Admission to secondary school booklet 2014-15 - South ...

Children of UK service personnel(UK armed forces)South Gloucestershire Council recognisesthe particular needs of children of UK servicepersonnel (UK Armed Forces). The councilensures that the needs of these children are takeninto account by:❚ Allocating a school place in advance if theapplication is accompanied by an officialgovernment letter which declares a relocationdate and a Unit postal address or quarteringaddress.❚ Accepting a Unit postal address, or, ifappropriate, a quartering area address (theaddress of the closest house in the relevantquartering area), for applications from servicepersonnel in the absence of a new home postaladdress. A quartering address will be usedonly where the housing authorities confirm inwriting that a house will be offered in the area.❚ Accepting a late application from UK servicepersonnel as ‘on time’ where a notification ofposting has been received after the closingdate and before the date of exchange ofinformation with other admission authorities.❚ Considering an application on the criterion of‘local sibling’ where another child in the familyhas been offered a place at the preferredschool and the Unit postal address orquartering address is within the Area of PrimeResponsibility for the preferred school.❚ Wherever possible, children of UK servicepersonnel will be offered a place at thepreferred local school but taking into accountthe admission number for the school.Home addressThe child’s home address is considered to bewhere the child lives most of the time with his orher parent(s) or carer(s). South GloucestershireCouncil cannot accept an address of a business,relative, friend, childminder, a temporary addressor an address of a house it is intended to move to.The only exceptions are for children of UK servicepersonnel for whom special arrangements apply.South Gloucestershire Council and the Trustreserve the right to seek documentary evidence tosupport a claim of residence.Where a child spends time with each parent/carerat two different addresses, South GloucestershireCouncil will ask for proof of the arrangementsand will determine the appropriate address to beused in allocating a school place. In reachingthis decision, evidence may be requested toshow the address to which any Child Benefit ispaid and from which the child is registered witha medical GP. Any other evidence provided byparents/carers will also be considered in reachinga decision on the home address for admissionspurposes. Where evidence is not forthcoming,the Trust will use the address which is furthestfrom the school, measured in a straight linebetween the address point of both addressesand a central point within the main schoolbuilding using South Gloucestershire Council’scomputerised mapping system, for the purposesof determining ranking for allocation of places. Ifan application is later proved to be fraudulent, theTrust reserves the right to withdraw the place up tothe end of term 2.Appeals – September intakeAfter the closing date for applications (31 October2014), South Gloucestershire Council will sendACS a list of all their applicants. The list willinclude all those stating a preference for theschool but will not state the preferences. Thecouncil will rank the list separately and allocate upto the planned admission number to the school,i.e. 180 in Year 7.Parents/carers will be informed of the allocationof places. Included in this information will bean appeal form and explanatory guidance. Ifparents/carers wish to appeal they need tocomplete and return the appeals form.An independent appeal panel will be convenedby South Gloucestershire Council at which bothparents/carers and the Trust will represent theircase. Decisions made by the panel are legallybinding.Admission to Abbeywood Community School – The Olympus Academy Trust✆ 01454 868008 cis@southglos.gov.uk45