Kent County Council Admission to Secondary School School Secondary to Admission Council County Kent Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 in 2015 Kent For children born between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2004 Transferring to Secondary School in September 2015 Apply online the simple fast and secure way kent.gov.uk/ola Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 Apply online Just go to Kent Online Admissions kent.gov.uk/ola A simple, fast and secure way to apply for a secondary school place in Kent. Opens 9am on 1 September 2014 and closes at midnight on 31 October 2014 1 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 2 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 at www.kent.gov.uk/secondary admissions you will see Secondary school places You must apply for a secondary school place if your child is born between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2004 for your child to start year 7 at secondary school in 2015. You will need to apply for a secondary school place when your child is in Year 6 at primary school. If your child is already at secondary school and you want to move them to a dierent school you must apply for an in year admission. What to do Choose a Apply Processing Offer day Accept or school decline • It’s important to • A simple, fast, • email confirmation – • On offer day • You must accept find out more about convenient process reassures you that your (Monday 2 March or decline the school schools you are which opens at 9 am application has been 2015) – an email will place you’ve been interested in before on 1 September 2014 received. be sent to you after offered between 3 you decide to name and closes at midnight - gives you a copy of 4pm, telling you March and 20 March them on your on 5 November 2014. all the information which school you 2015. application form. have been offered.** • You can apply at you entered on the • If it has not been • You can name up any time of day application possible to offer your to 4 schools. until midnight on 5 - gives you a unique child a place at one of November 2014. reference number. your preferred schools, you have the right to • You can log on and lodge an appeal make changes before between 3 March and the closing date. You 31 March must re-submit the application in order for us to process the changes.* • Online support available – telephone 03000 41 21 21 and ask for the Online Admissions Team or email [email protected] (we will reply during oce hours) * Only one application per pupil will be accepted. If you apply online, do not complete a paper application as well. Keep your log on details safe and tell us your reference number whenever you need to contact us. ** Some email providers can take an extended period of time to deliver this email. Kent County Council has no control over email delivery once the message has left our servers. You will still receive a letter (if it is has not been possible to oer you your rst preferred school), posted rst class on 2 March 2015 3 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 The Fair Access Office is based at: Sessions House, County Hall Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ The telephone number for Kent County Council’s Education Line is 03000 41 21 21, and if they are unable to answer your enquiry they can put you through to the Secondary Admissions Team or the Transport Team. You can e-mail the Admissions Team on: [email protected] You can e-mail the transport team on: [email protected] Admission for Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs Kent County Council makes separate arrangements for the transition of children with Statements of Special Educational Needs to secondary school. Your main point of contact for your child’s Secondary School placement is your Area Special Educational Needs (SEN) Oce. The contact details for the Education Oces are as follows: East Kent SEN Team - Canterbury, Thanet and Swale Brook House, Reeves Way, John Wilson Business Park, Thanet Way Whitstable, Kent CT5 3SS Telephone: 0300 333 6471 Email: [email protected] South Kent SEN Team - Ashford, Dover and Shepway Kroner House, Eurogate Business Park, Ashford, Kent TN24 8XU Telephone: 0300 333 6470 Email: [email protected] North Kent SEN Team - Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks (opens December 2014) Joynes House, 1-4 New Road, Gravesend, Kent DA11 0AT For North Kent SEN team please contact the West Kent Oce West Kent SEN Team - Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling Worrall House, 30 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4AE Telephone: 03000 412206 Email: [email protected] The information given in this booklet relates to the school year 2015-2016. Details were correct at time of publication, August 2014, but may change before September 2015. 4 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 A Message to Parents This booklet provides you with all the information you Support Adviser who can advise you about some of the may need as you look for the right place for your child to information in the booklet, or you can contact the County start secondary school in 2015. This is a big decision for Council’s Secondary Admissions team. The contact details every child and family and we want to ensure every help are on the contents page. is provided to you to apply for your preferred schools, in the light of their admissions criteria. I hope this booklet Schools across the county will be oering open days helps to inform your decisions. We are lucky in Kent to and evenings between now and 31 October 2014, the have a wide variety of Secondary schools oering a range closing date for applications. Open sessions at Secondary of educational and wider development opportunities for schools give teachers and pupils the opportunity to young people. Our aim is to ensure every child and young celebrate what they have achieved, and to show how person can go to a good school where they can achieve much the school can oer. For your child, meeting the well and succeed, enjoy a wide range of opportunities sta and the pupils and learning about the academic, and realise their potential. vocational, sporting and creative options available at the school can help to make the right decisions. Please do Although the County Council is not the Admissions take advantage of these opportunities to look at dierent Authority for all schools, for example Church Schools schools and consider whether they might be right for and Academies are their own Admissions Authorities, we your child. publish the admission arrangements for all schools in this booklet and on our website, www.kent.gov.uk. Our role is I wish you well with this process and I hope your child will to coordinate the Admissions process and we will make have a happy and successful future in a Kent secondary sure that everyone who applies is oered a Secondary school from September 2015. school place on National Oer Day, 2 March 2015. You will need to complete only one application form, the Kent Secondary Common Application Form (SCAF) – either online through www.kent.gov.uk/ola or on paper - to apply for up to four Secondary schools, in Kent or further away. We will do our best to oer you one of the places you would like. In March 2014, 93% of children were oered a place at their rst or second preference school. The School Admissions Code asks schools to make sure that they provide clear up to date information and a fair chance to apply for a place. Even if you have older Patrick Leeson children who have been through the Secondary school Corporate Director transfer process in the past, please be sure to read the Education and Young People’s Services individual school entries in the booklet carefully before Kent County Council you submit your Kent Secondary Common Application Form. There may be some important changes that you will want to take into consideration. In making your application it may be important for you to discuss your child’s academic attainment, interests and style of learning with his or her Primary school. Your child’s current school may have a Family Liaison Ocer or Parent 5 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 6 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 Everything you need to know 9. Transferring to Secondary School 2015 9. Types of school – Admission Arrangements 10. How the Admissions process works 11. Timetable for moving on to Secondary School 11. How will the Secondary Transfer System work in Kent in 2015? 12. If your child has a Statement of Special Educational Need 13. Parents’ right to a school place 13. Applying for a place in Kent if you live outside Kent 13. Finding out about Kent schools 13. Assessment for a Kent Grammar School 15. Completing the Kent Secondary Common Application Form 17. Allocating places 17. School offers 17. What are the chances of getting my child into the school I want? 18. Examples 19. Where can I get advice? 19. Kent Parent Partnership Service (KPPS) 20. Letting you know 20. Waiting lists 21. Appeals 7 Admission to Secondary School in Kent 2015 22. Some of your questions answered 24. Late applications and In Year Admissions 25. Transport 29. Travel to school or college for students aged 16 31.