1. Catholic ‘looked after’ children and Catholic children who have been adopted (or made subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after.
   
2. Practising Catholics (a reference from a Priest will be required).  Within this criterion the following order of preference will be applied. 
   
   • The presence of a sibling in the school at the time of admission
   • The proximity of the child’s home to the school.
     
3. Other baptised Catholic children.
   
4. Other ‘looked after’ children and children who have been adopted (or made subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after.
   
5. Other children who will have a sibling at the school at the time of admission
   
6. Pupils from committed Christian families whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education.  In order of preference:

   a) Christians attending Christian Churches affiliated to ‘Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.”
   b) Other Christian denominations. 

   
   
7. Pupils from other faith backgrounds whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education.
   
8. Any other applicants.

Siblings (which include siblings in the sixth form) will need to already be on roll at the time of application and expected to still be in attendance on the date of admission.  Siblings are defined as including the legal half / step brothers or sisters living in the same household as Father or Mother.  A child who is legally adopted and living in the same household would be considered as a sibling.

In considering applications from twins, triplets or children from multiple births it will be the policy of the school not to separate them even if this means temporarily exceeding the published admission number to ensure that policy is achieved.

  Pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs

The admission of pupils with a statement of Special Education Needs is dealt with by a completely separate procedure.  The procedure is integral to the making and maintaining statements by the pupil’s Local Authority.  Details of this separate procedure are set out in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice.

  Fair Access Protocol

The school is also committed to taking its fair share of vulnerable children who are hard to place, in accordance with locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal round of admissions, the governing body are empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under any local protocol, which carries the agreement of both the governing body and the diocese for the current admission year. The governing body has this power even when admitting such a child would exceed the normal admission number.

  In Year Admission

Applications for In-Year admissions are made directly to the school.  You will also need to complete the schools Supplementary Information Form which you can download from our website, pick up from the council or the school.  If you are a Brent resident you need to contact Brent Council’s School Admissions Service on 020 8937 3110 or visit www.brent.gov.uk/admissions.  All applications will be considered in line with our published admission arrangements.  Unsuccessful applicants will be placed on the waiting list. Proof of address and a reference from a Priest will be required (where appropriate).  The school will require proof of residence as the distance criteria needs to be clear-cut.  The proof will be in the form of a Council Tax form, Utility Bill and such like.  The child’s residence at the time of application will be considered as their main home address.

  Admission to the Sixth Form

The sixth-form is available for all existing pupils subject to pupils fulfilling the individual requirements of suitable courses. The minimum number of external candidates to be admitted is 12, although this may be exceeded if demand for available courses can be met. Remaining places in the sixth-form of the school will be distributed in accordance with the over subscription criteria, subject to applicants fulfilling the individual requirements of suitable courses as indicated in the sixth form prospectus. When considering external applicants, the Governors will give preference to practising Catholic applicants (for which a priest’s reference will be required) in line with over subscription criteria.
Sixth-Form admissions appeals will be heard within forty school days of the appeal being lodged.

  Waiting Lists

In addition to the right of appeal, unsuccessful candidates will be offered the opportunity to be placed on a waiting list.  Lists will be maintained throughout the school year.  A child’s position on the waiting list does not depend upon the time they have been on the list but will be determined by how they meet the oversubscription criteria.

This means that a child’s position on the list can go down as well as up, depending upon the child’s circumstances and those of other applicants.  The waiting list will be closed each year and will not roll over.  Parents wishing to stay on the waiting list will be required to submit a request to the school.

  Tie Break

Where the offer of places to all the applicants in any of the sub-categories listed above would still lead to over-subscription, the places up to the admissions number will be offered to those living nearest to the school.
The school will adopt the Local Authority method of measuring distance between the school gate and the front door of the home address using a computerised geographical system to calculate the distance in a straight line from the main school gate to the front door of the home address.  Where there are applicants living in the flats at the same address, the distance will include the distance from the front door of the flat within the building i.e. the flat nearest the main door to the building will have priority.

  Appeals

Parents have the right of appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel against a decision not to admit a child.  Parents wishing to exercise their right of appeal should write to the Chair of Governors at the school within 20 school days of receipt of the letter informing them that a place is not available. They will then be sent an Appeal Form to complete setting down the reasons for their appeal. Parents will be given the date when the Independent Appeal Panel will meet and hear their appeal and they will have the right to attend. Parents may be represented if they so choose.
Appeals relating to admission at secondary transfer for on-time applications (i.e. those relating to decisions sent on the national offer date) will be heard within 40 school days. Timetable for appeals will be published on our website in February of each year.
Parents are however reminded that appealing for a place does not guarantee entry to the school.

 

  Notes (these notes form part of the over subscription criteria)

‘Looked after child’ has the same meaning as in section 22 of the Children Act 1989, and means any child in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them (e.g. children with foster parents).

‘Catholic’ means a member of a church in full communion with the See of Rome.  This will normally be evidenced by a certificate of baptism in a Catholic Church or a certificate of reception into the full communion of the church.
For the purposes of this policy, it includes a looked after child who is part of a Catholic family where a priest’s reference demonstrates that the child would have been baptised or received if it were not for their status as a looked after child (e.g. a looked after child in the process of adoption by a Catholic family).
‘Practising Catholic’ means a Catholic child from a practising Catholic family where this practice is verified by a reference from a Catholic priest in the standard format laid down by the Diocese.

 

PROTOCOL ON ADMISSIONS PROCEDURES – 2013/14

1.        The Admissions Authority is the Governing Body of St Gregory’s Catholic Science College.  All applicants, whether Harrow or Brent residents, or elsewhere, must complete and return a Common Application Form, which they acquire from their Primary School or their home LA.

2.        The Common Application Form must be returned to their home LA so that they can co-ordinate admissions both inside and outside Brent.  In addition parents should complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF), which is available from Brent Local Authority or from St Gregory’s Catholic Science College and must be returned to the school.  If parents do not return the Supplemenary Information Form and Priest’s Reference Form (only practising Catholics need to submit a Priest’s Reference Form) the governors may be unable to consider your application fully and it is unlikely that your child will be offered a place at the school.

3.        The Diocesan Standard Priest’s Reference form, providing proof of practice of the Catholic faith, is obtained from St Gregory’s and is also available on the Diocese of Westminster website at www.rcdow.org.uk/education and should be returned directly to the school.  The Priest’s Reference Form contains two parts: Parents complete Part A and send it to their priest. The Priest will then complete part B and send that to the school. Priests will retain Part A for their own records.  (For applicants from other faith backgrounds, forms will be available on request to provide proof from their appropriate faith leader.)

4.        The date for informing parents on their application will be 1st March.  This is done by the LA on behalf of the school but the reply slips must be returned to the LA.

5.        In the letter of offer parents will be given details of the right to appeal.  Appeals will be heard by an independent appeals panel convened by the Governing Body.

6.        A child’s residential address is where the child lives for 50% or more of the school week.

7.        Late applications for secondary transfer (after the cut-off date which is on the application form) will only be considered after the 1st March.

 

 Supplementary Information Form 2013 - 2014