1 Open Evening - Thursday, 3rd July 2008
2 Closing Date for Examination Registration Form - Friday, 12th September 2008
3 Entrance Examination - Saturday, 27th September 2008
4 Entrance Examination Results sent to parents - Wednesday, 15th October 2008
5 Closing date for St Margaret’s Application Forms - Friday, 7th November 2008
6 Outcome letters from Local Authority sent to parents - March 2009
7 Appeals - June 2009
Application forms may be obtained from the school on and after the Open Evening 2008 (see below) and must be returned to the school by the Closing Date (see below). The admission number of boys admitted in September 2009 by the Governing Body will be 150.
You may apply for a place for your son under two Categories, A and/or B. It is acceptable to apply under one or both categories.
You must also name St Margaret’s on your Local Authority Preference Form. Selection will be based on the information given on the application form.
All applications will be acknowledged, by post.
The Admissions Committee of the Governing Body (selectors) will select the 85% of the intake as set out below and also the 15% on the basis of examination performance. If it is not possible to admit 15% under Category B, the surplus places will be automatically transferred to Category A.
The selectors will establish a reserve list, ranked according to the admission policy, to cover any vacancies which may arise from offers not being taken up in both categories. The reserve list will be kept until the end of September in the year of admission.
Where the selectors find it impossible to differentiate between applicants using the Selection Procedure described above and there are more applicants than places available they will apply the distance criterion (tie-breaker) as laid down in the Admission Criteria (see below).
The number of places available for admission to Year 7 in the year 2009 will be a maximum of 150. The Governing Body will not place any restrictions on admission to Year 7 unless the number of children for whom admission is sought exceeds this number. Parents of boys not offered a place may appeal, and information about this is sent to all unsuccessful candidates on request.
The Governing Body operates a system of equal preferences under which they consider all preferences equally and allocates places according to its policy. In the event that there are more applicants than places, the Governing Body will allocate places using the following criteria, which are listed in order of priority:
1. Looked After Children from Church of England families will be prioritised first and then non-Church of England Looked After Children.
2. Boys with exceptional Medical/Social Needs. Parents/ guardians would need to provide medical evidence in the form of a letter or report from a doctor to support their case. They would have to establish that the school was best/only school to serve their child’s needs. They would also need to state why other schools could not provide the appropriate support for their child.
3. Points for Church Commitment: Children of families who can demonstrate a commitment to the Church of England or a branch of the Christian Church affiliated to Churches Together in England (or in full sympathy with its Trinitarian stance - see below for details). In oversubscription the pointing system that is applied takes into account applicants’ denomination, full membership, length of worship, frequency of worship, child’s involvement, attendance at a Diocesan primary, or who attend a non church school but reside within the parishes of St Anne’s Parish, Aigburth, Liverpool, All Hallows Parish, Allerton, Liverpool, St Matthew & St James Mossley Hill, Liverpool, St Michael’s-in the-Hamlet, Toxteth
Park, Liverpool and St Mary’s Grassendale, Grassendale, Liverpool and Vicar’s/Priest’s ratification.
4. Children whose families profess a non-Christian faith.
5. All other applicants whose parents have expressed a preference for the school.
If a situation occurs where there are more applicants with the same total of Church Points than there are places available, distance from home to school will be used to decide which boys are admitted. The distance will be measured by the shortest suitable walking route from the boy’s permanent home address to the main entrance of the school Those boys living closest to the school being given preference. Category B: Examination Admission
Policy (15% Intake: 22 boys)
1. Children with academic ability as determined by the Entrance Examination to a maximum of 22. Distance criterion (tie-breaker) If a situation occurs where there are more boys with the same examination results than there are places available, distance from home to school will be used to decide which boys are admitted. The distance will be measured by the shortest suitable walking route from the boy’s permanent home address to the main entrance of the school Those boys living closest to the school being given preference.
Diocesan Church of England Primary School (6 Points Max)
a) Church of England children attending one of the Diocesan Church of England Primary Schools. A list of qualifying schools can be found at www.dioceseofliverpool-education.org
Parish Areas (6 Points Max)
b) Church of England children attending a non church school but residing within the parishes: St. Anne’s Parish, Aigburth, Liverpool, All Hallows Parish, Allerton, Liverpool, St. Matthew& St. James Mossley Hill, Liverpool, St. Michael’s-in the- Hamlet, Toxteth Park, Liverpool and St. Mary’s Grassendale, Grassendale, Liverpool. Applicants must provide confirmation from their Parish Priest. The Governors may seek further
confirmation of home address by requesting sight of a council tax bill, utility bill or bank statement header.
Denomination (10 Points Max)
Where church is referred to in the criteria, the Governors recognise any branch of the Christian Church affiliated to Churches Together in England (or in full sympathy with its Trinitarian stance). If in doubt please consult one of your church leaders. For contact details see website. www.churches-together.net. Where there are two parents the applicants should decide which parent would provide the highest points score in making the application and completing the denomination and church commitment sections.
Name of parent selected for Denomination and Church Commitment sections must be given.
Denomination of parent in Points most regular attendance
Anglican (CE) - 10
Roman Catholic - 5
Other Members of Churches Together in England - 8
Church Commitment (14 Points Max)
Points may be awarded for the parent who is thought by the applicants to attract the highest points score.
Commitment of parent in most regular attendance Parent
Electoral roll Member (or equivalent) - 6
Worship Length 10+ Years - 3
Worship Length 5-9 Years - 2
Worship Length 0-4 Years - 1
Worship regularity - weekly over the last 2 years - 5
Worship regularity - fortnightly over the last 2 years - 3
Worship regularity - monthly over the last 2 years - 2
Worship regularity - occasionally over the last 2 years - 1
Sunday worker with documentary evidence - 1
Child’s involvement in the Church (10 Points Max)
Church organisation(s) to which the boy belongs are allocated points according to his degree of involvement over the past two years. Points are allocated according the regularity of the involvement; weekly 4 points, fortnightly 3, monthly 2, or occasionally 1. Anglican Cathedral Choristers
score 10 points and Church Choristers score 8 points. To qualify activities should be current, for more than one year and ratified by the Vicar/Priest. Ten points is the maximum score for this section.
Vicar/Minister/Priest’s Ratification
The Governors require that the information given by parents for the purpose of pointing, in the event of oversubscription, is ratified by the applicant’s Vicar/Minister or Priest.
Completed School Application Form
When you have completed the Application Form take it personally to your Vicar/Minister/Priest. You should provide a stamped addressed envelope addressed to the Clerk to the Governors (Admissions Committee) and ask your Vicar/ Minister/Priest to return it to the school as soon as possible before the closing date.
If Category B is oversubscribed the following criteria are applied to decide which boys to admit:
1. 15% of the Intake 22 boys will comprise those boys who secure the highest examination results in the Entrance Examination
2. In the event of any of the above places not being accepted, then boys on the reserve list with the next best examination results will be offered a place.
3. If a situation occurs where there are more boys with the same examination results than there are places available, distance from home to school will be used to decide which boys are admitted. The distance will be measured by the shortest suitable walking route from the boy’s permanent
home address to the main entrance of the school Those boys living closest to the school being given preference.
4. If it is not possible to admit 15% under Category B, the surplus places will be automatically transferred to Category A The Entrance Examination will be held in September before the year of entry and parents should receive the outcome of these tests in advance of the closing date for applications to schools and also in advance of the submission dates for the Local Authority Preference Form.
All applicants under this Category should complete Category B and return the application form directly to the school.
Those applying under Category A as well should pass the form to their Vicar/Minister or Priest.
You must also send the Examination Registration Form directly to the school to arrive no later than two weeks before the examination.
Applicants will receive a letter from the school giving all relevant information regarding the Entrance Examination. Parents who consider their son(s) to have additional educational needs should write to the Associate Assistant Headmaster, Mr J Ledger at the earliest opportunity and in
any event, no later than one week before the examination in time to meet and discuss the evidence required of their son’s needs and suitable arrangements for his examination. No special arrangements can be made on the day of the Entrance Examination.
1. Priority will be given to boys who live in the Diocese of Liverpool before those who reside outside of the Diocese. Applicants must fulfil the admission’s criteria regardless of the LA area in which they at present reside.
2. The LA Preference Form – St Margaret’s MUST be named on your Local Authority Preference Form, if this is not done your St Margaret’s application will be INVALID. St Margaret’s serves five Local Authorities within the Diocese and is the only Anglican boys’ school.
3. Sunday working –The selectors take into consideration that some parents are involved in work which has to be carried out on a Sunday. Documentation will be required to confirm that Sunday working is unavoidable and a maximum of one additional point may be awarded to the
family. Only the parent completing Section A qualifies.
4. Other Faiths – Under Category A the Governors give priority to those families that profess a Christian faith. If the Governors are not able to fill the available places using criteria 1,2 and 3, the remaining Category A places will first be offered to non-Christian faiths before those of no
religious faith. Non-Christian applications will not be awarded points and in the event of competition the distance ‘tie break’ criteria will be applied.
5. Late applications – arriving after the closing date, with a communicated valid reason for being late, will be considered with applications received on time. Late applications submitted after the closing date but before the allocation date may be considered alongside those applications which were received on time, where there is, in the view of the admission authority, an acceptable reason for the late submission of the form.
Late Examination applicants – If there are exceptional documented circumstances why a boy cannot sit the Entrance Exam the school should be notified and the governors will consider offering him an opportunity to sit the examination in the following week. Once these exams are over it is not possible to offer further dates. You should be aware that a late application could reduce your chance of gaining a place at your preferred school.
6. Address of the pupil – The address used on the school’s admission form must be the current one at the time of application. If the address changes subsequently, the parents should notify the school. Where the parents live at different addresses, the current-at-the-time-ofapplication, normal address of the child will be the one used. The Governors may seek further confirmation of home address by requesting sight of a council tax bill, utility bill or bank statement header.
7. Fraudulent application – When the Governing Body discovers that a child has been awarded a place as the result of an intentionally misleading application from a parent (for example a false claim to residence in the catchment area or of involvement in a place of worship) which effectively denies a place to a child with a stronger claim, then the Governing Body is required to withdraw the offer of the place. The application will be considered afresh and a right of appeal offered if a place is refused.
8. Appeals – Parents of boys not offered a place may appeal, and information about this is available on request from the school.
The School will ensure that parents of boys sitting the examination are informed of the outcome of the Entrance Examination before they make their application to other schools on the Local Authority’s Preference Form.
In March offer letters informing parents of the school they have been allocated will be sent directly to parents from the LAs Children’s Services.
If your son is offered a place then you should inform the school by return of post whether you accept or not.
If your son is refused admission to your preferred school you have right of appeal against the decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. Information on appeals is available from the school.
If you accept a place at the school you will receive information, in June, regarding the induction process to the school.
SCHOOL |
SIXTH FORM & CRICKET AND SPORTS CENTRE |
GENERAL |