Admissions
Joining Our School
Ermine Street Church Academy is open to children from Reception through to Year 6.
Our Admissions Policy can be found below.
As stated in the policy, first priority is given to children who live on the Alconbury Weald development. Places are then offered beyond this area according to distance from the school. Whilst the school is growing, there is a limit on the number of places we can admit to each year group. This number is reviewed regularly by our Local Governing Body.
We currently offer 30 places in Reception and 30 places in all other year groups, a number of these places being held specifically for pupils in our catchment area of Alconbury Weald.
If you are interested in applying the management of our admissions has been delegated to Cambridgeshire County Council. To apply for a place at Ermine Street Church Academy please complete the form found here.
Prior to a child’s first official day at Ermine Street they are invited to spend a short transition session with us. This will enable them to meet the children and adults who they will be with and begin to become familiar with the school. Transition sessions are usually held from 09.30 - 11.30am. From experience, we know that they make a significant difference to how quickly children settle in. When your child comes on their transition visit please bring your school admission form (which includes emergency contacts etc) which we will have previously given you.
If you are interested in coming to visit for a school tour, please contact the School Office via office@erminestreetca.org.uk or on 01480 276510.
For further information about the school please look around our website and follow our Twitter feed @Ermine_Str_CA
We look forward to meeting you.
How Places Are Offered
For admission into Reception each September, the LA, on behalf of the Governing Body, will offer places to up to a set number of children. This is the Published Admission Number (PAN) for that year group.
In the event that more applications than the PAN are received, the oversubscription criteria will be applied to determine priority for places. Both preferences are treated equally, regardless of whether they are first or second preference
Over-subscription Criteria
The academy will admit any pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school. Priority will then be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in order:
1. Children in Care (CIC), and Children who were previously in care (CIC) but ceased to be so by reason of adoption, a child arrangement order (resident order) (now known as a child arrangement order) or special guardianship order.
2. Children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceases to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
3. Children living in the catchment area prioritised in the order: (i) those with a sibling of school age living at the same address, including step and foster siblings, for whom a place has been awarded (ii) other children living in the catchment.
4. Children living outside of the catchment area prioritised in the order (i) those who have a sibling at the school at the time of admission, (ii) other children
If we reach our admission number in any of the above criteria, we will apply the following tie-break to determine who is admitted. Priority will go to children living nearest the school as measured by a straight line from the reference point of the home to the reference point of the school , both as determined by the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) or OS AddressBase Premium ™.
Children living in blocks of flats will be deemed to reside at the same address and equidistant from the school. Random allocation will then be used as a tie-break to decide who has highest priority for admission if the distance between a child’s home and the academy is equidistant in any individual case. However, if children of multiple birth (twins and triplets) are tied for the final place, those siblings will be admitted over PAN as permitted by infant class size rules.
Reserve Lists
When an application is refused, the child’s details are automatically placed on a reserve list for the year group, ranked according to the oversubscription criteria.
As part of the co-ordinated scheme for primary admissions, the LA Admissions Team holds the initial reserve list on behalf of the governing body until the end of the first week of the autumn term in the initial year of intake.
If A Place Opens Up
Parents will be contacted immediately if a place becomes available for their child, but should be aware that their child’s place on a reserve list may change if an application is subsequently received that meets a higher criterion than their own.
The governing body then manages the reserve list until the end of the autumn term.
Mid-Phase Applications
Where mid-phase applications are received, children’s details will be automatically placed on a reserve list for the year group, ranked according to the oversubscription criteria.
Reserve lists will be held for a period of one term following the term for which the place was refused.
Appeals
The parent of any child who is refused a place at a VA or F Primary School has a right of appeal to an independent Appeals Panel. The panel consists of three people who are independent of the school’s Governing Body and the Local Education Authority.
The panel will consider the circumstances of the case put before them and the Governing Body and parents must abide by the decision it makes.
Appeals for VA or F Primary School are currently arranged by the LA Admissions Team on behalf of the Governing Body. Further information and appeal forms are available from the Admissions Team.
Definitions
For the purpose of admission to the school, the Governing Body has adopted the LA’s definitions of parent, sibling and home address. Details of these can be found at the back of the LA’s admission booklet for parents.