Going to Primary School in Lincolnshire 2016/17 2016/17
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Going to Primary School In Lincolnshire 2016/17 2016/17 Foreword Dear Parent or Carer As Executive Councillor for Children’s Services and Director of Children’s Services we are pleased to introduce ‘Going to School in Lincolnshire’ to you and to thank you for considering one of our schools. Our standards are high and children thrive in our schools. We want every child to develop and achieve their full potential and we need your support as parents to help us. This partnership is vital in helping our young people become independent and responsible citizens who can make a positive contribution to society. Please take the opportunity to visit schools where you will find happy children with excellent staff working in a range of different ways to fulfil each child’s potential. I know our headteachers will be pleased to show you round their school to see the wonderful work that is being done. The contents of this book were correct at the time of going to press in August 2015 Comments We are always happy to receive feedback on the usefulness of this book. If you wish to make a comment, please contact the Education Team on 01522 782030, or email [email protected] Councillor Patricia Bradwell Mrs Debbie Barnes 1 1 General Information This guide is for; How you can contact us • Parents applying for a reception place at a primary or infant school with children born between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012. We provide a number of ways you can contact us: • Parents of Year 2 children at an infant school who require By phone: 01522 782030. Our customer service centre a place for a Year 3 at a junior or primary school. is open from 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday (less public • Parents of Year 2 at a primary school who require a place holidays) to deal with your calls. Year 3 place at a junior school. Email us at: [email protected] Call into see us in our reception area at County Offices, Introduction Newland, Lincoln during office hours. Interpreting Service This booklet is produced by the County Council School Admissions Team. It contains information about schools, summaries of their admission policies and other useful If you speak little or no English, we provide access to an information. This booklet tells you how to apply, the facts interpreting service. Our staff will be pleased to help you and figures but we recommend that speak to schools, in using the service if required. arrange visits and see first hand how they operate. You can ask schools about their curriculum, how children What are our different types of are monitored, equal opportunities, community cohesion, special educational needs, disabilities, religious worship, schools? looked after children, behaviour, attendance, school uniform, gifted and talented, and much more. Community and controlled schools The school can also tell you about published reports, school inspections and how to find out about any attainment tables. The local authority is the admission authority for these schools. The schools use the Lincolnshire County Council admission policy. We have delegated decisions on who Who are the School Admissions Team? should be offered a place to governing bodies but they must do this in line with the County Council policy. We are part of Lincolnshire County Council and are responsible for coordinating the admission of children Voluntary aided schools, foundation into schools. We provide information on the application schools, free schools and academies process, provide various methods to apply and we will notify you of which school can offer a place. The governors of these schools are responsible for setting their own admission policies. Each individual school can have its own separate admission policy. 2 When can my child start Reception? Lincolnshire residents can apply online at www.lincolnshire. gov.uk/schooladmissions. If you apply online and enter a valid email address you will receive a confirmation receipt Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all summarising your preferences and the grounds you have children in the September following their fourth birthday. applied on. We process these applications on the basis that most children will start school at the same time. If you apply by phone you can receive your offer online or by post. Once your application has been submitted we will You can request that the date your child is admitted to send you a confirmation receipt by post, if any details are school is deferred until later in the academic year. You can wrong you must phone us straight away. also request that your child takes up their place part-time until they reach compulsory school age. If you intend If you apply on a paper application, please use the to do this you must discuss it with the school. However, postcard receipt facility. If you include the stamped, self- government rules say that if your child was born in the addressed postcard with your application, we will return summer term they must start immediately after the Easter this to you once your application has been received. holiday or they may risk losing a place that the school is Please keep this as evidence that your application has holding for them. been received. You must contact us if you do not receive your postcard back within 10 days of posting your By law every child must be in school at the start of term application. after their fifth birthday. When can I apply and what is the Supporting reasons for applying deadline? If your child is looked after or previously looked after you will be able to specify this on your application. You will For starting reception and juniors we open our online also be able to state any sibling connections. application system on 16 November 2015. Alternatively, from this date you can phone us for an application form or Some schools accept medical or faith reasons, you make a telephone application. will need to specify this on your main application and complete additional forms. If you apply online the The closing date for receipt of applications in our office additional forms will be displayed onscreen once you have is 12 noon on the 15 January 2016 so that we can begin stated you wish to apply on these grounds. If you apply by processing the many thousands of applications we expect phone our Customer Service Representative will complete to receive. the relevant form for you. If your main method of applying is by using a paper application, you will need to complete We lock down our system on 12 noon on the 19 February the additional medical or faith paper forms. Please be 2016, which means we cannot process any changes, new aware that you may be required to submit documents to information or applications after this deadline. Anything support your application on these grounds, for example a received after this will be dealt with later in the process baptism certificate. due to the amount of work we need to do and the volume of applications we have to deal with. These will be looked Some schools give priority to children of staff members, at in the week commencing 16 May 2016, which is after if they do, this will be stated in their admissions policy. If the offer date. you would like to apply on these grounds please either email [email protected] or send a How do I apply for a Reception or supporting letter. Junior place? If you have any other supporting reasons you can either email [email protected] or send a You must apply through your home Local Authority. supporting letter. Over 95% of Lincolnshire parents apply using the online application system, but you can also apply by phone or You can see which oversubscription criteria a school uses request a paper application by contacting us on 01522 by reading their admissions policy, a summary of which is 782030. Please apply using one method only. included in this book. To read a school’s full policy which details what supporting documents they may require If you live in Lincolnshire and want a school out of county please visit our or the school’s website. you must still apply through Lincolnshire. We will liaise with the other local authority on your behalf. If you live out of county and want a Lincolnshire schools you must apply through your own local authority and they will liaise with us. 3 3 Parental preference We have an excellent record of meeting the preferences of parents. Last year nine out of ten parents received an offer for their first preference school. We always try to offer you your highest preference, so think carefully about the order you name the schools. All schools have a limit and sometimes there are more applications than available places, in these circumstances the governors will apply the oversubscription part of their admission policy. The legislation we follow does not guarantee your child a place. We can only give a summary of a school’s oversubscription criteria in this booklet. If you want to see a school’s full admission policy you can look at our website, the school’s website or contact the school direct. You can name a maximum of three schools on your application. We strongly recommend you put three preferences on your application in case we cannot offer your first preference school. We also recommend that you consider a local school. If we cannot offer a place at any of your preferences it may result in the School Admissions Team offering your child a school that is not in your local area.