Making Your Application (Secondary School)
Applications for places at all Poole secondary schools are made either;
- on the appropriate paper application form
or
- using our online facility.
The closing date for both paper forms and on-line applications is 12.00 o'clock midday on Friday 19 October 2007.
Applying on denominational grounds.
If you are applying for a place at St Edward's RC/CofE VA School on religious grounds you should read the school's admissions policy carefully as you will need to supply supporting information. You will need to complete the supplementary information form which can be downloaded here.
(Please note: On-line applicants should ensure that the supplementary information form is sent/delivered directly to The School Admissions Team in Children & Young People's Integrated Services to arrive by the published closing date and time. It should not be sent to a school).
Home address.
The local authority will consider a child's home address as the address at which he/she lives during the school week. Where a child lives at more than one address during the school week the local authority will consider the home address as being where the prime carer resides. The "prime carer" is the person in whose name Child Benefit payments for the individual child are made.
Applications for children of multiple births.
If there are insufficient places to accommodate all the children of a multiple birth (i.e. twins, triplets etc) the parents of the children will be asked to nominate the child or children to take up the available number of places.
Distance criterion.
All school admission authorities have to establish how they will deal with applicants of equal merit for a school place. All Poole admission authorities use a distance measurement to decide between applicants of equal merit. The distance is measured by a Geographical Information System using the shortest, safest and practicable walking route using the centre line of public roads and footpaths from a point outside the centre of the pupil's home address to a point opposite the nearest school gate that is for the use of pupils.
If there are insufficient places to accommodate all applicants and the distance criterion is used, applicants living in the same block of flats eligible for the remaining places random allocation will be used. Applicants will have their names drawn as lots to see who should be offered the place(s). The person drawing the names will be an officer within Children and Young People's Integrated Services who has no involvement in the school admissions process.
Applications from separated parents.
Only one application can be considered for each pupil. Where parents are separated it is essential that agreement is reached by both parties concerning the nominated preferred schools. If agreement cannot be reached the local authority will only consider the application from the parent who is the prime carer for the child. The prime carer is the parent in whose name Child Benefit payments for the individual child are made.
Siblings.
Unless otherwise stated in a school's oversubscription criteria the definition of sibling is a full brother or sister, a half brother or half sister, adoptive brother or sister and non-blood related children who live with married or cohabiting parents in the same household
Late applications.
Applications received after the published closing date for admission in September will be considered after all on-time applications have been processed. The on-line facility will not be available after the published closing date.
Waiting lists.
The local authority operates waiting lists on behalf of those admission authorities which have them. The length of time an applicant has been on a waiting list is not taken into consideration when a place becomes available. Places are offered as and when they become available using the oversubscription criteria set out in the school's published admissions policy.
Children Looked After.
School admissions authorities are required to place Children Looked After as their overriding priority when admitting pupils. "Child Looked After" means any child who is in the care of a local authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989.
For information on the curriculum and assessment in Key Stage 2 (Years 7-9), Key Stage 3 (Years 10 & 11) and the Sixth Form please contact your local school or Children & Young People's Strategy, Quality and Improvement Service on 01202 633091.
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