HOW TO APPLY FOR A PLACE
TRANSFER FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY SCHOOL
Leaflets explaining how to apply online and where to obtain paper applications will be distributed to all Year 6 children.
The closing date for all applications is 31 October. Information about the application process can be found at: www.coventry.gov.uk/admissions
Parents will be informed of the Governors’ decisions on allocation of places in March.
IN-YEAR APPLICATION
Parents should contact the school to request an application form.
Where a year group is over-subscribed, places (when they become available) will be allocated according to criteria 1 - 11 as detailed in the admission criteria, until the admission number is reached. Where a place is refused, parents have the right of appeal.
YEAR 12
There are separate entry requirements and over-subscription criteria.
Further details can be found in the Sixth Form Prospectus.
ADMISSION CRITERIA
- Baptised Catholic children (see note 2 below) who are looked after or previously looked after. (see note 3 below). Baptised Catholic children who currently attend one of our Catholic Feeder Schools
- Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 below) of a member of staff working for Cardinal Newman Catholic School (see Note 7 below). Other Baptised Catholic children.
- Baptised Catholic children who currently attend one of our Catholic Feeder Schools
- Baptised Catholic children who are siblings of children in attendance at Cardinal Newman Catholic School at the time of admission
- Other Baptised Catholic children.
- Non-Catholic children who are looked after or previously looked after (see note 3 below).
- Non-Catholic children (see Note 2 below) of a member of staff working for Cardinal Newman Catholic School (see Note 7 below).
- Non-Catholic children who currently attend one of our Catholic Feeder Schools, who are siblings of children in attendance at Cardinal Newman Catholic School at the time of admission.
- Non-Catholic children who are siblings of children already in attendance at Cardinal Newman Catholic School at the time of admission.
- Non-Catholic children who currently attend one of our Catholic Feeder Schools.
- Other Non-Catholic children.
ADMISSIONS POLICY/timetable
- Admissions Policy 2022-23
- Admissions Policy 2023-24
- Admissions Policy 2025-26
- Admissions Appeal Timetable 2022
- Admissions Appeal Timetable 2023
- Admissions Appeal Timeline 2024
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 5).
In a very small number of cases it may not be able to decide between the applicants of those students 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 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. As an exception, the governing body will offer places above the Admission Number to applications from children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted even when there are no other vacant places.
ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS
Cardinal Newman’s Main Feeder Schools are:
- Holy Family Primary School
- Christ the King Junior School
- St Augustines Primary School
- St Elizabeths Catholic Primary School
- St Osburgs R C Primary School
EXPLANATORY NOTES
NOTE 1 - STATEMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEED
Children with a statement of special educational need that names the school must be admitted.This will reduce the number of places available to applicants.
NOTE 2 - SIBLINGS
The definition of a sibling (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 living at the same permanent address.
Adopted or fostered children living at the same permanent address.
NOTE 3 - BAPTISM
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 4 - FEEDER SCHOOLS
The designated Feeder Schools for Cardinal Newman Catholic School are: St Augustine’s Primary School, Christ the King Catholic Primary School, Holy Family Primary School, St Elizabeth’s Primary School and St Osburg’s Primary School.
NOTE 5 - HOME ADDRESS
The home address of a student 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.
NOTE 6 - STAFF
Staff refers to any person employed by the Governing body of the school, or if employed by another organisation who works wholly or mainly in the school.
NOTE 7 - 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. Late applications will be dealt with according to the LA co-ordinated scheme.
NOTE 8 - 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.
NOTE 9 - LATE APPLICATIONS
Late applications will be dealt with according to the L.A. co-ordinated scheme.
NOTE 10 - APPLICATIONS OTHER THAN THE NORMAL INTAKE TO YEAR 7
An application should be made to the local authority that will need to consult with the governors.
NOTE 11 - 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. This means that a child’s position on the waiting list could go up or down. Inclusion of a child’s name on the waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available. Children who are the subject of a direction by a local authority to admit or who are allocated to a school in accordance with a Fair Access Protocol take precedence over those on a waiting list.
NOTE 12 - IN YEAR FAIR ACCESS POLICY
The governing body have adopted the LA policy for admission of previously excluded or hard to place children.
NOTE 13 - YEAR 12 ADMISSIONS POLICY
There is no planned admission number for Year 12 as this is not considered a normal year of entry. Most sixth form students continue their studies from Cardinal Newman Year 11. Full details of the minimum requirements for all sixth form courses are published in the post 16 prospectus. Students are considered on their academic attainment and/or individual subject grade criteria and the suitability of courses.
NOTE 14 - TWINS AND MULTIPLE BIRTHS
In the event of the final place being allocated to a twin, triplet or further multiple birth children, the governing body will offer places over the Admission Number to all the siblings of a multiple birth.
Appendix
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).
OR:
Has been validly baptised in a separated ecclesial community and subsequently received into full communion with the Catholic Church by the Right of Reception of Baptised Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church. Written evidence of their baptism and reception into full communion with the Catholic Church can be obtained by recourse to the Register of Receptions, or in some cases, a sub-section of the Baptismal Registers of the church in which the Rite of Reception took place (Cf.Rite of Christian Initiation, 399).
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 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.)