HIGHFIELD SOUTH FARNHAM SCHOOL

ADMISSIONS POLICY

for Admission from 1st September 2022 - 31st August 2023
Highfield South Farnham School is a primary school lying to the south of Farnham.
The school participates in the local authority co-ordinated admissions scheme where an equal preference system operates (for details see LA website).

The Published Admission Number PAN for 2022/23 is 60 in Year R.

All children applying for a place at the school in Year R starting in September 2022 whose Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan names the school will be admitted.

Priority for admission arrangements from 2022 will be as follows:

1. Looked After Children and Previously 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 in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 and who have left that care through adoption, a child arrangement 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 admission authority) 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.

2. Exceptional Arrangements

Occasionally there will be a very small number of children for whom exceptional arrangements apply which mean that Highfield South Farnham is the only appropriate school for the child. Evidence from a consultant doctor will be required for medical cases or documented evidence from any support services involved for other sensitive family circumstances will be required. These exceptional arrangements may override other admissions priorities. Providing evidence does not guarantee that a child will be given priority and in each case a decision will be made based on the merits of the case and whether the evidence demonstrates that a placement should be made at this school above any other.

South Farnham Educational Trust
Registered Office : South Farnham School, Menin Way, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8DY
Company Registration Number 07652902 (England and Wales)

3. Children of staff at the school

Priority will be given to children of members of the senior leadership team who have been employed at the school for two or more years and for new staff employed to a difficult to recruit position. For normal round admissions the date that will be used to assess this will be the closing date for applications (15 January 2022). For in-year applications the date that will be used will be the date the application is made.

4. Siblings

Places are then offered to siblings of pupils who would be attending the school at the time of admission. A sibling is a brother or sister, or a half-brother or
half-sister or a step-brother or step-sister, living at the same address, or foster children or adopted children living at the same address.

5. All other applicants

This will be measured in a straight line from the address point of the child’s home, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the nominated gate.

Tie Breaker

If there is oversubscription in any of the above criteria priority will be given on the basis of nearness to school measured in a straight line from the address point of the pupil’s home, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the nominated gate. 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. In the case of shared custody it is the address where the child spends most of the time. All distances will be measured by the computerised Geographical Information System maintained by Surrey’s Admissions and Transport team. Any offer of a place on the basis of address is conditional on the child being resident at the address provided. We will not accept a temporary address if the main carer of the child still possesses or rents a property that has been previously 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.

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 Co-ordinated Schemes 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 is conditional upon the child living at the appropriate address on the relevant date. Parents have an obligation to notify the school of any change of address.

Where two applicants live equidistant and share priority for a place we will apply an independently supervised random allocation to determine which child would receive priority. In the case of multiple births where children are ranked consecutively in their order of priority for a place and there are not sufficient vacancies remaining for each of them, wherever it is logistically possible, each child will be offered a place. Where, due to the size of classroom, it is not logistically possible to offer each child a place the child(ren) to be offered the last remaining place(s) will be determined by each child’s rank position.

Children of members of leadership team staff who don’t initially fulfil the two year requirement will have their position on the waiting list updated according to eligibility on the date in question.

South Farnham Educational Trust
Registered Office : South Farnham School, Menin Way, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8DY
Company Registration Number 07652902 (England and Wales)

Starting School

There is a single intake into Reception. All children whose date of birth falls between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2018 will be eligible to apply for a full-time place in Reception for September 2022. Parents can defer their child’s entry to Reception until later in the school year, but this will not be agreed beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday, nor beyond the beginning of the final term of the academic year for which the offer was made. A child can start part time until they reach statutory school age.

Out of Year Group Requests

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

Waiting Lists

Where there are more applicants than places available, waiting lists will operate for each year group according to the oversubscription criteria shown and without regard to the date the application was received or when a child’s name was added to the waiting list. Where additional children are added to the waiting list, it will be ranked again in line with the oversubscription criteria. As part of the initial intake to Reception, applicants will automatically be placed on the waiting list if they have not been offered a higher preference school.
Waiting lists for the initial intake will be maintained until the last day of the Autumn term when they will be cancelled. Parents wishing to remain on the waiting list after this date must write to the school by 31 December 2022, stating their wish and providing their child’s name, date of birth and the name of their child’s current school. After 31 December 2022, parents whose children are not already on the waiting list but who wish them to be so must apply for in-year admission. Waiting lists for all year groups will be cancelled at the end of each academic year.

Late applications

Late applications for the initial intake to Reception will be considered in accordance with Surrey's Primary Coordinated Admissions Scheme.

South Farnham Educational Trust

Registered Office : South Farnham School, Menin Way, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8DY
Company Registration Number 07652902 (England and Wales)

Appeals If a place is not offered at the school there is a right to appeal to an independent panel. If you need any more information regarding the appeals process you can visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/schoolappeals.

This policy was determined by the Trust following approval by the Trust Admissions Committee on 19th October 2020, the Local Governing Body at their meeting on Thursday 12th November 2020 and the main Trustee Board Meeting on 3rd December 2020. It will be reviewed annually.