School Admissions - Secondary (Middle or High) School Places

 

ONLINE ADMISSIONS (E Admissions)

Parents wanting to apply online will need access to an e-mail account and be resident in Northumberland.  Please follow this E-Admissions link.

 

 

Where can I get detailed information about individual schools?

 

General information on Middle, High and Secondary Schools in Northumberland is available in hte Admissions Handbook Middle, High and Secondary 2011-12.

 

A copy of the Admissions Handbooks Middle, High and Secondary 2011-12 is available by following the link below:

Admissions Handbooks Middle, High and Secondary 2011-12

 

We value your opinion and we would like you to tell us what you think about the Admissions Handbooks. To help us to improve this service, could you please complete the School Admissions Quality Survey Form and email it to:

 

Pat.Hughes@northumberland.gov.uk

or print and return the form either with your Application Form or separately to:

School Admissions Team

People Group

County Hall

Morpeth

Northumberland

NE61 2EF

 

Schools publish their own prospectus, which it will give to parents on request. In the prospectus parents will find information about the school:

• aims and values
• organisation of teaching
• public examination results
• National Curriculum assessment results
• attendance figures
• admissions policy (if applicable)
• level of demand for places in the previous year
• Special needs provision

 

Information about examination results will be available from individual secondary schools each November. You can contact a school direct.

 

Northumberland County Council has an online system to identify catchment schools by using the INORMAPS system you can enter your postcode and select the appropriate First (Primary), Middle or High (Secondary) School check boxes.

 

 

What types of school are there?

 

 

Community Schools

These are schools which are established, maintained and controlled by the Council. The majority of schools in the borough are community schools. The Council is responsible for all admissions to community schools.

 

Voluntary Aided Schools

Some schools were established and are owned by a voluntary body.  They can be Voluntary Controlled or Voluntary Aided schools.  Usually it is a church body, either Church of England or Roman Catholic, but this does not have to be the case. The governing body of a voluntary school has a majority of its governors appointed by the church authority or foundation which provides the school. The purpose of these foundation governors is to look after the interests of the founding authority. This would, for example, seek to preserve any religious associations which the school has.

Voluntary Aided Schools are responsible for all their own admissions arrangements. Admissions decisions are taken by the governing body.

Voluntary Controlled Schools, like community schools, have their admissions handled by the Council.

 

Trust Schools

Trust Schools are state funded foundation schools supported by a charitable trust.  They are made up of schools and partners working together for the benefit of schools.  The schools remain within the local authority family of schools but they are responsible for their own school admissions policy.

 

Trusts in Northumberland:

 

Ashington Trust

• Ashington Community High School Sports College
• Bothal Middle School
• Ashington Hirst Park Middle School
• Ashington Central First School
• Ashington Wansbeck First School

 

North Pennine Learning Partnership Trust consists of the following schools within the Haydon Bridge Partnership:

• Bellingham First School
• Allendale Middle School
• Bellingham Community Middle School
• Haydon Bridge High School
• Samuel King’s Technology College in Cumbria

 

 

Academies

Academies are state funded independent schools set up with the help of outside sponsors.  The sponsors run the school outside the local authorities funding control, but still operates within all national requirements for curriculum and standards.  The schools remain within the local authority family of schools but they are responsible for their own school admissions policy.

 

Bede Academy

Croftway Primary

Blyth Newsham Primary

Blyth New Delaval Primary

 

Northumberland Church of England Academy

 

 

When can my child start school?

In September parents of children in Northumberland County Council schools who are due to transfer in the following September will receive a letter from the Executive Director of Children's Services together with an application form and Admissions Handbook which explain how to fill it in.  Parents will also be sent details of how to apply online.

 

Supporting Information

The admissions authority, which is the local authority for community schools and the governing body for voluntary aided schools, has a duty to operate its published admissions procedures fairly and equally for all applicants. So that this can happen, it is important that all the information which parents provide in support of an application is accurate and honest. This ranges from the child's normal place of residence through to information about any exceptional medical or social circumstances which the authority is being asked to take into consideration. If any of this information is shown to be false, for example if a child is not normally resident at the address given on the application form, then the offer of a place may be withdrawn at any time. Parents who get a place for their child as a result of false information are taking away from another child who is more deserving of it.

 

Applying out of authority

Parents of children living in the areas of other local education authorities who wish to apply for secondary places in Northumberland County Council schools must apply in writing to the Local Authority in which they reside.

Parents resident in Northumberland County Council who wish to apply for places in schools maintained by other authorities should apply to the Children's Services Directorate in Northumberland County Council advising that they are seeking a place elsewhere.

Parents living in the areas of other local authorities and whose children are attending a Northumberland County Council school, are advised to also apply for places in schools maintained by their home local authority.  The home Local Authority is one that collects your Council Tax.  Doing so will not reduce their chances of being offered a place in a Northumberland County Council school, but will ensure their child is not left without an offer of a school place.

 

Changing schools other than at the normal transfer age

Parents who wish their child to transfer to another school at any time other than the normal stages of Primary to Secondary, First to Middle and Middle to High should first of all discuss it with the headteacher of the school concerned, before completing an application form.  Parents applying for places in Northumberland schools must complete an application form expressing a preference for a school.

 

Parental Preference

Parents have the right to express a preference for the school they would like their child to attend. All schools must admit children up to their admission limit which is published in this brochure and in each school's own prospectus. Wherever possible places are offered in the school which the parents prefer. However, if there are more applicants for a school than there are places available, the Council will allocate places according to published criteria. In the case of Voluntary Aided Schools, the Governing Body will apply the criteria for the school.

 

Community Schools over subscription criteria:

You should be aware that a number of schools are oversubscribed each year. Where a school is oversubscribed, places will be offered on the basis of the criteria indicated below, in order of priority, and will take into account the availability of accommodation at other schools in the area.

 

Special Educational Needs - Relates to students with Statements of Special Educational Need that can only be delivered by the preferred school.

 

Looked After Children - It is a Department for Education (DfE) requirement that Looked After Children are considered on high priority.

 

Catchment Area - Relates to pupils residing within the catchment area of the school and on whose behalf further evidence is presented that they will be resident in the area on the appropriate admission date.

 

Exceptional Social and Medical Reasons - If a medical reason is claimed, evidence from the child's own doctor that the child has an ongoing medical condition which means that admission to a particular school is essential, must be provided at the same time as the admission form. Where admission to a particular school is essential for the wellbeing of the family, written evidence should clearly demonstrate this need. Many families have complex childcare arrangements, for example, and factors such as these are not considered as exceptional.  Evidence should be included with the application.

 

Greater Catchment - Relates to pupils residing within the catchment of the partnership high school and those on whose behalf firm evidence is presented that they will be living in the catchment area on the appropriate admission date.

 

Continuity - Requests for pupils based on the need to maintain continuity of educational provision within the feeder pattern of Northumberland's system of first, middle and high schools. Attendance at a feeder school does not mean that a child will necessarily obtain a place in the feeder high school.

 

Brothers/Sisters - Pupils who have an older brother or sister who already attends the schools applied for and who are expected to be on roll of the school at the time of admission. Note this does not include siblings in the 6th form. (Siblings include brothers and sisters, stepbrother/sister, or other children who reside at the same address.)

 

Distance - Preference will be given to pupils living nearest the school measured 'as the crow flies' from the house front door to the main school gate.  Places are allocated on the basis of the parent's principal home address.

 

Principal home address - The only address that the Authority can consider is the address of the parent/guardian with whom the child is normally resident. Parents must declare the child's correct principal home address. Where the proposed admission is to coincide with a change of address, the Authority will require evidence such as a solicitor's confirmation of exchange of contracts. If the child is cared for on a daily basis at another address, for example, by a childminder, grandparents or another member of the family, this address cannot be considered by the authority for the purpose of its admission process. Please note that strong action will be taken by the Council if a false address is given, including withdrawal of the offer of a place at the named school(s).

 

Places are offered on 1 March for Middle, High and Secondary Schools. Parents will then be given two weeks in which to accept or decline the offer.

 

At the end of the two week period the offer of a place, including a catchment area place, will be withdrawn from any parent who has declined the offer. Those places will then be offered immediately to children on the waiting list.

 

All applications received by the closing date on the form are treated equally. Any late or amended applications will be considered after these, unless there are particular circumstances which prevented the application being made earlier.

 

If parents are refused the school of their preference, including if this is the catchment area school they will be entitled to stay on the waiting list of the school they have a preference for. The waiting lists are only maintained until 30th September each year. Please note that a child's waiting list position can move up or down.

 

It is important that parents provide the local authority with any information relating to changes in circumstances, as soon as they occur.

 

The admissions authority does have the power under the Education Act 1998 to set aside these arrangements and refuse a place if the admission of additional children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources. These Admission Arrangements apply for one year only. The admissions policy is reviewed on an annual basis. This includes any catchment area arrangements.

 

Parents who are not offered their preferred school may appeal against the County Council's decision.

 

Carol Storey is Northumberland County Council’s Choice Adviser and she can also guide parents through:

 

• School and catchment areas
• How to apply online
• How to complete the forms
• How to appeal if the parent/carer does not gain a place in the school they prefer
• Meeting important deadlines

 

Carol can be contacted at Northumberland County Council:

 

Telephone:    01670 533664

Fax:             01670 533108

Email:           carol.storey@northumberland.gov.uk

You can access the Choice Adviser Leaflet by using the following link:  Choice Advice