Applying to a secondary school for entry in September 2020 Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/ schooladmissions The Pan-London eAdmissions site opens on 1 September 2019. If your child is currently in Year 6 and born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009, you will need to apply for a secondary school place by 31 October 2019. The benefits of applying online l It is quick and easy to do. l You are able to attach additional documents. l You can apply from any location with internet access 24 hours a day, seven l During the evening of 2 March 2020, days a week until the closing date, you will be sent an email informing you 31 October 2019. that your outcome is available. l You can log back on to change or l Once you have received this email, delete preferences up until 11.59pm you can log onto the Pan-London on the closing date. eAdmissions website and accept or decline your offer. l You can register your mobile phone number to receive reminder alerts. If you would prefer to complete a l You will automatically receive a paper application form, these can be confirmation email, with your obtained from the admissions team application reference number, (contact details can be found on the once you submit your application. back page of this leaflet). Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions 1 Where to obtain the information you need Each September all local authorities provide information for parents that sets out the admissions process and procedures. This leaflet has been produced to provide you with some basic hints and tips on the application process and is a first step towards obtaining more detailed information. Hammersmith & Fulham’s ‘Moving on up’ brochure about transferring to secondary school will be available online from the beginning of September at: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions. The brochure explains the application process in detail and sets out the admission criteria for each school in Hammersmith & Fulham. Where possible, parents/carers are encouraged to access information online. You can also obtain more detailed information from each of the secondary schools by visiting their websites and attending open days/evenings. All the contacts you will need can be found in the brochure of the local authority where schools are located. 2 Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions Research, research, research! You must do your research on the schools l Speaking to your primary school head that you are interested in applying to. teacher. They will have experience You can do this by: based on previous transfers. l Reading the admission criteria to find l Contacting the admissions team for out if your child is likely to be offered advice if you are unclear how the a place, and look at how places were system works. offered in the previous year. l Attending open days/evenings held at the schools. Dates and times for H&F schools are included in this leaflet. l Checking if the schools you want to apply to require your child to take a test. l Checking if the school requires additional forms to be completed. This would normally apply to church schools. Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions 3 Hints and tips for applying Familiarise yourself with the admission criteria for schools When you begin researching schools, you will need to read the admission criteria for the school you want to apply to. The admission criteria is often very different for each school so you must read the criteria carefully in order to assess the likelihood of your child being offered a place. To give you some examples of what to check for: l Church schools will give priority to applicants that can demonstrate practice of the respective faith if they receive more applications than places available. l There are schools that will require your These are some factors that you need to child to sit a fair banding test. be aware of when deciding which schools to apply for. l Not all schools give priority to siblings so you will need to check this first. In all cases, if a school receives more applications than places available, the l Distance from home to school is often school’s admission criteria must be used as a tie-breaker, but there are applied. There is no guarantee that your schools that use random allocation child will be offered a place at your (lottery). preferred school, even if it is the closest l Some schools have a priority area school to where you live. and/or feeder primary schools. 4 Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions Be realistic: remember you Take special care how you can apply for up to six schools order your preferences Please remember that you can apply for The school preferences you make are up to six schools. Even after you have treated equally. This means that no matter researched the schools and you have where you place a school in your list of decided where to apply, unless you are preferences, it will be treated in the same 100 per cent sure that your child will be way as all other applicants who also chose offered a place (if, for example, there will that school – regardless of where they be a brother or sister attending and this have placed the school in their list. gives priority in the school’s criteria), you The reason it is so important to list the should not assume that your child will be schools in the order of your preference offered a place. You should also consider is that when results are returned to the other schools where you know you will admissions team, we may receive offers have a good chance of gaining a place. for more than one of your preferences. Adding further schools to your list will As only one offer can be made to your not affect your chances of being offered child, you will be offered the highest a place at a higher preference school. school possible from the list you provided. Schools are not informed of other Any offers made lower in your list will be preferences you have made or the order withdrawn and put back in the system. in which you place them. Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions 5 Do I need to provide will not be able to apply online after this additional information? date and will need to request a paper form. If you submit your application form There are some schools, usually church after this date without a valid reason, schools, which require you to complete a your application will be considered after supplementary information form (SIF). all of those which were submitted on The SIFs for Hammersmith & Fulham time. This will greatly affect your chances schools will be available from the of being offered the school you want. individual schools and on the council website. The ‘Moving on up’ secondary Will I definitely be offered admissions brochure states which schools require a SIF and any other documents. one of my preferences? The online system will alert you when No. To increase your chances of being you enter a preference for any school offered one of your preferred schools that requires additional forms to be you must research the admission criteria completed. You must return the SIF and for the schools you are interested in. any other documents to the school, You should put at least one school in but make sure that you also submit the your list where you are reasonably certain application itself naming the school in your child meets the criteria (e.g. sibling your list of preferences. already at the school and this is a high priority in the school’s criteria). You must submit your For further advice you can speak to the application on time admissions team or the school who will You must submit your application be able to offer you guidance on the by 31 October 2019. If you are a likelihood of your child being offered Hammersmith & Fulham resident you a place based on the information you 6 Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions You must submit your application by 31 October 2019 provide. It is not possible to give any guarantee of the outcome of your application. What happens to the preferences that I have not been offered? Any preferences lower than the offered school will be withdrawn. You will automatically be placed on the waiting list for any higher preference schools that were not able to offer your child a place. You also have the right of appeal to an independent appeal panel against the decision not to offer your child a place at your preferred school(s). Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions 7 Visiting dates for Hammersmith & Fulham schools Ark Burlington Danes Academy Fulham Cross Academy – a STEM specialism school T 020 8735 4950 W www.burlingtondanes.org T 020 7381 3606 W www.fulhamcrossacademy.com Open evening Thursday 3 October Open evening Wednesday 2 October Open mornings At 4.30pm to 7.00pm Monday 7 October Tuesday 8 October Open mornings Tuesday 8 October Thursday 10 October The Fulham Boys School Both at 9am to 10.30am T 020 7381 7100 W www.fulhamboysschool.org Fulham Cross Girls’ School Open evening T 020 7381 0861 Tuesday 1 October W www.fulhamcross.net Talk from Headmaster at 6pm, 6.45pm and 7.15pm Open evening Wednesday 25 September Open day At 4pm to 7pm Thursday 3 October Headteacher talk at 4.30pm and 5.20pm At 9.15am, 11.15am and 2.15pm Open mornings To book a place visit the school’s website Tuesday 1 October Sports aptitude application deadline Thursday 3 October Please check the school’s website Both at 9am to 10.30am for dates Headteacher talk at 10.15am Continued over Apply online: www.lbhf.gov.uk/schooladmissions 9 Hammersmith Academy Hurlingham Academy T 020 8222 6000 T 020 7731 2581 W www.hammersmithacademy.org