St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Aston Le Walls exists to provide education according to the doctrine and practices of the Roman Catholic Church to all children whose families live in the Diocese of Northampton or are members of the parishes of The Sacred Heart and Our Lady, Aston Le Walls and St Augustine’s Daventry. St Mary’s Catholic Primary School also serves the wider community and accepts children from the surrounding area of Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire whose parents* are seeking Catholic education.

Applicants wishing to be considered under the school’s faith criteria (1-5) should also complete the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) available from the school on request (email head@stmaryspri.northants-ecl.gov.uk ). This should be returned to the school along with a copy of the child’s baptismal certificate by 15th January. Although these forms are not mandatory, if one is not received we not be able to consider the applicant under these first 5 criteria. The application will be considered under admission criteria 6-9.

Applications should be made using the common application form (CAF) provided by your child’s local authority. All on- time applicants will be sent their offer on National Offer Day (16th April 2025 or the next working day).

The published admission number (PAN) for entry to Reception is 15.

Oversubscription Criteria

Following the admission of children with an EHCP naming the school, When the school receives more applications than there are places available, children will be offered places in order of priority, according to the following oversubscription criteria:

1. ‘Looked after’ and previously looked after Catholic children.
2. Catholic siblings of present pupils.
3. Catholic children living in the Catholic Parish of Aston Le Walls.
4. Catholic children living in the Catholic Parish of St Augustine’s. Daventry.
5. Catholic children living in other parishes.
6. Other ‘looked after’ and previously looked after children.

7. Other siblings of present pupils on role at time of application.
8. Children living in the local authority parish of Aston Le Walls.
9. Children living elsewhere.

If the admission number is exceeded within any criterion, priority will be given to those who live closest to the school.

Distances are measured on a straight-line basis from the address point of the child’s home to the address point of the school, using a geographical information system. Each address has a unique address point established by the most valuable elements from the National Land and Property Gazeteer (NPLG), Ordnance Survey Master Map, Royal Mail Postal Address File and The Valuation Office Agency. The address point for a property does not change.

If two or more applications cannot otherwise be separated and there is only one place available, a random allocation process will be used to determine who should be allocated the place.

Definitions

Catholic – baptised in accordance with the rites of the Catholic Church or enrolled in a baptismal programme.

Looked after children are children who, at the time of making an application to a school, are:

• In the care of a local authority, or
• Being provided with accommodation by a local authority in exercise of its social services functions

Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they:

• Were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 or the Adoption and Children Act 2002, or
• Became subject to a child arrangements order, or
• Became subject to a special guardianship order

This includes 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. A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

Siblings:

A sibling is defined as a child’s brother or sister. A sibling must be living at the same permanent address and as part of the same family unit (one or two parents plus children) to qualify under this criterion. For School Admissions purposes, the term sibling includes:

• half-brothers and half-sisters
• step-brothers and step-sisters
• adopted children
• children in foster care
• children living in the same family unit, even if they are not biological brothers and sisters – for example when the parents are not married/in a civil relationship.

Cousins are not regarded as siblings.

Home Address (Child’s):

The child’s home address is defined as the address at which the child normally resides with their parent/carer at the time of application. If a child lives with parents who are separated, the home address will be treated as the place where the child sleeps for most of the school week (i.e. Sunday night – Thursday night inclusive).

If the child spends equal amounts of time at two addresses, the parents must agree which address they wish to be the child’s main address before we can process the application.

Documentary evidence of ownership or rental agreement may be required together with proof of actual permanent residence at the property concerned.

Appeals:

Parents who wish to appeal against the decision of the Governors to refuse their child a place in St Mary’s should apply in writing to the Chair of Governors.

Appeals are heard by an independent panel.

Mrs Rebecca Iley Chair of Governors St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Main Street Aston le walls NN116UF

rebecca.Iley@stmarysalw.net (Letters can also be sent electronically).

Children below Compulsory School Age

Where children below compulsory school age are offered a place at the school, they will be entitled to attend the school full-time in the September following their fourth birthday. Parents/carers may defer their child’s entry to the allocated school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which the child reaches compulsory school age, and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the offer was made when the place will cease to be available for the child. Please discuss this with the school directly once a place has been offered.

Where parents/carers wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age. Please discuss this with the school directly once you have received an offer of a school place. 

Requests for admission to Reception outside the normal age group (Summer Born children) 

Whilst all children are entitled to a full time school place in the September following their 4th birthday and most parents are happy for their child to start school at this point, parent(s)/carer(s) of summer born children (those born between 1 April and 31 August) who do not reach compulsory school age until a full year after they would normally start school, may wish to delay their child’s start to school until the September following their 5th birthday.

If parents wish to delay their summer born child’s school start until the September following their 5th birthday, there are 2 options:

1. Parents can make an in-year application for a place for the September following their child’s 5th birthday. The child would normally start school in Year 1 (their correct chronological age group) as other children in the child’s age group already attending school will be moving from Reception to Year 1 at this point. It is important to remember that some schools are likely to be full and they may be unable to offer a place;

2. If parents do not want their child to miss their Reception year, they may request that children are admitted out of their normal age group i.e. into Reception instead of Year 1. Please note, this is a ‘request’ and parents do not have the right to insist that their child is admitted to a particular age group. The school’s admission authority is responsible for making the decision about which year group a child should be admitted to.

Parents/carers of summer born children who could start school in September 2025, but wish to delay their child’s school start and apply for a Reception place to start in September 2026 should still make their application for a Reception place for their child’s normal year of entry before the primary application deadline, on 15 January 2025. If a delay is agreed, this application can be withdrawn;

Parent/carers should also, if possible, make their request for admission out of the normal age group to their preferred schools by the same date - 15 January 2025.This is to enable sufficient time for requests to be processed prior to National Offer Day (16 April or the next working day). Requests will however still be considered after this date.

Parents/carers wanting to request that they be able to apply for a Reception place at St Marys Catholic Primary School Aston le Walls for the September following their child’s 5th birthday, should write to the school in the first instance or send an email to head@stmaryspri.northants-ecl.gov.uk . In their request, parents/carers should provide some information about their child to explain why they think that their child should be educated out of their normal age group. It is important for parents/carers to provide any additional evidence to support their request as this information will help the admission authority to make their decision e.g. parents/carers may be able to provide a report from the child’s Early Years setting or evidence from a health or social care professional.

The request will then be considered by our admission authority, the school Governing body, who will then make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned.

The School Admissions Code requires admission authorities to consider a number of factors:

• the parent’s/carer’s views;
• information about the child's academic, social and emotional development;

• where relevant, the child’s medical history and the views of a medical professional;
• whether the child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely;
• the Head teacher's views.

What happens next?

Parents/carers will be informed of the admission authority’s decision on the

year group the child should be admitted to when they start school (i.e. Reception or Year 1) and will set out clearly the reasons for their decision.

If the request is approved:

If the request to be admitted outside normal age group is approved by the admission authority of the school, parents/carers will need to forward this approval to School Admissions at WNC so an application can be accepted in the normal admission round for the September following the child’s 5th birthday.

Parent(s)/carer(s) will then need to make an application for a place in Reception for the normal round of admissions in the following academic year.

Please note – this does not mean a child has been, or will be, offered a place in the Reception year at their chosen school. If, in this following normal admissions round, the school is oversubscribed, all applications (including delayed applications) for the school will be ranked in accordance with the school’s oversubscription admission criteria.

If the request is rejected:

If the request to be admitted outside normal age group is rejected by the admission authority of the school, parents/carers have to decide whether to accept a Reception place in the normal year of entry or delay their child’s start until the September after their 5th birthday and apply for a Year 1 place.

If parents/carers are unhappy with the admission authority’s decision to refuse their child a place out of their normal age group, complaints should be made directly to the admission authority.

Parents/carers whose requests for delayed entry into Reception are refused, have no statutory right to appeal this decision as the purpose of the appeals process is to consider whether a child should be admitted to a particular school, not the year group into which they should be admitted.

General Requests for admission outside the normal age group 

Parents/carers may seek a place for their child out of their normal age group. They must put their request in writing to the school this can be done via email to head@stmaryspri.northants-ecl.gov.uk

The Admission Authority of the school will consider the request and make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. This will include taking account of:

• the parent’s/carer’s views;
• information about the child's academic, social and emotional development;
• where relevant, the child’s medical history and the views of a medical professional;
• whether the child has previously been educated out of their normal age group;
• whether the child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely;
• the views of the Head teacher of the school concerned.

The Admission Authority of the school will set out clearly for parents the reasons for their decision about the year group a child should be admitted to.

Parents/carers do not have a right to appeal if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

Waiting Lists

a. Waiting lists are held for your school for all year groups at all times. Following an unsuccessful application, parents/carers can request that their child’s name be placed on the waiting list. Waiting lists are held for all year

groups by the local authority on 31 December. If parents/carers would like their child’s name to remain on the waiting list for the remainder of the academic year, they should inform the School Admissions team at WNC, in writing, by 31 December and 31 March to renew their interest. Each added child will require the waiting list to be ranked again in line with the published oversubscription criteria (see above) and when a place becomes available it will be allocated to the child at the top of the waiting list.". Priority will not be given to children on the basis that they have been on the waiting list the longest and children being allocated places under the Fair Access Protocol will be given priority. A new application will be required for a new academic year.