? place that you want. Last year Thurrock Council co-ordinated The easiest way to apply is the admissions to Thurrock online. Go to thurrock.gov. secondary schools and 72% uk/admissions and follow the of parents who applied on instructions on screen. If you time had their first preference do not have internet access 4 met in the initial round of at home you can still apply offers. online at your local library or at the council offices in Grays. When do I need to Once you have an account apply? you will be able to complete You must get your application an application, review, amend to us by 31 October 2016. and submit it online. In order to maximise your You will get an automatic Which schools guidance only and there is schools are included on the should I apply to? no guarantee that last year’s individual school pages. outcomes will be repeated. The number of preferences In Thurrock there are different You should start by gathering that you can make on your types of secondary school. as much information about application is limited, and so There are nine academy each school as possible. we recommend you include schools, one of which includes Information is available from a in your list of preferences a studio school, and one number of sources: schools for which you are voluntary aided school. They most likely to be successful. are all comprehensive, which • The school descriptions in means they cater for children this document You should also try to get of all levels of ability and all • School prospectuses along to one of the briefings except one are mixed. Some by Thurrock Council designed • School websites have specialist status and to help you through the some offer places based on • Open evenings application process. These will aptitude for specific subjects • Ofsted reports (available include sessions where you or curriculum areas. Brief from the school or online at will be able to put questions details are given in the second www.ofsted.gov.uk to our admissions staff about half of this booklet. You can • Council presentations (see how the process works. get more information from the below for details) schools themselves. The two briefing sessions for Our advice is that you should parents will be on: The law gives you the right not base your decisions solely to state a preference for the on the past examination Wednesday 14 September 5 schools that you want your results of a school or what 2016 Civic Hall, Blackshots child to attend rather than other people say about it. We Lane, Grays, Essex RM16 to be given your choice. recommend that all families 2JU from 4.00pm – 5.30pm This is because there will make up their own minds, and and 7.00pm – 8.30pm. be times when there are that the child is involved in the more applications than decision about where to apply. places. When there are Consider taking your child to more applications for a the open evenings/days to see school than places available, what he or she thinks about oversubscription criteria (often different schools. called admission criteria) are used to determine priority for When thinking about which admission. Because many schools to apply for, it is schools are oversubscribed it very important that you is important that you consider take into account each as many schools as possible school’s oversubscription when you are thinking about criteria. These describe which schools to apply for. how offers of places are Within the booklet there determined, and who gets is information about what priority when a school is happened in the 2016 round oversubscribed. Details of which may be helpful to you the oversubscription criteria in deciding which schools you for all Thurrock secondary wish to apply for, but it is for Information for parents applying for a secondary school place Apply online at thurrock.gov.uk/admissions How do I complete Child’s address the application? The address you give on the If you move address after application must be your completing the application or We recommend you apply child’s permanent place of change your email address, online at thurrock.gov.uk/ residence at the closing you must inform us so that admissions date for applications, not correspondence continues to Each local authority has its a business, a relative’s, or reach you. own application form whether a carer’s or childminder’s it is electronic or a paper address. The address will Parent/carer details copy. You must complete normally be the parents’ The person applying on behalf the application for the local address. If the parents do not of the child will normally be authority in which you live, live together, it should be the the person with parental regardless of which schools address of the parent with responsibility for the child as you are applying for. If you are whom the child spends the defined by the Children Act a Thurrock resident and want majority of the time. This will 1989 and amended by the to apply for schools outside normally be the main address Adoption and Children Act Thurrock you must do so on held by the primary school 2002. the Thurrock application. and the address of the parent who receives child benefit Children in public care It is important that the in respect of the child. You Children who are looked application is fully and are required to provide your after by a local authority, or accurately completed as, council tax reference number have previously been looked if there are omissions or which can be cross referenced 6 after receive top priority for a inaccuracies, your application with the address you give on school place. If the child you may be adversely affected. the application. are applying for is looked after the same family unit at the online and want to submit or has previously been looked same address, Monday to supporting evidence you after and you would like your Friday. However the definition will need to send copies to application considered under might be different in the case the admissions team by the this criterion, it is important of some schools. If your child closing date of 31 October that you include this on the will have a sibling at one 2016 via email or post to application and provide of your preferred schools school.admissions@ supporting evidence from the in September 2017, it is thurrock.gov.uk child’s social worker or other important that you include supporting professional. the sibling’s details on the Supplementary forms should application to ensure that, if be returned direct to the Your preferences it applies, the correct level of school by 31 October 2016 You are invited to name up sibling priority is given.