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Process of application
Reception places for September 2009

Reception places for September 2010
Consideration of applications
Procedures where the St Matthew Academy is oversubscribed
Operation of waiting lists
Arrangements for appeals panels

 

Process of application

Applications for reception places (Year R) at the Academy are co-ordinated through Lewisham LA and parents must complete the Common Application Form (CAF) issued by the London Borough of Lewisham. Parents wishing to apply to St Matthew Academy will also be required to complete a supplementary information form to provide information not captured on the LEA's application form that relates to the religious criteria for admission. The supplementary form must be returned to the Academy by the closing date for admissions.

 

Reception Places for September 2009

The closing date for applications for September 2009 for children born between 1 September 2004 and 31 August 2005 has already passed.  All enquiries for late places should be made to Lewisham LEA.
 

Reception Places for September 2010

St Matthew Academy operates one point of entry only to its Reception classes. Children born between 1 September 2005 and 31 August 2006 will be eligible to be admitted to the Reception year in September 2010.  The closing date for applications is likely to be 1 February 2010.

Parents of children attending the St Matthew Academy nursery must apply for admission to the main school in the same way as all other applicants and will be considered with other applicants at the appropriate time.  A place cannot be guaranteed. In the event of oversubscription, admission to the reception class will be decided on the basis of the criteria set out below. All applications for Reception places, whether from Lewisham or elsewhere, are co-ordinated through Lewisham LA and parents must complete the Common Application Form (CAF) issued by the London Borough of Lewisham as well as the Academy's Supplementary Information Form.

 

Consideration of applications

The St Matthew Academy will consider all applications for places. Where fewer applications than the agreed admission number are received, the St Matthew Academy will offer places to all those who have applied.

 

Procedures where the St Matthew Academy is oversubscribed

Where the number of applications for admission is greater than the published admissions number, applications will be considered against the criteria set out below. After the admission of pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs where the St Matthew Academy is named on the statement, places will be allocated in the order in which they are set out below:

 

Criteria for Year R (Reception)

 

1. Catholic Children in public care 1 and children looked after 1 by Catholic families;
2. Baptised Catholic children 2;
3. Other children in public care;
4. Baptised Eastern Orthodox children 3;
5. Children of other Christian denominations whose applications are supported by a Minister of Religion;
6. Children of other faiths whose applications are supported by a Religious Leader of a designated place of worship;
7. Other applicants.

 

If it is necessary to distinguish between applicants within any of the above categories, places will be allocated first to those applicants who have a sibling (4) who will be attending the Academy at the proposed date of admission of the applicant. After siblings, the remaining places will be allocated to those whose home addresses are closest to the Academy, as measured by straight line distance from the main entrance of the Academy to the main entrance to the child's normal place of residence. If it is necessary to distinguish between two applicants with a sibling connection, this will be done on the basis of closeness to the Academy as determined by straight line distance as described above. For the purposes of the criteria set out above, the following definitions will apply:

 

1. Children in public care (Looked After Children) are children who are in the care or interim care of a local authority pursuant to S31 & S38 of the Children Act 1989 who are accommodated by a local authority, pursuant to S20 of the Children Act 1989.
2. Baptised Catholic children are those with a certificate of baptism from a Roman Catholic parish or a parish of an Oriental Rite Church in communion with the See of Rome and those Roman Catholic Catechumens who have a certificate of enrolment in the Catechumenate.
3. Eastern Orthodox children are those with a certificate of baptism from an Eastern Orthodox parish.
4. A sibling is a person who has the same natural father or mother or legal guardian as a student on the roll of the academy at the time of admission and who shares permanent domicile with that parent/legal guardian and that student.

 

Operation of waiting lists

Subject to any provisions regarding waiting lists in the LEA's co-ordinated admission scheme, the Academy will operate a waiting list. Where in any year the St Matthew Academy receives more applications for places than there are places available, a waiting list will operate until a month after the normal annual admission date. This will be maintained by the St Matthew Academy and it will be open to any parent to ask for his or her child's name to be placed on the waiting list, following an unsuccessful application.  A child’s position on the waiting list will be determined solely in accordance with the oversubscription criteria set out above). Where places become vacant they will be allocated to children on the waiting list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. All applicants will be required to submit a completed supplementary form.

 

Arrangements for appeals panels

Parents have the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel if they are dissatisfied with an admission decision of the St Matthew Academy. The Appeal Panel is independent of the Academy. The arrangements for Appeals are in line with the Code of Practice on School Admission Appeals published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as it applies to Foundation and Voluntary Aided schools. The determination of the appeal panel will be made in accordance with the Code of Practice on School Admission Appeals and is binding on all parties. The Academy will prepare guidance for parents about how the appeals process will work and provide parents with a named contact who can answer any enquiries parents may have about the process.