An Open Morning and tours of the school will occur this year on Tuesday 5th December. There will be three slots during the day where the Headteacher will give a presentation and then there will be an opportunity to see the Early Years in action. Each session will last for one hour. The sessions are 9.30-10.30am, 10.30-11.30am and 2.00-3.00pm.  Spaces are limited so please contact the office to book your place, indicating your preferred time, by telephone: 01322 222759,  or email: headteacher@our-ladys.kent.sch.uk. If you are unable to attend, the school has produced a video and a number of PowerPoints with key information which is on the school website under admissions.

 

For admissions to Our Lady's for September 2024, the official pupil admissions number is 30 pupils in-line with Department for Education legislation. Although we must give priority to Catholic children, we also welcome applications from parents of children of other faiths. All places are offered to children in accordance with the published admissions policy.

To make an application for a place at Our Lady’s you will need to complete TWO forms.

1.   Reception Online Application Form (OLA)

A link to this form can be found below. The application form for Kent opens on Friday 3rd November 2023 and closes on Monday 15^th January 2024.  National offer day is Tuesday 16^th April 2024.

 

2.   Supplementary Information Form (SIF)

This form can be downloaded below.  This form should be completed by the parents and the parish priest or minister and returned to the School Office.

 

3.   Appeals

If your child is due to start primary school in September 2024 you can appeal if you are refused a place at one of your preferred schools on National Offer Day (Tuesday 16^th  April 2024). You need to submit your appeal before Tuesday 14^th May 2024 for it to be considered by Tuesday 16^th July 2024.  Any appeals received after this time will be heard within 40 school days from the deadline, or where reasonably possible, in line with updated guidance from the Department for Education.

 

For late applications, appeals should be heard within 40 school days from the deadline for lodging appeals where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeals being lodged where reasonably possible in line with updated guidance from the Department for Education.

 

Parents whose applications for places are unsuccessful may appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel set up in accordance with section 85(3) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.  Appeals must be made in writing and must set out the reasons on which the appeal is made.  Appeals should be made to the Admissions Appeal Clerk at the school address.  Parents/Carers have the right to make oral representations to the Appeal Panel.

 

Infant classes are restricted by the legislation to 30 children.  Parents should be aware that an appeal against refusal of a place in an infant class may only succeed if it can be demonstrated that:-

 

a)  The admission of additional children would not breach the infant class size limit; or

b) The admission arrangements did not comply with the admissions law or had not been correctly and impartially applied and the child would have been offered a place if the arrangements had complied or had been correctly or impartially applied; or

 c) The panel decides the decision to refuse admission was not one which a reasonable admission authority     would have made in the circumstances of the case.

 

The Breach Appeal Statement and Appeals form can be found in the folder below.

4.  Waiting Lists

Parents of children who have not been offered a place at the school may ask for their child’s name to be placed on a waiting list.  The waiting list, which will be maintained for one year, will be operated using the same admissions criteria listed above.  Placing a child’s name on the waiting list does not guarantee a place will become available. This does not prevent parents from exercising their right to appeal against the decision not to offer a place.  It is possible that when a child is directed under the local authority’s fair access protocol they will take precedence over those children already on the list.

 

5.  Admissions of children below compulsory school age

The Governing Board will provide for the admissions of all children in the September following the child’s fourth birthday.  Parents can request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in the school year; parents may also request their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.

 

6.   Admission of children outside their normal age group 

Parents who are seeking a place for their child outside of their normal age group, e.g. the child has experienced problems such as ill health or the parents of a summer born child preferring not to send their child to school until the September following their fifth birthday, may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1. 

 

Where the governors agree to a parent’s request for their child to be admitted out of their normal age group and, as a consequence of that decision, the child will be admitted to the age group to which the pupils are normally admitted to the school, the local authority will process the application as part of the main admissions round, (unless the parental request is made too late for this to be possible) and on the basis of the determined admissions arrangements, including the oversubscription criteria where applicable. Parents have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

 

For admissions to Our Lady's for September 2024, the official pupil admissions number is 30 pupils in-line with Department for Education legislation.

Key Dates for Parents

Admissions to Primary School - September 2024

 

 

For admission in September 2024 the following policy applies

Click on the link below to visit the Kent admissions website:

For in-year admissions the following policy and application form apply

 

In Year Process

Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School participates within the Kent co-ordinated in year admissions scheme and follow the protocol set within it. If you would like to apply for an in year place at Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, you must complete an In Year Application Form which can be found below.  

The supplementary form for this school should also be completed to enable the governors to rank the application in the event of there being more than one application for a place. The governors will use the same criteria, which can be found on our policy, to rank the application. If there is a place at the school an offer will be made by the school on behalf of the governors. In the event that a place cannot be offered, parents will be offered the opportunity of placing their child’s name on the waiting list. This does not prevent parents from exercising their right to appeal against the decision not to offer a place. Parents making appeals will receive 10 school-days' notice of their appeal hearing and decision letters will be sent out within 5 school-days of the hearing wherever possible.  

 

Fair Access Protocol

The purpose of Fair Access Protocols is to ensure that – outside the normal admissions round – unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are found and offered a place quickly, so that the amount of time any child is out of school is kept to the minimum. This is why every local authority is required to have in place a Fair Access Protocol, developed in partnership with local schools.