Admissions

Applying for Year R places for September 2024

Application for entrance to St Alphege CE Infant School should be made to Kent County Council Primary Admissions department. 

You will be required to complete the Reception Common Application Form (RCAF)  on-line through the KCC website www.kent.gov.uk/ola . The application process opens in early November 2023 and closes in early January 2024.

Open Morning and school tours

Please visit our New Reception Sept 2024 tab to book onto a school tour being held throughout October and November. You can also take a virtual tour of our school by clicking on the videos. 

We follow admissions guidelines set by Kent County Council. The determined admission arrangements for the academic year 2024-25 can be found at www.kent.gov.uk

Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available, the following criteria will be applied, in the order set out below, to decide which children to admit.

Looked After Children / Children in Local Authority Care

A child under the age of 18 years for whom the Local Authority provides accommodation by agreement with their parents/carers (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or who is subject to a care order under Part IV of the act. This applies equally to children who immediately after being looked after by the local authority became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order. (As defined by Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or Section 8 or 14A of the Children Act 1989).

Sibling / Current Family Association

A brother or sister attending St Alphege CE Infant School when the child starts; in this context brother or sister means children who live as brother or sister in the same house, including natural brothers and sisters, adopted siblings, stepbrothers or sisters and foster brothers and sisters. The sibling link is maintained as long as the family live at the same address as when the first child applied, or has moved closer to the school than when the first child was offered a place, or has moved to an address that is less than 2 miles from the school using the distance measured by the method outlined in the distance/nearness of child’s home to school criterion.

Medical / Health and Special Access Reasons

Medical, health, social and special access reasons will be applied in accordance with the school’s legal obligations, in particular those under the Equality Act. Priority will be given to those children whose mental or physical impairment means they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend St Alphege CE Infant School. Equally, this priority will apply to children whose parents’/guardians’, physical or mental health or social needs means that they have a demonstrable and significant need to attend St Alphege CE Infant School. Such claims will need to be supported by written evidence from a suitably qualified medical or other practitioner who can demonstrate a special connection between these needs and St Alphege CE Infant School.

Distance / Nearness of Child’s Home to the School

The distance is measured between the child’s permanent address and the school in a straight line using Ordnance Survey addresses point data. The school uses measurements provided by the Local Authority (LA) and further information on how distances are calculated is available in the Admissions Booklets provided by the LA.

A child’s home is considered to be a residential property that is the child’s only or main residence (not an address at which the child may sometimes stay or sleep) and which is either owned by the child’s parent, parents or guardian or leased or rented to them under a lease or written rental agreement.

Where partners live apart but share responsibility for the child, and the child lives at two different addresses during the week, we will regard the home address as the one at which the child sleeps for the majority of week days.

In the event that more than one applicant has the same distance from home to school (as measured by the local authority), and then a random selection will be applied.

Late applications will be placed on a waiting list and places allocated based on the above criteria.

Appeals

Parents have the right to appeal against any refusal to admit their child. Appeals should be directed to an Appeals Committee established within the terms of the Education Act 1996. Details of the appeals procedure can be obtained from the Clerk to the Governors at St Alphege CE Infant School. The Appeals Committee will notify the Appellant of the outcome:

•  Appeals must be lodged in line with the LA date, except where the initial application was a late application, in which case the appeal must be lodged within 21 days of the allocation decision being sent to the parents.
• The school will acknowledge an appeal within seven working days of it being lodged.
• Appeals relating to other admissions can be made at any time.

Right to Withdraw a Place

After a place has been offered the school reserves the right to withdraw the place in the following circumstances:

• When a parent has failed to respond to an offer within a reasonable time; or
• When a parent has failed to notify the school of important changes to the application information; or
• The admission authority offered the place on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application from a parent.

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 will be operated using the same admissions criteria listed above. Placing a child’s name on the waiting list does not guarantee that 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.

Requests for Admission outside of the normal age group

Requests for admission outside of the normal age group should be made to the Headteacher of each preferred school as early as possible in the admissions round associated with that child’s date of birth. This will allow the school and admissions authority sufficient time to make a decision before the closing date.

Parents are not expected to provide evidence to support their request to defer their application, however where provided it must be specific to the child in question. This might include medical or Educational Psychologist reports. There is no legal requirement for this medical or educational evidence to be secured from an appropriate professional, however, failure to provide this may impede a school’s ability to agree to deferral.

Parents are required to complete an application for the normal point of entry at the same time, in case their request is declined. This application can be cancelled if the school agrees to accept a deferred application for entry into Year R the following year. Deferred applications must be made via paper CAF to the LA, with written confirmation from each named school attached. Deferred applications will be processed in the same way as all applications for the cohort in the following admissions round, and offers will be made in accordance with each school’s over subscription criteria. 

In Year Admissions For All Year Groups

If you would like your child to join our school during the current academic year please call the school office on 01227 272977 and our friendly staff can talk you through the process.  Alternatively you can complete the            In Year Casual Admission Form and send it to us.  If you need help with finding a school place or how to apply you can contact Kent County Council on 03000 412121 and ask for the Admissions department.

There is more information about applying for a school place at www.kent.gov.uk

Please contact the school Business Manager, Mrs Cullen, if you need any further information. 01227 272977