Registration and Admissions

Parents who wish to put their child’s name down to start school can do so by making an appointment with either the Head or the Deputy Head. Admission to the Reception Class takes place in the September before the child’s fifth birthday in that school year. Admission forms will be sent out in the October prior to admission in the following September.

A meeting for all parents of children starting school in September will be held in the Summer Term. This will offer parents the opportunity to meet the Reception teacher and obtain details concerning school organisation and uniform. A literacy/numeracy workshop for new parents is also held each year.

St Aidan’s is a Church of England Primary School and part of the Liverpool Diocese.

Admission arrangements are determined by the Governing Body of the school in consultation with the Diocesan Board of Education, the Local Authority and other admission authorities in the relevant area.

The Admission Number for the 2024 reception year intake at St Aidan’s Church of England Primary School is 30.

APPLYING FOR A PLACE

Applications for our reception year in September 2021 should be made on the applicant’s home local authority common application form. Copies of  the St Helens Primary Education Information for Parents Booklet will be available and applications can made on-line via St Helens Council’s web-site from September.  

St Helens residents may also apply online via Applying for primary school for September 2024 - St Helens Borough Council

Applications must be submitted by 15 January 2024.

All applications will be considered at the same time and after the closing date.

Places will be allocated and offered via email or letter which  will be sent to parents on 16 April 2024.

LATE APPLICATIONS

Applications submitted after the closing date will only be considered alongside those who applied on time when they are received before the allocation procedures begin. However, as this date cannot be predicted, parents have no guarantee that any application received after the closing date will be included.

OVERSUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA

After the admission of pupils with Education Health Care Plans, where St Aidan’s C.E. Primary School is named on the Plan and where the number of applications exceeds the number of places available the Governing Body will apply the following over-subscription criteria:

1. Looked after children and previously looked after children. 

2.   Children who have a brother or sister at the school at the time of likely admission. This includes full, half or stepbrothers and sisters, adopted and foster brothers and sisters or a child of the parent/carer’s partner, and in every case who is living at the same address and is part of the same family unit. 

3. Children whose parent(s) regularly attend a Church of England church.(A parent is any person who has parental responsibility or care of the child.) Regular attendance shall be defined as public worship for at least once a month and for at least 2 years before application. This would need to be confirmed in writing by a member of the clergy or a church officer and submitted by the parent with their application form.

Amendment COVID 19 RESPONSE

"In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these admissions arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship". 

4. Children whose parent(s) regularly attend another Christian church that is a member of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (www.ctbi.org.uk) or a place of worship which is associated with the UK Interfaith Network (www.interfaith.org.uk).(A parent is any person who has parental responsibility or care of the child.)  Regular attendance shall be defined as public worship for at least once a month and for at least 2 years before application. This would need to be confirmed in writing by the appropriate minister of religion or religious leader and submitted by the parent with their application form.

Amendment COVID 19 RESPONSE

"In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these admissions arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship". 

5. Children who for medical or social reasons require a place at the school. Such applications would need to be supported in writing by a registered health professional or social worker at the time of application. The supporting letter or report must set out the particular reasons why the school is the most suitable and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school.   

6. Children whose parents express a preference for a place at the school.

A Looked After Child is a child who is (a) in the care of a Local Authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of their Social Services functions (under section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989.  A previously Looked After Child is one who immediately moved on from that status after becoming subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order.

Tie Break

In the event of any over-subscription in the number of applications made under any

of the categories above then the Admissions Committee will offer places first to

children whose family home is nearest the school. The measurement shall be done

by the Local Authority in a straight line using a Geographical Information System

(GIS) based on Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) data and the National

Grid co-ordinates for the family home and the school.

Where the tie break does not distinguish between applicants e.g children living in the same block of flats random allocation will be used. This will be done by drawing lots and supervised by someone independent of the school.

Definition of Home Address

This is the confirmed address (before allocation procedures begin) where the child and parent, or person with parental responsibility, normally live. It may be necessary for the Governing Body to carry out checks to confirm that addresses given are genuine. You may, therefore, be asked to produce documentary evidence of your child’s address e.g. Council tax or utility bills

If you are separated and your child spends time at each parent’s address, the address we shall use is that of the main carer. The address which receives child benefit will normally be used  but the Governing Body reserves the right to request other proofs as fit the individual circumstances.

Please note:

Any change in your home address after you have completed the application form must be notified to the Admissions Section and supported by documentary evidence. Similarly, if you are unsuccessful in your application for your preferred school(s) and subsequently move address, you should notify the Admissions Section as this may affect your child’s position on the waiting-list(s).

False Information

Where the Governing Body discovers that a child has been awarded a place as a result of any false information relating to the home address, proof of date of birth or involvement in a place of worship, it will withdraw the offer and your child will lose the place. 

How places were allocated in September 2022

Deferred Entry

Children normally start school from the September following their fourth birthday. Places are offered on a full time basis but where parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

Parents may also request that their child’s entry be deferred until later in the school year following their fourth birthday, providing they do not defer beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age. Children born in the summer term are not required to start school until a full year after the point at which they could first have been admitted – the point at which other children in their age range are beginning Year 1.

Before making the decision to defer entry parents are advised to speak to the headteacher. The request will be considered in line with the School Admissions Code.

Waiting List

During the normal admissions round, if a place is refused because the school is oversubscribed your child’s name will automatically be placed on the waiting list. The waiting list will be kept in priority order according to the oversubscription criteria and not on the date on which applications were received. If a place becomes available within the admission number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place.

Children who are the subject of a direction by the local authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list

The waiting list will close at the end of the autumn term for the September 2021 reception year intake.

Fair Access Protocol

The Governing Body has a duty to comply with the Local Authority’s Fair Access Protocol and may have to admit above its published admission number, even if the year group concerned is full.

All schools must participate in their Local Authority’s protocol. For that reason, admission appeal panels will not view the fact that the school is obliged to admit over its admission number as an indication that it can do so for all in year transfers without causing prejudice to the efficient provision of education or efficient use of resources.

In Year Transfers

Applications for a place in reception year after the waiting list has closed or

years 1 – 6 should be made on the Local Authority’s in year common application form. The application will then be processed in accordance with St Helens in year co-ordinated admission scheme. 

Parents will normally receive a written response to their application within ten school days. 

Appeal Procedure

Where parents are unsuccessful in applying for a school place, the decision letter will give reasons why the application was refused (in light of the published admission arrangements) notification of the right of appeal, including details of how, and to whom, to make an appeal and where to obtain further information.

Parents should be aware that legislation limits infant class sizes to 30 pupils and restricts the grounds upon which an appeal can be upheld. You would have to show that the decision was one which in the circumstances no reasonable governing body would have made, or that your child would have been offered a place if the governors’ admission arrangements had been properly implemented.

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Follow the link below to download a copy of our admission policy for 2020/21