Admissions

a) Looked after children or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became the subject to an adoption, child arrangement, or special guardianship order. 

b) Applicants who have a sibling living at the same address on the school’s roll when they join.

c) Children of staff at the School, in either of the following circumstances:

1. The member of staff has been employed at the School for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the School is made, or
2. The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

d) children from within the existing catchment area originally designated to founders by the Secretary of State by random allocation.

 

e) children living outside of catchment on a straight line distance from St Peters Church, Belsize Square, NW3 4HJ to the applicant’s normal residence.

 

Tiebreak

In the event that fewer spaces are available than applicants in any criteria, places will be offered by random allocation. This process will be by supervised drawing of lots, carried out by at least two officers at Anthem, who are independent of the school.

[1] Sibling refers to brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the /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 the sibling.

[1] The catchment area constitutes all the roads between Adelaide Road, Finchley Road, Lyndhurst Road, Fitzjohn’s Avenue up to Netherhall Gardens and Haverstock Hill (and also incorporating the Aspen Grove estates, Downside Crescent and Lawn Road to the corner of Garnett Road, Garnett Road and Upper Park Road) (See map).

[1] The distance is the straight-line distance measured from the centre of the child’s normal residence to the centre of St Peter’s Church, Belsize Square, NW3 4HJ. The distance is measured using Camden Council’s computerised mapping system.

 

Reception parents meetings are arranged in the Summer and Autumn terms to give information about expectations for the Reception classes.

Notification of an offer of a School Place

Parents will be sent a letter in April by Camden Council to notify them of an offer of a school place.

The Education Act (Infant Class Sizes) (England) Regulations 1998 provide that, subject to certain limited exceptions, infant classes of 5, 6 and 7 year olds (Years R, 1 and 2) may not contain more than 30 pupils with a single qualified teacher. If the number of applications exceeds the published admission number then Abacus may refuse to exceed the published number on the grounds of ‘prejudice’. In other words it would have a negative effect on everyone else’s education and would limit the efficient use of resources, both human and physical within that class. Associated with this, the legislation
also sets out different arrangements
for the consideration of appeals where the child concerned is in a relevant
age group – in that a panel should
only uphold an appeal, if the decision was not one which a reasonable admission authority would make in the circumstances of the case, or if the child would have been offered a place if the admission arrangements had been properly implemented.

The class size legislation makes sensible allowance for the entry of
an additional child in certain limited circumstances where not to admit the child would do more harm than good. These circumstances include:

Where a child moves into an area outside the normal admissions round and there is no other school, which would provide suitable education within a reasonable distance of his or her home.

Where the child receives a statement of SEN naming the school or a pupil with a statement naming that school moves into the area, in each case outside the normal admissions round.

Where a pupil is initially refused admission to a school but is subsequently offered a place there for one of two reasons: the person making the original decision recognises that an error was made in implementing the school’s admissions arrangements; or an admission appeal panel upholds an appeal for reasons given in the above paragraph.

For admissions, please contact admissions@abacus-cfbt.org.