Determined Admission Arrangements for Miers Court Primary School for the Academic Year 2024/25

1. Children reach compulsory school age at the start of the term following their fifth birthday. Miers Court Primary School will admit 4 year olds into its Foundation Stage class, ie. those children born between 1st September 2019 and 31st August 2020.

2. Parents/carers need to complete the Medway Common Application Form in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme. For further information and an application form please contact Medway Council’s Student Services Operations Team on 01634 331155.

3. Parents/carers are not obliged to start their child at school until the beginning of the term after the child is 5. Therefore, parents/carers who have been offered a September place may ask to defer their child’s admission until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year without losing the offer of a place. Parents/carers can also request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age. Parents/carers of children with summer-term birthdays (1st April to 31st August) may ask to start their child in Year 1 in September but the Reception place will not be saved. Parents/carers will have to reapply for a Year 1 place. Parents/carers are not able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday.

4. The Published Admission Number for Miers Court Primary School is 60.

Oversubscription Criteria

Following receipt of parental/carer preferences, places will be offered to those children with statements of special educational need or an Education, Health and Care Plan where Miers Court Primary School is named. Then, if the number of requests received via the coordinated scheme is more than the number of places available, places will be allocated in the following priority order: -

1. Children in public care/looked after children and previously looked after children.
2. Children with a current family association (brother or sister (including adopted, foster and step siblings) in the school at the time of application and still attending in September 2024).
3. Children with health, medical and special access reasons. Medical evidence must be provided which demonstrates a specific health reason, which requires a child to attend Miers Court Primary School.
4. Children of teaching staff where the member of teaching staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time that the application is made.
5. Nearness of child’s home to school measured using Medway Council’s criteria. Where criteria involves measuring distance to a child’s home, the Local Authority’s procedures for ascertaining the shortest available safe route between home and the school will be used.

Tie-breaker: in the unlikely event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the school, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place.

Casual Admissions

Parents/carers need to complete the Casual In-Year Admission Form and places will be offered in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme. Parents can apply for a casual admission at any time during the school year.

• If no places are available at the time of application, a waiting list will be maintained by the school. Names are kept in priority order according to the oversubscription criteria and not according to how long a child’s name has been on the list.
• Any place that becomes available will be offered to the child at the top of the list.
• All vacancies will be allocated as they arise.

Casual admissions when transferring schools without moving home:

If a parent/carer wishes to transfer their child from another school without moving home, the Principal will contact the child’s current school to ascertain the situation so that our school is able to offer the correct support should the child be offered a place. It is also expected that the parent/carer of the child, along with the child themselves when appropriate, visit our school and meet with the Principal before any place will be offered.

Casual admissions forms are available from the school office and should be completed and returned to the school.

Appeals

Parents/carers have the right to appeal to the school if a place is not offered to their child. Appeals will be handled in line with the School Admissions Appeals Code. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator will take complaints about the schools’ admission arrangements https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-schools-adjudicator.

Miers Court Primary School participates in Medway Council’s Primary Fair Access Protocols and will refer any children to the panel as appropriate.

• Contact: office@mcps.school