Primary School Admissions 2025 Information for parents / carers

Introduction

Holy Trinity CE Academy values highly its Christian ethos, its close links with local churches and the Diocese of Durham. We provide a distinctively Christian, yet inclusive, environment in which each child is motivated to acquire skills for life and a love of learning. As a church school, we welcome applications from Christian families, and those of other faiths or none. We ask all parents applying for a place at our school to respect this ethos and its importance to the whole school community.

The Holy Trinity Church of England Academy (South Shields) Trust (‘the Academy Trust’) is the admissions authority for the academy and they intend to admit up to thirty pupils to the reception year group in September 2025. The Academy Trust has made every effort to ensure that these arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code 2014 and all relevant legislation, including that on infant class sizes and equal opportunities. This arrangement follows consultation with the Local Authority, all other schools in the area and all other Admission Authorities in the area. The Local Authority administers the admission procedure on behalf of the Academy Trust, using the co-ordinated admissions scheme, and all applications from parents (see note 1) must be made on the Local Authority Common Application Form. This form must be returned to the Local Authority no later than 15 January. This form must be completed even if your child attends our Early Years Nursery Unit. Applications received after this date will normally only be considered after those received on or before the cut off date. Parents are asked to note that admission to the Nursery unit is no guarantee of entry into the main academy.

Admissions criteria

Children who have a Statement of Special Educational Need/Educational Health Care Plan which names our academy will always be admitted to the academy.

Where there are insufficient places available to meet all parental preferences the Academy Trust operate an equal preference system which means that, whilst parents can include up to 3 preferences in order on the application form, the Academy Trust must treat all preferences equally. Applications will be considered according to the following criteria and allocated in the order set out below:

1. Looked-after children and children who were previously looked after, but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangement or special guardianship order (see note 1 below) including 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 (see note 2 below).
2. Concurrent sibling link (an older brother or sister attending the academy at the same time and residing at the same address to include adoptive siblings, half siblings, step siblings and long term fostered children or the child of the parent/carer’s partner where the child for whom the academy place is sought is living in the same family unit at the same address as the sibling).
3. Children living nearest the academy. Where there are places for some, but not all applicants meeting a particular criterion, children living nearest the academy will receive the higher priority. Distance will be measured from the centre of the parent’s home address to the main entrance of the academy using the Local Authority’s Geographic Information System (GIS), with those living closer to the academy receiving the higher priority. Where following a relationship breakdown parents have shared responsibility for a child and the child lives for part of the week with each parent, then the distance will be measured from the centre of the home address of the parent who lives closest to the Academy.

Note 1:

• A ‘ Looked After Child’ is a child who is (a) in the care of a LA, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a LA in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school.
• An adoption order is an order made under Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Adoption Act 1976 (see Section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children Act 2002).
• A ‘child arrangement order’ is defined in Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended by Section 12 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Child arrangements orders replace residence orders and any residence order in force prior to 22 April 2014 is deemed to be a child arrangements order.
• ‘Special guardianship order’ is an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians (Section 14A of the Children Act 1989).

Note 2:

• A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place 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.

If it becomes necessary to decide between applicants within the same criterion, the distance tiebreaker described above will be used.

All Other Admissions

Admission to the school during the school year depends on whether or not there are places available. Applications must be made directly to the Academy on a form available from the school Local Authority. Admissions outside the normal age group will be dealt with as indicated below. If there is a vacancy, and there is no child on the relevant waiting list with a higher priority (according to the oversubscription criteria 1-4 above), a place will be offered. If parents are moving house, the school will ask for evidence of the move, before considering any application for a place. Documentary evidence in the form of a solicitor’s letter to confirm exchange of contracts, or a rental agreement for at least a period of six months will be required (Armed Forces personnel are exempt). If you are returning from elsewhere, to live in a home that you own, we will require evidence to show that you have returned. We will also ask for evidence that any previous house owned has been sold or is being sold. We would not accept an address where the one given is that of a second home with the main home being elsewhere. If there are two or more homes, we will check which is the main home, and may refuse to base an allocation of a place on an address which might be considered only temporary. Nor would we accept an address where the child was resident other than with a parent or carer unless this was part of a fostering or formal care arrangement. We would not normally accept an address where only part of a family had moved, unless connected with a divorce or permanent separation arrangement, in which case we would require proof.

Admission of children below compulsory school age and deferred entry to school

The School Admissions Code 2014 requires school admission authorities to provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. However, a child is not required to start school until they have reached compulsory school age following their fifth birthday. For summer born children (those born after 1 April) this can sometimes be almost a full school year after the point at which they could first be admitted.

Some parents may feel that their child is not ready to start school in the September following their fourth birthday. Parents are entitled to request in writing that:-

• their child attends part-time until they reach compulsory school age, or
• that the date their child is admitted to school is deferred until later in the same academic year or until the term in which the child reaches compulsory school age. The school will hold any deferred place for the child,although, in the majority of cases , we find that children benefit from starting at the beginning of the school year rather than part way through it.
• that the date their child is admitted to school is deferred until the term after the child reaches compulsory school age.

The child must, however, start school full-time in the term after their fifth birthday.

If parents of summer born children wish to defer entry as outlined above and wish them to be admitted to the Reception Year in the term following their fifth birthday, rather than year 1, then parents should apply at the usual time for a place in September of the current academic year together with a written request that the child is admitted outside of his or her normal age group to the Reception Year in September the following year providing supporting reasons for seeking a place outside of the normal age group. This should be discussed with the Head Teacher as soon as possible. If their request is agreed, and this should be clear before the national offer day, their application for the normal age group may be withdrawn before any place is offered and they should reapply in the normal way for a Reception place in the following year. If their request is refused, the parents must decide whether to wait for any offer of a place in the current academic year (NB it will still be subject to the oversubscription criteria in this policy) or to withdraw their application and apply for a year 1 place the following year. Parents should be aware that the Year 1 group may have no vacancies as it could be full with children transferring from the previous Reception Year group.

Further information and advice on the admission of summer born children is available from South Tyneside School Admissions Team, Town Hall and Civic Offices, Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, telephone 0191 427 1717 or from the Department for Education.

Waiting list

Applicants who cannot be offered a place as a result of the above procedure will, on request, be included on the waiting list which will be held until the last day of the autumn term. The order on this list will be determined by the criteria stated above. An application for a place for a child moving into the area after the closing date for applications will be placed on the waiting list in accordance with the above criteria.

Fair Access

The school participates in South Tyneside LA’s Fair Access Protocol. This covers, for example, children who have moved into our area after the normal admission round, or who need to move school as a result of severe bullying or social issues. Children qualifying under the Fair Access Protocol may be offered a place even if there are no places available in the relevant year group and also take priority for admission over any child on the waiting list.

Multiple births

In cases where there is one place available, and the next child on the list is a twin, triplet, etc., we would admit both twins (and all the children in the case of other multiple births) even if this meant exceeding the agreed admission number for Reception or the number of places in other year groups in the relevant admission year.

Admission outside normal age group

Requests from parents for places outside a normal age group will be considered carefully e.g. for those who have missed education due to ill health. Each case will be considered on its own merits and circumstances. However, such admissions will not normally be agreed without a consensus that to do so would be in the pupil’s interests. It is recommended that parents discuss their wishes with the head teacher in advance of applying for a place. The governors may ask relevant professionals for their opinion on the case. It should be noted that if a place in the requested age group is refused, but one in the normal age group is offered, then there is no right of appeal.

Right of Appeal

Parents who are refused a place for their child at our academy have a statutory right of appeal. Further details of the appeals process are available by writing to the Chair of the Board of Trustees at the academy address. Requests from parents for places outside a normal age group will be considered carefully e.g. for those who have missed education due to ill health. Each case will be considered on its own merits and circumstances. However, such admissions will not normally be agreed without a consensus that to do so would be in the pupil’s interests. It is recommended that parents discuss their wishes with the head teacher in advance of applying for a place. The governors may ask relevant professionals for their opinion on the case. It should be noted that if a place in the requested age group is refused, but one in the normal age group is offered then there is no right of appeal.