Below are the “points” requirements needed to get into a local church of England school near where I live. If this wasn’t so depressing I think I’d be laughing out loud.
It does occur to me that starting you own religion and declaring your house a temple would seem to be a fairly effective way of building up the required points for entrance. Still, I suspect they might see though that…
ADMISSIONS POLICY FOR TWYFORD CE HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC YEAR 2010/2011
(WORLD FAITHS/OPEN PLACES)
The Governors have agreed with the LA to admit 180 students into this Church of England voluntary aided school each September and this agreement applies to the years 2010/2011.
These arrangements and the criteria listed below are reviewed annually by the governing body, and should not be regarded as binding for future years. When there are more applicants than places available, the Governors will admit according to the criteria listed below.
The ethos of Twyford Church of England High School is one which respects all faiths. We believe that all our lives are given and governed by God. We are inspired by the words of St Athanasius ‘The Glory of God is a life lived to the full’. We expect our students to fulfil their potential academically, personally and spiritually.
We ask all parents applying for a place here to respect this ethos and its importance to the school community. All applicants should be supportive of the aims, attitudes and values, expectations and commitment of this voluntary aided Church of England school. This does not affect the right of parents who are not of the faith of this school to apply for and be considered for a place here.
Parents applying for a place for their son/daughter are asked to choose either a Christian or a World faith/Open place.
KEY FEATURES OF OUR ADMISSION CRITERIA
•
Frequency of attendance at a Public Place of Worship (see points 3a, 3c)
•
Length of attendance at a Public Place of Worship (see points 3a, 3c)
•
Involvement of Parent(s) and Child at a Public Place of Worship (see points 3b, 3d)
•
Tie break criteria (see point 3e)
CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION FOR WORLD FAITH/OPEN PLACES
The Governors have designated 30 places as World Faith/Open places to be offered to students of World Faiths/No faith who do not meet the criteria for a foundation place but whose parent(s)/carers(s) have chosen this Church school for the type of education it provides.
Parent(s)/carer(s) applying for a World Faith/Open place should note that the school aims to provide an education based on Christian principles as outlined in the brochure and it is expected that parents would not wish to exercise the right of withdrawal from worship and Religious Education lessons.
Please note that for the purpose of the criteria below, ‘major non-Christian world faith’ is defined as Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or Jewish. Attendance should be at a public place of worship (e.g. Temple, Mosque, Gurdwara, Synagogue) and be confirmed by a supportive reference from their religious leader so that Governors may consider their application fully.
In the event of over subscription and when deciding between applicants who ostensibly have equal entitlement, the Governors will use the following criteria when deciding priority.
1.
ALL LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN regardless of religious affiliation (as defined by the LA as children in public care subject to Section 22 of the Children Act (1989)) have priority over all other applications
2.
APPLICATIONS from applicants who are able to provide a religious reference will have priority over those unable to provide a religious reference.
Admission Policy World Faith/Open 2010/11
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3.
The Total points scored based on the answers given in sections 1 to 6 of the supplementary information form (religious reference) which relate to attendance and involvement of families (see points a – d below) will be the first deciding factor.
Explanation of criteria used on the Supplementary Information Form (Religious Reference)
Information relating to the child:
a)
b)
The frequency and length of attendance of the child at a public place of worship (Not a Saturday school). Up to 5 points are awarded for attendance over at least the past 5 years (one point for each year). In addition up to 5 points are awarded according to the frequency/regularity of attendance over the last 5 years (Weekly 5 pts, 3 times a Month 4 pts, Fortnightly 3pts, Monthly 2pts, Occasional 1pt).
The child attends organisations working for that particular world faith associated with the place of public worship. (as outlined below)
Children’s Activities (2 activities)
(5+5points)
•
Youth Group
•
Community language Group
•
Receiving instruction in the world faith
•
Dance/worship group
(2 points max)
Information relating to the family:
c)
The length and frequency of attendance of the parent/carer at a public place of worship (not a Saturday School). Up to 5 points are awarded for attendance over at least the last 5 years (one point for each year). In addition up to 5 points are awarded according to the frequency/regularity of attendance over the last five years (Weekly 5 pts, 3 times a Month 4 pts, Fortnightly 3pts, Monthly 2pts, Occasional 1pt).
(5+5 points)
d)
The voluntary service given by the child’s parent or carer to their place of worship. Please give details of service, as outlined below.
Parents (4 activities maximum)
(4 points max)
•
Elected member of Temple/Mosque/Synagogue Leadership committee
•
Cleaning place of worship
•
Serving refreshments at place of worship
•
Preparing food at place of worship
•
Working with children at place of worship
•
Stewarding
•
Study group
e) Where applicants have the same total number of points the following criteria will be used as a tie break:
i.
Children with a sibling (sibling refers to all blood, half, step, adoptive and foster children who live at the same home address as the child already attending the school and will be attending the school at the time of the sibling’s attendance) at the school, with distance criteria as set out below (ii – v) being used as a tie break.
Admission Policy World Faith/Open 2010/11
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ii.
Applicants living or worshipping in the Ealing Deanery area, with the distance criteria applied.
iii.
Applicants living or worshipping in the Brent & Harrow Deanery areas, with the distance criteria applied.
iv.
Applicants living or worshipping in the Willesden Episcopal area, with the distance criteria applied.
v.
Applicants living or worshipping outside the above three categories with the distance criteria applied.
In all cases, the distance from home to school is measured by straight line from a point in the property to the nearest gated entrance which is used by pupils to enter the school grounds. The measuring system is an integral part of the admissions software produced by Tribal Technology Ltd. It uses Ordnance Survey maps and is accurate to 1 metre.
In the case of multi occupancy buildings, e.g. flats, priority will be given to the applicants whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically, e.g. 11B takes priority over 12A.
Where applicants have the same priority on distance, random allocation will be the final deciding factor. Where a child lives with parents who share parental responsibility, at different addresses, the nearest address will be used.
A map showing the Deanery and Episcopal areas is displayed both in reception and in the main foyer of the school.
4. WAITING LIST
In order to restrict numbers to the maximum admission number, 30 places will be offered to candidates with the highest priority in accordance with the admissions criteria. Then all candidates below this level will be listed in order of priority for a waiting list in accordance with the admissions criteria.
This list will be a priority Waiting List for admission for World Faith/Open places until the maximum admission number has been accepted. If vacancies occur before appeals, this list will be used to offer places.
I The length of time on the waiting list does not influence admissions decisions.
II Children who are the subject of a direction by the local authority to admit, or who are allocated to the school in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol, take precedence over those already on the waiting list.
III The supportive reference should confirm the frequency/regularity of attendance (i.e. weekly, monthly) and the level of involvement of the child and parent(s)/carer(s) within the faith community, and should be from the place of worship where the child and parent(s) carer(s) regularly attend. If you have changed your place of worship within a period of five years prior to the application, or worship at more than one public place of worship, please forward with the application a supportive reference from the religious leader at your former or other place of worship, or from EACH of the places of worship you attend.
A parent or child should be defined as a “weekly” attendee if they are normally at their place of worship at least on the normal day of worship in school term time and at least 50% in the remainder of the year.
Admission Policy World Faith/Open 2010/11
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If for any reason you or your child worships at more than one place of worship you should take this into account when assessing the frequency of attendance at worship. NB if you take advantage of this it is essential that you obtain appropriate reference from all religious leaders concerned when submitting your application. Additional forms can be obtained from the school or you may photocopy pages 2 and 3.
IV In the event of undersubscription any shortfall of allocated places will be transferred to the Foundation (Christian) category.
Summary
USING THE POINTS SCORE
1. Weekly (5 Points)
3 times a Month (4 Points)
Fortnightly (3 Points) Child and Parent
Monthly (2 Points)
Occasional (1 Point)
2.
Child’s involvement (maximum 2 points)
3.
Parents’ involvement (maximum 4 points)
4.
Attendance in Years (1-5)
(1 year – 1 point)
(2 years – 2 points)
(3 years – 3 points) Child and Parent
(4 years – 4 points)
(5 years – 5 points)
Maximum points 26
DISTANCE CRITERIA IS APPLIED WITHIN EACH TOTAL POINTS SCORE
In 2009 all applications scoring 26 points or less were subject to the distance criteria being applied for the final award of places.
LATE APPLICATION FROM YEAR 6 PARENTS APPLYING FOR YEAR 7 PLACES
If a supplementary religious reference is received after the published closing date it will be acknowledged but cannot be considered until after the pan London offers are made in March 2010. Parents are strongly advised to send all applications by registered/recorded post.
ADMISSIONS APPEAL COMMITTEE
Parents who are not offered a place for their child have a statutory right of appeal to an independent admissions appeals committee. Parents wishing to appeal should complete an appeal form available from the school. The form, with any attachments, should be sent to the Clerk of the Appeals Committee at the school within FOURTEEN DAYS of the notification not to admit.