Applying For a Place at a Church School
Choosing a school
As a parent, you have a right to choose denominational education for your child and this web site will show you the location of your nearest Catholic or Church in Wales school.
In the first instance it is important to visit the school and satisfy yourself that it is a good match to your child's needs. When you go, or perhaps as soon as you have made the appointment to visit the school, you should receive a school brochure or prospectus. Some schools have web sites. All these will give you a great deal of information about the school, how it runs, and what it will expect from your children and from you. Education is a partnership between parents, teachers and the other adults working in the school. It is good if all the partners understand each other well.
The application process
The school's brochure or web site will also tell you how to apply for a place in the school and the timetable for doing this. The "admissions policy" of the school will be described in detail. This tells you the criteria that the school governors or the LEA will use to determine which children will go to the school should it be oversubscribed, that is, if there are more applicants than there are places. Make sure that you read the policy carefully.
You will be asked to fill in a form or write a letter applying for a place. It is important that you give all the information that would help someone who does not know you to judge how closely you and your children fit the published criteria.
Typical admissions criteria
Most church schools serve the area closest to the school, so many of the criteria will be about where you live and how far you will have to travel to reach the school.
A small number of church schools, mostly the secondary schools, use criteria related to your involvement in the work and worship of the local church or perhaps another faith community. If this is the case it will be important that you answer the questions clearly so that the governors can obtain a true picture of your involvement. They will want to check on this by asking for references from the leadership of the church or churches with which you are involved.
In a few cases, the school may offer 'open' places to the children of families who live in the immediate vicinity of the school, but do not necessarily have an active involvement in the local church.
Some church schools set aside some places for children who have special educational needs. If this is the case and you believe that your child could qualify for one of these places, you should provide all the evidence that you think that someone who does not know your child or their type of need must have in order to understand why they should be admitted to the school. The governors will want evidence from a suitable professional to support what you say, so make sure that you provide them with the name of a doctor or other professional who is well qualified to explain your child's needs to the governors.
What to do if you are unsuccessful
When schools are oversubscribed some parents and children are bound to be disappointed. The school will not be able to allocate places to everyone who wants to attend. Parents have a right to appeal against the decision of the governing body if they feel that they have been unfairly treated or if they believe that the school could take more pupils than the school admission limit states. If you feel like this it is important that you make an appeal for your case to be heard by an independent appeal panel.
In the first instance, the school will inform you of your right of appeal, and invite you to appeal in writing. This needs only to be a short letter to the headteacher or the clerk to the governors, stating that you wish to appeal against the governors' decision not to admit you child to the school. Schools will usually give a date by which you should appeal, so that appeal hearings can be organised. The school will then supply you with all the necessary information in line with the National Assembly Code of Practice on School Admission Appeals.