Address:
Aviary Road
Worsley
M28 2WF
Telephone: 0161 790 3423
Email: stmarks.ceprimaryschool@salford.gov.uk
Headteacher: Ms L Mansfield
School type: Voluntary aided
Total number of places for nursery: 40
Total number of places for reception: 60
Total applications received by offer day for reception: 88
Breakdown of reception offers at offer day (17 April 2023): All applicants offered.
Total numbers of reception offers made (including alternative offers): 53
Total reception vacancies: 7
Admissions to the school are the responsibility of the Governing Body. The Local Authority will manage the admissions process. The following agreement between the Governors, The Diocese of Manchester and the Local Authority lays down the criteria for admissions and procedures to be followed.
The school’s published admission number for admission to the Reception Year in September 2024 is 60. If no more than 60 applications are received for admission to the Reception Year, all applicants will be offered places.
The school also has a Nursery class. A separate application must be made for any child wishing to transfer from the Nursery class to the Reception Year in the Primary School.
In drawing up the admissions arrangements the governors of the school aim to ensure that the admissions criteria are clear, fair and objective for the benefit of all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities as required by the School Admissions Code.
The governors will admit all children having an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan that names the school.
In the event of oversubscription for the remaining places they will be allocated using the following criteria in order.
Please note the attendance of one parent or guardian is sufficient. Regular attendance means a minimum of fortnightly attendance for at least 12 months prior to the January closing date for applications
Evidence of church attendance will be sought from clergy or other church officer. A supplementary form is provided for this purpose and is attached. While completing this form is not compulsory, the Governors will not be able to give any credit for church attendance without the completed form and this could disadvantage the applicant.
Churches in the parish of the Worsley Team Ministry are St Mark’s Worsley, St Mary’s Ellenbrook and St Andrew’s Boothstown.
View members of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
In the event of oversubscription between children within the same criteria geographical proximity to the school will be the determining factor.
Geographical proximity is measured in a straight line from the address point of the home (as identified by the local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG)) to the centre point of the school. Those children whose home address is closest to the school will be those who get priority for places.
In the event of a tie, where two or more pupils’ home address is the same distance from the preferred school and only one place is available, random allocation will be used. This will be carried out by an independent person. Eligible names will be placed in a hat. One name will be drawn from the hat and the remaining place will be offered to that person. This process for random allocation also applies to the waiting list where two or more pupils are eligible for one vacancy because they live the same distance from the preferred school.
Home is the child’s normal place of residence during the school week. Where a child lives with parents with shared responsibility and the child spends time at each parent’s address, the address used will be the one of the main carer. The main carer is defined as the parent who is in receipt of Child Benefit
Children who are not offered a nursery or reception place for the September intakes will be placed on the school’s waiting list. The waiting list will be maintained only for the statutory period (until 31 December following admissions in September). Should any places become available they will be allocated in accordance with the published admission criteria.
As children are added to the waiting list, the list will be re-ranked in accordance with the published admission criteria. This means that children can move both up and down the waiting list.
After 31 December, if a parent wishes their child to continue to be considered for a school place, they will need to reapply for a place using the procedure for in-year admissions.
Looked after children, previously looked after children and children who are allocated a place at the school in accordance with the Local Authority’s Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.
There are no waiting lists for in-year admissions.
Where the Governors are unable to offer a place because the school is oversubscribed, parents will be informed of the reason why admission was refused and will be advised of their right to appeal to an independent admission appeal panel, set up under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998, as amended by the Education Act, 2002. All appeals will need to be submitted within 20 days of the date of the offer letter. Parents will have the opportunity to submit their case to the panel in writing and also to attend in order to present their case. You will normally receive 14 days’ notice of the place and time of the hearing.
A sibling is defined as a brother/sister, a step-brother or step-sister living at the same address as the child for whom the application is being made.
A place in the Nursery class does not guarantee a place in Reception Year the following year.
As from September 2011 all children have the right to start school from the September following their fourth birthday. All parents seeking a place must apply for their child to be admitted to the Reception Year*, even if they have previously attended the Nursery class at the school or an associated nursery setting. Reception places will be allocated using the above criteria. (*See below for information on requests for admission outside a child’s normal age group.)
Where applications are made for the admission of twins, triplets etc. and the sibling (brother or sister) is offered the final available place the governors may admit over the published admission number if it is possible to do so. (This is one of the limited exceptional circumstances, set out in the School Admissions Code, in which a school may exceed the infant class size limit.)
The admission authority provides for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. However, where a child has been offered a place at a school the child’s parents/carers 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. Alternatively, where 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.
Parents wishing to take either of the above options should inform the school as soon as a place is offered so that the appropriate arrangements can be made.
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. Parents should contact the Headteacher of the school in the first instance to discuss an application for admission outside of the normal age group.
In addition, parents of children born between 1 April and 31 August (summer born children) 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 ie starting reception a year later than those in their age group. This request should be made to the school admissions team in writing giving reasons for the request. This should be done at the time the child would usually be expected to apply for a reception place.
The request will be considered in conjunction with the school and the parent, and the admission authority for the school will decide on whether the child should be offered delayed admission or not. The decision, and the reasons for it, will be communicated to the parent in writing. Where a child is offered a place at a school but not in the year group preferred there will be no right of appeal.
Applications for places in Reception must be made via the local authority. Parents can apply online via the Family Portal before the closing date. If you apply for a Reception place using the online service there is no need to fill in a paper form. Details of all applications made will be forwarded to the school by the local authority. In addition to your application, please complete the school’s supplementary information form if you wish your application to be considered under the faith-based criteria (criteria 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 above). The supplementary information form should be obtained from and returned to the school by the closing date for applications.
Applications for places in the Nursery Class should be made via the local authority. Parents can apply online in the Family Portal before the closing date. If you apply for a Nursery place using the online service there is no need to fill in a paper form. Details of all applications made will be forwarded to the school by the local authority. In addition to your application, please complete the school’s supplementary information form if you wish your application to be considered under the faith-based criteria (criteria 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 above). The supplementary information form should be obtained from and returned to the school by the closing date for applications.
Where the governing body discovers that a child has been awarded a place as a result of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application (for example, a false claim to residence in the Worsley Ward, or of regular attendance at worship) which effectively denies a place to a child with a stronger claim, then under the School Admissions Code the governing body may withdraw the offer of the place. The application will be considered afresh and a right of appeal offered if a place is refused.
‘In Year’ or 'non-routine' applications are applications received outside the normal admissions round and if places are available then children qualifying under the published criteria will be admitted. Applications to the school should be made to the School Admissions team. If there are places available but more applicants than places then the published oversubscription criteria will be applied. In year applications can be made online.