Admissions 2021

Reception Class

1. Children reach compulsory school age at the start of the term following their fifth birthday. The Gordon Children’s Academy will admit four year olds into its Foundation Stage classes, i.e. those children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017.
2. Parents need to complete the Common Application Form in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme.
3. Parents are not obliged to start their child at school until the beginning of the term after the child is five. Therefore, parents who have been offered a September place may ask to defer their child’s admission until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year without losing the offer of a place. Parents can also request that their child attend part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.  Parents of children with summer term birthdays (1 April to 31 August 2017) may ask to start their child in Year 1 in September 2023 but the Reception place will not be saved.  Parents will have to reapply for a Year 1 place.  Parents are not able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday.
4. The Published Admission Number for The Gordon Children’s Academy is 60 for Reception.

Year 3

1. Admission takes place in September
2. Parents/carers need to complete the Common Application Form in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme.
3. The LA collates all applications and allocates pupils accordingly.
4. The Published Admission Number for The Gordon Children’s Academy in KS2 is 100.

Over-Subscription Criteria

Following receipt of parental preferences, places will be offered to those children with statements of special educational needs where The Gordon Children’s Academy is named.  Then, if the number of requests received via the co-ordinated scheme is more than the number of places available, places will be allocated in the following priority order:

1. Children in Public Care – as defined in the Medway co-ordinated admission scheme.
2. Attendance at a paired infant school (Gordon Infants – for Year 3 admission only).
3. Current family association (a brother or sister in the school at the time of application and still attending in September 2021)
4. Children of staff employed by the Trust: following the criteria above, priority will be given to the child of a person (1) who has been employed by the Academy for two or more years at the time the application was made and/or (2) where the person was employed by the Trust to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage.
5. Child’s health reasons. Medical evidence must be provided which demonstrates a specific health reason, which requires a child to attend The Gordon Children’s Academy.
6. Multiple birth children as defined in the Medway co-ordinated admission scheme.
7. Nearness of child’s home to school measured using Medway Council’s GIS System.

Where criteria involves measuring distance to a child’s home, the LA’s procedures for ascertaining the shortest available safe route between home and the school will be used.

Tiebreaker

In the unlikely event that two or more children in all other ways have equal eligibility or the last place at the school, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place.

Casual Admissions

The casual admission process will follow LA guidelines that aim to make a casual admission placement within 10 school days.

• Parents can apply for a casual admission at any time during the school year.
• If no places are available at the time of application, a waiting list will be maintained. Names are kept in priority order according to the over-subscription criteria and not according to how long a child’s name has been on the list.
• Any place that becomes available will be offered to the child at the top of the list.
• All vacancies will be allocated as they arise.

Casual Admissions when transferring schools without moving home

If a parent wishes to transfer their child from another school without moving home, the Headteacher will contact the child’s current school to ascertain the situation so that our school is able to offer the correct support should the child be offered a place.

However, within exceptional circumstances as set out in the Admissions Code of Practice, the Academy may refuse to admit a challenging child where there are places available on the grounds that admission would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.  Children with statements of special educational needs, where the Academy is named, will be offered a place over PAN.  The Academy reserves the right to discuss this with relevant agencies.

Please see link below to Medway Council’s School Admission Arrangements where you can also find details about The Gordon Children’s Academy’s admission arrangements:

https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200163/apply_for_a_school_place/743/school_admission_arrangements