Burnley Road Academy Admission Information

 

Courage, Compassion, Perseverance and Teamwork

Admission Information

If your child was born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021 they will be due to start school at the beginning of the academic year commencing 1^st September 2025.

Applications should be made using the Calderdale Admission procedures. See the last section of this page for admissions to Nursery. 

Please see http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/education/schools/admissions for further information.

In Year Admissions

The same criteria will apply for in-year applications as outlined in the policy below in section 2 and the appeals processes outlined in section 5. In year places will become available when the number in each class falls below 30. Parents wanting to apply for a place for their child should apply direct to the Academy on 01422 883034 or via email to admin@burnleyroad.calderdale.sch.uk. 

Please note that all schools that have places available must offer a place to every child who has applied for one, without condition or the use of any oversubscription criteria, unless admitting the child would prejudice the efficient provision of education or use of resources.  If dealing with multiple in-year admissions and the school do not have sufficient places for every child who has applied for one, places must be allocated on the basis of the oversubscription criteria in the policy below.

Parents must not be refused the opportunity to make an application or be told that they can only be placed on a waiting list rather than formally apply.  Upon receipt of an in-year application the admission authority should aim to notify the parents of the outcome of their application in writing within 10 school days, but they must be notified in writing within 15 school days.  Where an application is refused, the admission authority must also set out the reason for refusal and information about the right to appeal. 

Please note that the academy has a duty to inform the local authority of every application and its outcome as soon as reasonably practicable, but should aim to be within two school days.

Draft Admissions Policy 2025/2026 (updated to comply with Schools Admission Code 2021)

This document sets out the admission arrangements for Burnley Road Academy and complies with Annex B of the Funding Agreement which is an agreement between the Academy and the Secretary of State. Any changes to the arrangements set out in the Funding Agreement must be approved in advance by the Secretary of State.

The Academy will comply with all relevant provisions of the statutory codes of practice (the School Admissions Code of Practice and the School Admission Appeals Code of Practice) as they apply at any given time.

The Governing Body of the Academy is the Admissions Authority and therefore any reference in the codes to admission authorities shall be read as the academy’s governing body. In particular, the Academy will take part in the Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme run by Calderdale Local Authority (please see the current year flow charts in appendix 1 and 2).

1           Application for Places

Parents are asked to apply for a place at the Academy by applying direct to the local authority online. https://new.calderdale.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions

Late Applications:

Late applications will be considered after all applications received before the closing date.

https://new.calderdale.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions/late-applications

2         Allocation of Places

There are 30 reception places available each year and allocation of places is made using the following criteria:

Where 30 or fewer applications are received, the Academy will offer a place to all those who have applied.

Children with special educational needs who have an Education health care plan (EHCP) which names the Academy will be allocated a place. This is a statutory entitlement.

Where the number of applications for admissions exceeds 30, applications will be considered against the criteria set out below and in the priority order stated:

Over-subscription Criteria

Places will be allocated in community and voluntary controlled primary schools in the following order of priority:

1. Pupils who are in public care (‘Looked After’ children) or pupils who were previously looked after but ceased to be so because they became adopted or became subject to a residence or special guardianship order.
2. Children who appear (to the admission authority of the school) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
3. Pupils who have a brother or sister (including step/half brothers and sisters) permanently resident in the same household and currently attending the school or its associated junior school (excluding pupils in their final year). Parents/guardians should be aware that a sibling link cannot be claimed where a sibling in receipt of a Statement of Special Educational Needs is attending a resourced unit within a mainstream primary school.
4. Other children.

Notes

(1)         If there is over-subscription within any category, then pupils will be admitted in the order of proximity of the pupil’s permanent home to school.

Distance will be calculated using a straight line measurement from the pupil’s permanent home to the nearest designated school gate.

Distances will be calculated using the Local Authority’s GIS system (Geographical Information System).  To ensure consistency applies, all measurements will be carried out by the Local Authority’s GIS system and no other method of measuring distance will be considered.

Each property has a co-ordinate taken from Ordnance Survey ADDRESS-POINT data.  This is the point which distance measurements will be taken from.

(2)         Notification of Places

In accordance with the Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme run by Calderdale MBC, the local authority will make the formal offer of a place to parents or guardians on behalf of the Governing Body of the Academy.

(3)         Fair Access Protocol

As part of the Co-ordinated Admissions arrangements with the local authority the Academy may accept hard-to-place pupils onto the school role from time to time in accordance with the Local Authority In-Year Fair Access agreement. These are special cases arranged outside the boundaries of this admissions policy.

(4)         Appeals Procedure

Parents who want to appeal against the decision not to offer their child a place at the Academy must appeal directly to the Academy.  Appeals should be addressed to the Admissions Officer at the Academy within 20 days of receiving the decision letter from the local authority.

The appeals will be heard by an independent appeals panel set up by the Academy to hear the case for the appellant.  Parents will receive advanced notification of the date and time of their appeal hearing, to which they can go and make their case (please see the flow chart in appendix 1 which includes a timetable of events). If they wish, parents may be accompanied by an advisor or friend who can be a locally elected politician.

Following the appeal, the Clerk to the independent appeals panel will write to parents with the decision and full reasons for the decision. The decision of the independent appeals panel is binding and final.

(5)         Withdrawing an offer or a place

An admission authority must not withdraw an offer unless it has been offered in error, a parent has not responded within a reasonable period of time, or it is established that the offer was obtained through a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application. Where the parent has not responded to the offer, the admission authority must give the parent a further opportunity to respond and explain that the offer may be withdrawn if they do not. Where an offer is withdrawn on the basis of misleading information, the application must be considered afresh, and a right of appeal offered if an offer is refused.

A school must not withdraw a place once a child has started at the school, except where that place was fraudulently obtained. In deciding whether to withdraw the place, the length of time that the child has been at the school must be taken into account. For example, it might be considered appropriate to withdraw the place if the child has been at the school for less than one term.

(6)         Admission of children below compulsory school age and deferred entry to school

Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. Where the admissions authority have offered a child a place at a school: a) that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday; b) the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made; and c) where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

If you would like to make such a request please contact both https://new.calderdale.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions and admin@burnleyroad.calderdale.sch.uk

(7)         Admission of children outside their normal age group

Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group, for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health. In addition, the parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to reception rather than year 1.

Admission authorities must make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. This will include taking account of the parent’s views; information about the child’s academic, social, and emotional development; where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional; whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely. They must also take into account the views of the head teacher of the school concerned. When informing a parent of their decision on the year group the child should be admitted to, the admission authority must set out clearly the reasons for their decision.

Where an admission authority agrees to a parent’s request for their child to be admitted out of their normal age group and, as a consequence of that decision, the child will be admitted to a relevant age group (i.e. the age group to which pupils are normally admitted to the school) the local authority and admission authority must process the application as part of the main admissions round, unless the parental request is made too late for this to be possible, and on the basis of their determined admission arrangements only, including the application of oversubscription criteria where applicable. They must not give the application lower priority on the basis that the child is being admitted out of their normal age group. Parents have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if they are offered a place at the school, but it is not in their preferred age group.

If you would like to make such a request please contact both https://new.calderdale.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions and admin@burnleyroad.calderdale.sch.uk

 

(8)         Re-Allocation (Waiting) list

A reallocation list will be drawn up from unsuccessful applicants, giving priority for places that become vacant, in accordance with section 2. Any places which become available will be filled from the re-allocation list. If a child has been placed on the re-allocation list, parents will be informed and asked to confirm annually that they wish to leave their child’s name on the list, which will be retained until the end of the autumn term.

(9)         In-Year Applications

The same criteria will apply for in-year applications as outlined in section 2 and the appeals processes outlines in section 5. In year places will become available when the number in each class falls below 30. Parents wanting to apply for a place for their child should apply direct to the Academy.

(10)      Consultation

The Academy will consult with local groups and schools if changes to these arrangements have been proposed.  They will consult on the full admission arrangements every seven years even if no changes are proposed. Admission information will be made available on the academy’s website.

Update drafted June 2024.