Admissions Criteria

We take 90 pupils, in three classes of 30 children per year group. It is the governors’ policy to admit the children of all parents who choose to have their children educated at the school. If we receive more applications than there are places available, the governors will use the following criteria in order. If you are applying under category 2 or 5, you should fill in the priest reference form. If you are applying under any of the other categories, you do not need to fill in this form.

Criteria for admission

1. Children in the care of a local authority (please see note ).
2. Regular attendance, by one or both parents, together with the child, at the church of St Peter and St Paul Dagenham (‘Dagenham Parish Church’). (Please see note below for the definition of ‘regular attendance’.)
3. A brother or sister attending William Ford Church of England Junior School at the time of enrolment. (Please see note for the definition of ‘brother or sister’.)
4. Children attending Village Infants School at the time of the application.
5. Regular attendance, by one or both parents, together with the child at a place of Christian Worship, other than Dagenham Parish Church, of a denomination which is a member of Churches Together in England. (Please see note 2 below for the definition of ‘regular attendance’.)
6. Any other children who do not fall within the categories listed above.

Important notes

1. In the case of children who are in the care of a local authority, you will need to provide a letter signed by a fully qualified social worker employed by that local authority.
2. ‘Regular attendance’ means attending at least once every two weeks at either Sunday Service or other midweek activities (not including those of a purely social nature) for at least two years. The parish priest or another minister needs to confirm this, in writing.
3. ‘Brother or sister’ includes stepbrothers or stepsisters, half-brothers or half-sisters and adopted brothers or sisters living at the same address or  children who have been living in the same household in a long-term foster relationship for more than one year.
4. Children with full statements of special education needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan will be handled according to the current arrangements for such children.
5. The governors will consider applications equally in line with the school’s criteria. They will not take account of the preference you have given the school on your application form.
6. The governors have the right to withdraw places they offer based on information which they later find to be false, inaccurate or misleading. In any event, the governors will not consider applications made later for other children, under the priority provided by category 3 above.
7. For a list of churches who are members of Churches Together in England, visit www.churches-together.net.
8. All distances are measured by the admissions team using SIA’s geographical information system, SMART. Measurements are calculated, on a straight line basis, from the midpoint of the child’s permanent address to the main entrance of the school.
9. Within any criterion, we will use distance from home to school as a tie-breaker for pupils who have equal claim for a place.
10. Those children living nearest to the school will be given priority in the allocation of places.  When measurements involve flats within the same block, the midpoint measurement will be the same, the governors will then use random allocation to offer places to children within this tie-breaker category.
11. The governors are unable to consider circumstances not listed in the above criteria. It is essential that we are consistent in our judgment and apply the criteria in a fair and impartial manner.
12. If your child fails to gain a place, we will add them to our waiting list. This will be ranked in the same order as our published oversubscription criteria, whatever date you made your application. We will remove your child’s name from the waiting list after one year from the date you made your application, although you can reapply if you want to.

Important note:

In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these [admissions] arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship