Benton Park School Open Evening 13 th October

Benton Park School Open Evening 13 th October 2004

The Admissions Process for September 2005 A Guide to Parents

Benton Park School All admissions to the school are through the Education Leeds admissions policy.

Parents will receive…. . § a booklet from Education Leeds. “Starting High School in Leeds” (mid- September 2004 by school post) this booklet includes a school preference form. § Bradford area parents should place Benton Park’s name on the preference form from the Bradford LEA § Parents with children at Independent Schools should ring 0113 2475729 for a copy § invitations from High Schools to Open Evenings and Open Days. (by school post or press adverts) parents /carers are strongly advised to look at all their local schools and then complete their preference form.

Making a preference…. § In looking at possible schools for their child parents may like to consider the following ……. § the school’s expectations of all children. § the exam results. § the curriculum. § the pastoral care. § the bullying and racism policies. § the extra curricular activities.

Making a preference…. consider § school uniform. § school discipline § talking to existing parents and pupils (Open Evening) § talking to staff who deal with transfer. § what is the overall “feel” of the school? § do you feel welcome?

Where do I return my Education Leeds preference form to? § To the Headteacher at your child’s present school if it is a Leeds maintained Primary School. § Directly to the Leeds Admissions Office at Merrion House for Independent Schools. § Bradford parents return the ‘Bradford form’ to Bradford LEA. A co-ordinated admission system will tell Leeds of any preferences for Benton Park.

When does the form have to be returned? § no later than 22 nd October 2004.

What happens after I have sent our form in? § The information is processed by Education Leeds and the allocation of places is made strictly to the Education Leeds Admission Policy. (see booklet) § Parents will be informed of their allocated school by early March 2005.

How are places allocated? § if the child has a statement of Special Educational Needs that identifies a particular school a place is allocated. § if there is a brother or sister already at the preferred school a place is allocated providing the sibling section of the preference form is completed. § from the preference list based on the number of school places available (admission limit) and the straight line distance from the pupil’s home to the preferred school.

The last point explained again…. . § if the school has an admission limit of 232 and 100 places are taken up by brothers and sisters with a further five to children who have a Statement of Special Educational Needs the school has 127 places left. § these are allocated to the 127 pupils whose parents /carers have preferenced the school and live nearest to the school.

What if my child is not allocated our first preference because we live a little further away? § you will be allocated another school, hopefully from your preference list, or the nearest school to your home that has available places.

But what if we don’t wish to accept the allocated school? § if you are not satisfied with the initial allocation you may request a reconsideration form. If this is still not satisfactory. . . § you may then appeal by letter to an Independent Tribunal within 14 days of receiving the allocation letter. § you will then receive a hearing date at Leeds Civic Hall where you may put your specific case. § the appeal panel then decides whether the school should accept an extra pupil(s) over its admissions limit.

When do we get the appeal panels’ decision? § usually within 24 hours of the hearing or after all the appeals for a particular school have been heard. (if there a considerable number of appeals)

Concluding advice. § Look at a number of schools. § Make sure you preference more than one school. § Include your neighbourhood school somewhere on your list. § Get your form in on time. § DON’T JUST PUT ONE SCHOOL DOWN! (it really could cause you lots of anguish)

Prepared by Richard Hoban Deputy Head Benton Park School Harrogate Road Rawdon LS 19 6 LX