Admission Arrangements Sept. 2023
1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024
The Premier Academy is an Academy and, as such, the Governing Body of the Academy and not Milton Keynes Local Authority (the LA), is responsible for deciding on admissions. The dates and process of application will be in accordance with the Council’s Primary Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme, details of which will be published by the LA.
The number of intended admissions is 90. Legal class size limits of 30 children will apply to children in Reception, Years 1 and 2.
Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where The Premier Academy is named and can meet the specific needs of the child; will be admitted at the normal transfer point for children starting school for the first time at 4+.
The Premier Academy will admit pupils aged 4+ to 11 years of age (i.e. Reception through to Year 6) based on the following oversubscription criteria:
- Children who are looked after (LAC) and all previously looked after children (PLAC) including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted (IAPLAC).
- Children of staff employed at the school at the time which the application for admission to the school is made.
- Children who live in the defined area for the school and have a sibling/s** on TPA’s roll at the time of admission.
- Children who live in the defined area for the school.
- Children who attend Eaton Mill Nursery and have a sibling/s** on TPA’s roll at the time of admission.
- Children who attend Eaton Mill Nursery at the time of admission.
- Children who live outside the defined area for the school and have a sibling/s** on TPA’s roll at the time of admission.
- Children who live outside the defined area for the school.
If the school is oversubscribed places will be allocated according to the distance of the child’s home address to the school as measured by the shortest direct (i.e. straight line) route from the home to the main entrance (reception) of the school.
In the unlikely event of joint oversubscription, having exhausted distance, random allocation by an independent officer from the Schools’ Admission Team at Milton Keynes Council, will be used as the ultimate tiebreaker.
* Definition of Children in Care – A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority and (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions. An adoption order is an order under section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. A ‘residence order’ is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under section 8 of the Children Act 1989.
Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).
** Definition of Sibling – A sibling is a brother or sister, which for admission purposes means brothers and sisters of whole or half blood or any other child (including an adopted child) who permanently resides at the same address and for whom the parent also has parental responsibility.
To be included as a sibling within the admissions rules the other child (sibling) should still be expected to be in attendance when the applicant child joins the school. Siblings are always checked with the preferred school and it would be helpful if you indicated where the existing child has a different family name.
The admission rules only take account of siblings where they are already at the same school – it does not count where there is an older child at a junior school on the same site as the infant school or vice versa
Multiple Births – In cases where there is one remaining place available and the next child on the waiting list is one of a twin, triplet or other multiple birth group, the following will apply:
- Both twins would be admitted (or all the siblings in the case of multiple births) even if this goes above the admission number for the school.
Waiting List – The co-ordinated schemes will continue to be administered by the Local Authority until the end of the autumn term. After this the waiting lists for all year groups will be kept by The Premier Academy.
In-year applicants will be kept in rank order according to the oversubscription criteria above, not the date of application.
Deferred Entry – For children starting school for the first time, parents have the right to request that their child’s admission is deferred to later during the school year. This might be, for example, for one of the following reasons:
- The child may be attending private early years’ provision for whom the family may have to give a term’s notice for the placement or fees, although this ought to be achievable if the school place has been allocated by April.
- The child may have special educational needs. The view may be that a longer time in the early years’ provision would be beneficial.
- The child may be attending a full-time early years’ provision and parents want continuity when the child starts school. This may be linked with childcare.
Parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.
Parents must make an application by the closing date. Once a place has been allocated, parents should contact the school to confirm when the child will start, e.g. January or April rather than the previous September. In line with guidance from the Department for Education it is expected that all places will be taken up during the school year. It is not possible to defer entry to the next school year.
Any concerns about when your child should start school should be discussed with the Admissions Officer. If the place is not required during the school year it will be offered to the next child on the waiting list. Parents will need to make a fresh application for their child’s entry in the following school year.