DIOCESAN SCHOOLS COMMISSION

COVENTRY SECONDARY ADMISSIONS POLICY 2010

Name of School: Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School & Language College

The admissions process is part of the Coventry LA co-ordinated scheme.

The Admission Policy of the Governors of Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School & Language College is as follows:

The ethos of this school is Catholic. The school was founded by the Catholic Church to provide education for children of Catholic families. The school is conducted by its governing body as part of the Catholic Church in accordance with its Trust Deed and Instrument of Government and seeks at all times to be a witness to Jesus Christ. We ask all parents applying for a place here to respect this ethos and its importance to the school community.  This does not affect the right of parents who are not of the faith of this school to apply for and be considered for a place here.

The School’s Admission Number for the school year beginning in September 2010 is 240.

If the number of applications exceeds the admission number, the governors will give priority to applications in accordance with the criteria listed, provided that the governors are made aware of that application before decisions on admissions are made (see Note 1 below).

In all categories, priority will be given to those who have a brother or sister (see Note 3 below) attending Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School & Language College time of admission.

1. Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 below) who are in the care of a local authority (looked-after children) or provided with

    accommodation by them (e.g. children with foster parents) (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989)

2. Baptised Catholic children who currently attend a Catholic feeder school (see Note 4 below)

3. Baptised Catholic children who live in the feeder school parish area (see Note 4 below)

4. Other Baptised Catholic children

5. Non-Catholic children who are in the care of a local authority (looked after children) or provided with accommodation by them

   (e.g. children with foster parents) (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989)

6. Non-Catholic children who currently attend a Catholic feeder school

7. Other Non-Catholic children.

OVER-SUBSCRIPTION
If there is over-subscription within the category, the Governors will give priority to children living closest to the school determined by shortest distance.  Distances are calculated on the basis of a straight-line measurement between the centre of the applicant’s home address and centre of the school site.  The local authority uses a computerised system, which measures all distances in metres.  Ordnance Survey supply the co-ordinates that are used to plot an applicant’s home address within this system (See Note 4).

In a very small number of cases it may not be able to decide between the applicants of those pupils who are qualifiers for a place, when applying the published admission criteria. For example, this may occur when children in the same year group live at the same address, or where there are twins, or if the distance between the home and school is exactly the same, for example, blocks of flats.  If there is no other way of separating the application according to the admissions criteria and to admit both or all of the children would cause the legal limit to be exceeded, the governing body will draw lots to select the child to be offered the final place.

Note 1
Children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs that names the school must be admitted. This will reduce the number of places available to applicants.

Note 2
In all categories, for a child to be considered as a Catholic, evidence of Catholic Baptism or Reception into the Church will be required. For a definition of Baptised Catholic see the Appendix. Those who face difficulties in producing written evidence of Baptism should contact their Parish Priest. Failure to provide evidence of Baptism may affect the criterion the child’s name is placed in. 

Note 3
The definition of a brother or sister is:
• A brother or sister sharing the same parents;
• Half-brother or half-sister, where two children share one common parent;
• Step-brother or step-sister, where two children are related by a parent’s marriage;
• Adopted or fostered children.
The children must be living permanently in the same household.

Note 4
The designated feeder schools and appropriate parishes for Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School & Language College are:

Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School  - Corpus Christi Parish
Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School - St Elizabeth’s Parish
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School  - Sacred Heart Parish
St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School  - St John Fisher Parish
St John Fisher Catholic Primary School  - St John Fisher Parish
St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School  - St Patrick’s Parish
SS Peter & Paul Catholic Primary School - St Patrick’s Parish

Maps of the parish areas are available at the school and parish.

Note 5
The home address of a pupil is considered to be the permanent residence of a child. The address must be the child’s only or main residence. Documentary evidence may be required.
Where care is split equally between mother and father, parents must name which address is to be used for the purpose of allocating a school place
APPEALS
Parents who wish to appeal against the decision of the Governors to refuse their child a place in the school may apply in writing to Chair of Governors. Appeals will be heard by an independent panel.

REPEAT APPLICATIONS
Unless there are significant and material changes in the circumstances of a parent’s application for their child or the school, the governors will not consider a repeat application in the same academic year.

LATE APPLICATIONS
Late applications will be dealt with according to the LA co-ordinated scheme.

APPLICATIONS OTHER THAN THE NORMAL INTAKE TO Y7
An application should be made directly to the local authority who will need to  consult with the governors.

WAITING LISTS  
Waiting lists for admission will remain open until the end of the Autumn Term and will then be discarded.  Parents may apply for their child’s name to be reinstated.  The waiting list will be kept in admission criteria order.

IN YEAR FAIR ACCESS POLICY
The governing body have adopted the LA policy for admission of previously excluded or hard to place children.

YEAR 12 ADMISSIONS POLICY

NE Federation Admissions to Post 16 Courses Policy
(Updated November 2008)

Entry to Level 3 Courses

*    5 higher grade GCSEs or equivalent level 2 qualifications for AS courses
*    A positive school profile.
Entry to Applied Courses at Level 3

*    4 higher grade GCSEs or equivalent level 2 qualifications.
*    A positive school profile.

Entry to Level 2 Courses

*    A positive school profile.

Every attempt will be made to provide students with a personalised learning package.  The anticipated 6th form capacity for Year 12 is 150 students.

Some students attend Cardinal Wiseman 6th form from other schools as part of the consortium arrangement.  Therefore, the PAN for external applicants is 20.

There is no charge or cost related to the admission of a child to this school.

APPENDIX

DEFINITION OF A “BAPTISED CATHOLIC”

To establish clarity, consistency and fairness in the application of Criteria of Admission in Catholic Schools in accordance with the Trust Deed of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, it is necessary to define the description of a “Baptised Catholic” for the benefit of parents who are making applications and for governors who formulate and apply the criteria for admissions.

A “Baptised Catholic” is one who:
• Has been baptised into full communion (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 837) with the Catholic Church by the Rites of Baptism of one of the various ritual Churches in communion with the See of Rome (i.e. Latin Rite, Byzantine Rite, Coptic, Syriac, etc, Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1203). Written evidence* of this baptism can be obtained by recourse to the Baptismal Registers of the church in which the baptism took place (Cf. Code of Canon Law, 877 & 878).

WRITTEN EVIDENCE OF BAPTISM

The Governing bodies of Catholic schools will require written evidence in the form of a Certificate of Baptism or Certificate of Reception before applications for school places can be considered for categories of “Baptised Catholics”. A Certificate of Baptism or Reception is to include: the full name, date of birth, date of baptism or reception, and parent(s) name(s). The certificate must also show that it is copied from the records kept by the place of baptism or reception.

Those who would have difficulty obtaining written evidence of baptism for a good reason, may still be considered as baptised Catholics but only after they have been referred to their parish priest who, after consulting the Vicar General, will decide how the question of baptism is to be resolved and how written evidence is to be produced in accordance with the law of the Church.

Those who would be considered to have good reason for not obtaining written evidence would include those who cannot contact the place of baptism due to persecution or fear, the destruction of the church and the original records, or where baptism was administered validly but not in the Parish church where records are kept.

Governors may request extra supporting evidence when the written documents that are produced do not clarify the fact that a person was baptised or received into the Catholic Church, (i.e. where the name and address of the Church is not on the certificate or where the name of the Church does not state whether it is a Catholic Church or not.)