Admissions Policy

September 2024

Policy details

• Date created - 01/07/2024
• Date approved - 13/06/2024
• Next review date - 01/09/2025
• Policy owner - Shirley Carrigan and Paul Atkins

Co-op Academy Trust

Co-op Academy Hamilton, Co-op Academy Northwood Broom and Co-op Academy Grove Admissions Policy

(For Implementation from 1st September 2024)

Hamilton, Northwood Broom and Grove academies welcome children from all backgrounds, faiths and those of no faith. The governors of the academies are committed to developing inclusive schools that reflect the diversity of the local community. As well as being inclusive academies, the infant academies and junior academy have a distinctive ethos and character. All parents applying for a place at each academy are asked to respect this ethos and its importance to the school community. It is expected that all children who attend our academies will actively participate in the life of the school.

Normal Round Admissions Process Parents wishing to apply for a place at Co-op  Academy Hamilton ,Co-op Academy Northwood Broom or Co-op Academy Grove can apply online at www.stoke.gov.uk/admissions. The most efficient way of applying for a school place is to apply online. When you apply on-line, you will receive an email confirmation that your application has been successfully submitted. You will also receive an email from the Local Authority on offer day informing you of the outcome of your application. If you do not apply on-line, you will need to complete a paper application form which is available from the academy. This should then be returned directly to the academy or to the Local Authority by the published closing date. The Local Authority will write to you to let you know the outcome of your application.

The admission of pupils with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) are dealt with by a separate procedure. These children will be admitted to the academy if our school is named on the EHCP and will be placed first. This is a statutory entitlement under S.324 of the Education Act 1996.

Nursery Provision

Our infant academies both have nurseries attached. Children aged three years by 31 August are able to attend a nursery class or academy in September. Attendance at school is not a requirement at this age but is at the discretion of parents. Both infant academies also extend their offer of nursery places to ‘rising 3’ children the term after their third birthday.

Unfortunately, attendance at our infant nursery settings will not guarantee admission to a reception class at the same academy. Parents must apply online at www.stoke.gov.uk/admissions. The academies will support parents with this process.

Our infant academies offer both part time and full time places. All children are eligible for 15 hours statutory provision and there is also an option for parents to ‘top up’ their child(rens) hours to 30 hours through two options:

1. Apply for the Government tax-free childcare via www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

2. Paying an additional payment of up to £25 per week dependent on need, direct to the academy.

Infant Provision

Admission to primary school is provided for all children in the September following their fourth birthday. Where a child is offered a place at a school, that child is entitled to a full time place in the September following their fourth birthday; the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age (the term after their fifth birthday) and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made; and where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.  

All applications for admission to our infant academies at age 4+ are managed by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Preferences made by parents living in Stoke-on-Trent for schools in other local authority areas should also be made through the Council. To help this process applicants are required to fill out a common application form. This can be done on-line.

Junior Provision

Admission to junior school is provided for all children in the September following their seventh birthday. Where a child is offered a place at a school, that child is entitled to a full time place in the September following their seventh birthday.

All applications for admission to our junior academy at age 7+ are managed by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Preferences made by parents living in Stoke-on-Trent for schools in other local authority areas should also be made through the Council. To help this process applicants are required to fill out a common application form. This can be done on-line.

Oversubscription Criteria 

The maximum number of children we can accept into each cohort each year is 60 in the infant academies (In line with Infant Class Sizes Regulations) and 120 in the junior Academy. If there are more applicants than places available, the governors, who are the admissions authority for the academy, will operate the following oversubscription criteria:

1. Children in care and children who ceased to be in care because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order), including those 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.

2. Children who attend Co-op Academy Hamilton Co-op Academy Northwood Broom and apply for a place at Co-op Academy Grove.

3. Children living in the catchment area of the school who have an older brother or sister attending at the time of admission (or at the linked junior academy in the case of infant academies).

4. Other children living within the catchment area of the academy.

5. Children living outside the catchment area of the academy who have an elder brother or sister at the academy at the time of admission (or at the linked junior academy in the case of infant academies).

6. Children who live nearest to the academy as determined by a straight line measurement from the child’s home address point to the main entrance of the academy. Distance is measured by straight line measurement from the home address point to the main gate of the school (Keelings Road entrance for Co-op Academy Northwood Broom, Barthomley Road for Co-op Academy Hamilton and Turner Street for Co-op Academy Grove) as measured by the Local Authority geographical information system.

All applications will be ranked against the oversubscription criteria. Where there are two or more applications and fewer places available within any oversubscription criteria, priority will be agreed through an internal admission panel process on a case-by-case basis.

For admission purposes, an older brother or sister is defined as: a child who lives at the same address and who is the brother/sister, half-brother/sister (i.e. share one common parent), or step brother/sister (i.e. related by parent’s marriage) of the child for whom the place is being requested or unrelated children who live at the same home address, whose parents live as partners in a civil partnership. It also includes any other child living at the same residence under the terms of a Residence Order.

The applicant’s home address is the child’s along with their parent’s main and genuine place of residence at the time of the allocation of places. Where a pupil lives with parents with shared responsibilities, each for part of the week, the home address will be the one at which the pupil is resident for the greatest part of the week.

Special arrangements will apply if there is space for only one of a set of twins or triplets or other multiple birth. In this circumstance the academies will usually admit above the published admission number (PAN) unless it is impossible to accommodate siblings in such a way.

We will treat applications for children coming from overseas in accordance with European Union law or Home Office rules for non - European Economic Area nationals. Non–statutory guidance on this is available on the website of the Department for Education.

In Year Admissions

Admissions into year groups other than at the normal point of entry will be on an in year transfer application form, directly to the Academy. All applications will be reviewed at an internal admission panel, which take place routinely once a week. Parents will be informed of the outcome of the admission panel. You can find more information about in year admissions here:https://www.stoke.gov.uk/admissions

Appeals

Parents who wish to appeal against the governors' decision not to offer a place to their child, can do this through the City Council’s independent appeals panel. As nursery education is not compulsory there is no right of appeal against the refusal of a place. However, every effort will be made to accommodate the wishes of parents. You can find more information about appeals here: https://www.stoke.gov.uk/admissions

Waiting List

Each academy will maintain a waiting list until the end of each academic year. Applications for inclusion on this waiting list must be made directly to the Academy and these will be ranked according to our oversubscription criteria. A position on a waiting list is not fixed and applicants may move up and down the list.

Withdrawal of places

Once parents have been notified of an offer of an academy place the academies, in support of the Council, will only withdraw the offer in exceptional circumstances, such as:

1. Failure to respond to the offer within the specified time following a reminder.

2. If the offer was made based on fraudulent or misleading information on the application form e.g. a false claim to residence within a catchment area.

3. Where a place was offered in error at an academy where the Council is not the admissions authority.

Revision History