Address:
Hemming Drive
Eccles
M30 0FJ
Telephone: 0161 789 4532
Email: stmaryseccles.rcprimaryschool@salford.gov.uk
Headteacher: Mr S Hewson
School type: Voluntary aided
Total number of places for nursery: 30
Total number of places for reception: 30
Total applications received by offer day for reception: 99
Breakdown of reception offers at offer day (17 April 2023): All applicants in categories 1-4 to a distance of 0.909 miles. No non-Catholic pupils were able to be admitted.
Total numbers of reception offers made (including alternative offers): 30
Total reception vacancies: 0
St Mary’s is a Catholic Primary School under the trusteeship of the Diocese of Salford. It is maintained by Salford Authority. As a Voluntary Aided School, the Governing Body is the Admissions Authority and is responsible for taking decisions on applications for admissions. The co-ordination of admissions arrangements is undertaken by the Local Authority. For the school year commencing September 2024, the Governing Body has set its admissions number at 30 for both the Nursery and the Reception classes.
The school’s role is to participate in the mission of the Catholic Church by providing a curriculum, including Catholic religious education and worship, which will help children to grow in their understanding of the Good News and in the practice of their faith. The school will help the children develop fully as human beings and prepare them to undertake their responsibilities as Catholics in society. The school requires all parents applying for a place here to understand and respect this ethos and its importance to the school community. This does not affect the rights of parents who are not of the Catholic faith to apply for a place here.
Admissions to the school will be made by the Governing Body. All preferences listed on the Local Authority Preference Form will be considered on an equal basis. Where the school receives more applications than places available, the following oversubscription criteria will be applied, once places have first been allocated to children who have an education, health and care plan which names the school.
a. All applicants will be considered at the same time and after the closing date for admissions which is 15 January 2024. Applications received after this date will be treated as a late application and will not be considered until after the main allocation of places has taken place.
b. All Catholic applicants will be required to produce baptismal certificates at the time of application. The map boundaries, for the parish formerly known as St Mary’s and the designated area of the parish formerly known as SS Peter and Paul, are available on both the school and LA websites. Parents/carers should check carefully whether they are within the parish boundary of the school concerned.
c. It is the duty of governors to comply with class size limits at Key Stage One and therefore no class of 5, 6 and 7 years olds (Reception, year 1 and year 2) can contain more than 30 pupils with one teacher.
d. If in any category there are more applications than places available, priority will be given on the basis of distance from home to school. Distance will be measured (using Local Land and Property Gazetteer information) in a straight line in miles from the address point of the child’s home address (including flats) to the centre point of the school using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living nearer to the school having priority. In the event of distances being the same for 2 or more applicants where this distance would be last place/s to be allocated, a random lottery will be carried out in a public place. All the names will be entered into a hat and the required number of names will be drawn out. This process will be supervised by an independent person.
e. Where a child lives with parents with shared responsibility, each for part of a week, the child’s 'permanent place of residence' will be determined as the address of the parent who normally has responsibility for the majority of school days in a week.
f. Sibling is defined as a brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, foster brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner where the child for whom the school place is sought is living in the same family unit at the same address as that sibling.
g. 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). Should any places become available they will be allocated in accordance with the 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 come under the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over those on the waiting list.
There are no waiting lists for in-year admissions.
h. For in year applications received outside the normal admissions round and if places are available then children qualifying under the published criteria will be admitted. If there are places available but more applicants than places then the published oversubscription criteria will be applied. In year and late applications will be treated as per the co-ordinated arrangements published by the Local Authority.
i. If an application for admission has been turned down by the Governing Body, parents can appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel. Parents must be allowed at least 20 school days from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful to submit that appeal. Parents must give reasons for appealing in writing and the decision of the Appeals Panel is binding on the Governors.
j. The Governing Body reserve the right to withdraw the offer of a school place where false evidence is received in relation to baptism, sibling connections or place of residence.
k. A Looked-After Child is a child who is (i) in the care of the Local Authority, or (ii) being provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in the exercise of the Social Services functions under section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989. A previously Looked-After Child is one who immediately moved on from that status after becoming subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship order.
I. Part time, deferred and delayed admission.
The school provides for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. However, 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 Headteacher of 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 the school but not in the year group preferred there will be no right of appeal.
k. Entrance to reception, no child can automatically transfer from a nursery to a reception class. Where the school is over-subscribed, places in the reception class must be allocated according to the published admission criteria, with children who have attended the nursery being considered on the same basis as those who have not.