Applying for a school place at our school

Information to Note

Tie breaker

Unless stipulated otherwise, if within any criterion there are more children than places available, any remaining places will be offered to children who meet the criterion on the basis of proximity of the child’s home address to the school, with children living nearest receiving the greater priority. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the address point of the child’s home address, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the main gate on Briar Road.  This is calculated using the Surrey admissions team’s Geographical Information System.

Where two or more children share priority for a place, e.g. where two children live equidistant from a school, Surrey County Council will use random allocation will be used to determine which child should be given priority.

Looked After Children

Looked After Children

Looked after and previously looked after children will be considered to be:

• children who are in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989, e.g. fostered or living in a children’s home, at the time an application for a school is made; and

• children who have previously been in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 and who have left that care through adoption, a child arrangements order (in accordance with Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 and as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014) or special guardianship order (in accordance with Section 14A of the Children Act 1989); and

• Children who appear (to the Trust) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. A child will be regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society. The parent/carer will need to provide evidence to demonstrate that the child was in state care outside of England and left that care as a result of being adopted.

Children of staff

Priority will be given to a child if their parent is a permanent member of staff at the school and meets either or both of the following circumstances:

1. the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made; and/or
2. the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

For applications made as part of a normal intake, the length of employment will be considered as of the closing date for applications. For in year applications and for the purpose of maintaining a waiting list, the length of employment will be considered as of the date the application is received or the date a place becomes available, if a place is considered from the waiting list.

A supplementary information form (Appendix 1) must be completed and returned by the application closing date for all applicants wishing to apply under this criterion.

Sibling

A "sibling" will include: 

1. a full or adopted brother or sister (sharing both parents) regardless of whether they live with the applicant child or not; and/or 
2. a half-brother or half-sister (sharing one parent), step-brother or step-sister (one child's parent is married to the other child's parent), foster brother or sister (in the care of the Local Authority as defined above and a child of a co-habiting partner (in a relationship with, and living with, the applicant child's parent) and in all cases where the sibling is and the applicant child are bring brought up in the same core family unit at the applicant child's home address as defined below.  This would include half, step or other siblings who were adopted but do not fall into (a).

For the avoidance of doubt, the children of extended family members (e.g. cousins) or friends will not meet the definition of a "sibling" under this policy, even where they live at the same home address as the applicant child.

The sibling must be on the roll of the school at the time of application, and expected to be at the time of admission of the applicant child.

Distance from School

The address must be the child’s normal place of residence.  In the case of formal equal shared custody, it will be up to the parents to agree which address to use.  Where two children live equidistant from the school, the school will draw lots to determine which child should be given priority.  The distance is measured in a straight line from the address point of the child’s home, as set by Ordinance Survey, to the main entrance gate on Briar Road. This is calculated using the Admission and Transport Team’s Geographical Information System.

Where two or more children share priority for a place, e.g. where two children live equidistant from a school, Surrey County Council (for Reception admissions) and the School’s Admissions Officer (for in-year admissions) will use random allocation to determine which child should be given priority.

In the case of multiple births, where children have equal priority for a place, Surrey County Council (for reception admissions) and the School’s Admissions Officer (for in-year admissions) will use random allocation to determine which child should be given priority.  If after the allocation one or more places can be offered but there are not sufficient places for all of them, each child will be offered a place.

An offer of a place based on where the child lives is conditional on the child being resident at this address at the closing date of application, unless a change of address for good reason has been accepted.  NB: Evidence of proof of residency will be requested.

Home Address

The child’s home address excludes any business or childminder’s address and must be the child’s normal place of residence.  It also excludes any relative’s address unless the child lives at that address as their normal place of residence.  Where the child is subject to a child arrangements order and that order stipulates that the child will live with one parent/carer more than the other, the address to be used will be the one where the child is expected to live for the majority of the time.  For other children, the address to be used will be the address where the child lives the majority of the time.  In other cases, where the child spends an equal time between their parents/carers, it will be up to the parent/carers to agree which address to use.  Where a child spends their time equally between their parents/carers and they cannot agree on who should make the application, we will accept an application from the parent/carer who is registered for child benefit.  If neither parent/carer is registered for child benefit we will accept the application from the parent/carer whose address is registered with the child’s current school

We will not generally accept a temporary address if the main carer of the child still possesses or rents a property that has previously been used as a home address, nor will we accept a temporary address if we believe it has been used solely or mainly to obtain a school place when an alternative address is still available to that child.  All distances will be measured by the computerised Geographical Information System maintained by Surrey’s admissions team.

The address to be used for the initial allocation of places to Reception will be the child’s address at the closing date for application.  Changes of address may be considered in accordance with Surrey’s coordinated scheme if there are exceptional reasons behind the change, such as if a family has just moved to the area.  The address to be used for waiting lists, after the initial allocation, will be the child’s current address.  Any offer of a place on the basis of address is conditional upon the child living at the appropriate address on the relevant date.  Applicants have a responsibility to notify Surrey County Council or for in-year admissions the School’s Admission Officer, of any change of address.

Waiting Lists

In the event of oversubscription, waiting lists will be drawn up and ranked in the same order as the oversubscription criteria for initial admissions.  The address to be used for waiting lists will be the child’s current address.  Any offer of a place on the basis of address is conditional upon the child living at the appropriate address on the date a place at the school is available for allocation.  A Fair Access Protocol, will take precedence over those on a waiting list.

A child’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. The waiting list will be reordered in accordance with the oversubscription criteria whenever anyone is added to or leaves it.

Waiting lists for the initial intake will be maintained until the last day of the Summer term 2025 when they will be cancelled.  Applicants who wish a child to remain on the waiting list after this date must confirm by 27 July 2025.  After 27 July 2025, applicants whose children are not already on the waiting list but who wish them to be so must apply for in-year admission.  For in-year waiting lists the Admission Officer will make contact with the parent in the summer term each year to confirm their details are retained for the purpose of managing the waiting list, should they wish their details to be removed they respond to request this.  If a child is on the waiting list at the point they are no longer of primary school age their details will automatically be removed.

If a place has been offered in error or on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application the offer may be withdrawn and the place offered to a pupil with a higher priority to that place.

The admission of children outside their chronological year group

Applicants may choose to seek places outside their child’s chronological year group. Decisions will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case.  Applicants must state clearly why they feel admission to a different year group is in the child's best interest and provide evidence to support this.  More information on educating children out of their chronological year group is available at www.surreycc.gov.uk/admissions

Applicants may choose to seek a place outside their child’s chronological (correct) year group. Decisions will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and what is in the best interests of the child concerned.

• Applicants who are applying for their child to have a decelerated entry to school, i.e. to start later than other children in their chronological age group, must initially apply for a school place in accordance with the deadlines that apply for their child’s chronological age.  If, in liaison with the Headteacher, the admission authority agrees for the child to have a decelerated entry to the school the place cannot be deferred and instead the applicant will be invited to apply again in the following year for the decelerated cohort 
• Applicants who are applying for their child to have an accelerated entry to school, i.e. to start earlier than other children in their chronological age group, must initially apply for a school place at the same time that other families are applying for that cohort.  If, in liaison with the Headteacher, the admission authority agrees for the child to have an accelerated entry to the school, the application will be processed.  If it is not agreed for the child to have an accelerated entry to the school, the applicant will be invited to apply again in the following year for the correct cohort
• Applicants must state clearly why they feel admission to a different year group is in the child's best interest and provide what evidence they have to support this.  More information on educating children out of their chronological year group and the process for making such requests is available at www.surreycc.gov.uk/admissions.'

In-year admissions

Sometimes a parent may need to make an in-year application for a school place if their child needs to join a school outside the normal admissions round - for example, if you move house and your child can no longer attend their current school. 

This is called an in-year application and should be made directly with us.  Applications are managed by our school and we will offer or decline a place directly with families, you should apply directly to the school and not via Surrey Admissions.

If you would like to apply for an in-year school place for your child at our school please download and complete our School Managed Application form (SMA) for in year admission to school (found on the admissions page of the website) and include any supporting documentation that is required.

You can send us your in-year application form in two ways –

• Send the form and documentation electronically to info.saxon@lumenlearningtrust.co.uk   
• Hand deliver your paper copy of the form and documentation to the Admissions Officer, Saxon Primary School, Briar Road, Shepperton, TW17 0JB 
   

The following applications will be treated as in-year admissions during 2024/25:

• applications for admission to Reception which are received after 1 September 2024;
• all other applications for admission to Years 1 to 6.

Where there are more applications than places available, each application will be ranked in accordance with the published oversubscription criteria for the school.

For in-year admissions between September 2024 to July 2025 the Admissions Officer will apply the oversubscription criteria in the 2024 determined admissions policy.

School admission appeals

In accordance with the 1998 Education Act, parents whose children are refused admission to the September reception admissions round can appeal.  The appeal should be made in writing.  Information on the appeals procedure is available from the School’s Admission Officer or on the Surrey County Council Admissions website: www.surreycc.gov.uk/admissions  

In Year or immediate entry appeals

Appeals resulting from in year admission applications will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged.

STAFF SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION FORM

Please see attached Admissions Policy.  A supplementary form only needs to be completed if you are a member of staff.

Hard copies of the documents are available on request, from the school office