Admission Arrangements

In accordance with legal requirements the Bere Regis Primary and Pre-School publishes its admissions policy. The arrangements are reviewed annually by Governors and approved by the Directors of the Wessex Multi-Academy Trust, as the admissions authority for the school.

Admission Number

1. The admissions authority will consult as laid down in the admissions rules, before introducing or changing admissions arrangements
2. The admissions authority has determined that the admission number for Reception in the year 2022-23 is 20, for the year 2023-24 it is 30 and for the year 2024-25 it is 30.

Criteria for Admission

The admissions of children with Education Health and Care Plans and Statements of Special Education Needs is covered by Sections 324 to 328 of, and Schedule 27 to, the Education Act 1996. Guidance on the Admission of EHCP and Statemented pupil is given in the Special Education Needs Code of Practice.

1. Where all parental preferences for places at the school can be satisfied, all children seeking a place will be admitted.
2. Where there are too few places available to satisfy all preferences, places will be allocated according to the following priority order:-
   1. A ‘Child in Care’ or who was ‘previously a Child in Care’ (see footnote 1)
   2. Children who the authority accepts have an exceptional medical or social need and where there is a need of a place at one specific school (see footnote 2)
   3. Children living within the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission (see footnote 3)
   4. Children living within the school’s catchment area who are attending the preferred school’s recognised maintained feeder school during the previous year and are on that school’s roll at the time of application (see footnote 4).
   5. Children living within the school’s catchment area.
   6. Children living outside of the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission (see footnote 3.5)
   7. Children living outside the school’s catchment area who are attending one of the preferred school’s recognised maintained feeder schools during the previous year at the time of application (see footnote 5)
   8. Children living outside the school’s catchment area and whose parents wish them to a attend a CE Voluntary Controlled school on denominational grounds. (see footnote 6)
   9. Children of staff with at least two years continuous service at the school or who have been recruited to a vacancy to meet a demonstrable skills shortage as at the date of application (in year) or relevant closing date under the LA co-ordinated scheme (normal year of entry) and who still intend to be employed at the school at the time of the child’s admission (see footnote 7&8)
   10. All other children living outside the school’s catchment area.

If oversubscribed within any of the priority order categories above, places will be allocated on the basis of the shortest straight line measurement using a geographical information based system which identified an Easting and Northing for the home address and the school and calculates the distance between the two locations. NB. School transport is based on walking and driven distances.

In the event that the LA is unable to distinguish between applications despite applying the priority categories above, lots will be drawn by an independent (of the LA) person to determine the final place(s).

Where applications are received from families with multiple birth siblings and by adhering to PAN these siblings could not be offered the same school, the admission number will be exceeded to accommodate the multiple birth siblings. This is not an indication that schools can exceed the admission number other than under these exceptional circumstances.

Appeals against admission decisions

Parents may appeal to an independent panel against admissions decisions. Such panels consist of 3 or 5 persons. They will include lay-members who have no personal experience of management or education in a school, and persons who either have educational experience, or are acquainted with educational conditions in the area, or are parents of registered school pupils.

The procedure respecting the appeals process is laid down in the Department for Education Code of Practice and the decision of the appeal panel is binding upon the Local Governing Body, Trustees of the Multi-Academy Trust and Headteacher. The conduct of such panels falls under the supervision of the Council of Tribunals