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Admissions Policy

Relevant Forms

To download this document as a printable PDF document, click here.

To download the Priest's Reference Form, click here.

To download the Ethos Statement Form, click here.

To download the Supplementary Information Form, click here.


The school is a Catholic Voluntary Aided Co-educational Comprehensive School under the trusteeship of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

As a Catholic school we aim to provide a Catholic education for all our pupils.  As a Catholic school, Catholic doctrine and practice permeate every aspect of the school activity.  It is essential that the Catholic character of the schools education is fully supported by all families in the school.  All applicants are therefore expected to give their full, unreserved and positive support for the aims and ethos of the school.

Students will be admitted at age 11 without reference to ability or aptitude.  It is the Governors' intention that religious education as the 'core of the core curriculum' in the Catholic tradition will be maintained.  The school encourages applications therefore, in the first instance, from parents/carers whose children have been baptised in the Catholic Church who wish their child to receive a Catholic education.  The  number of intended admissions to Year 7 each year will be 174.  The school will admit children with Special Educational Needs naming the school.

In Year Admissions

Application for in year admissions are made in the same way as those made during the normal admissions round. Where there is no waiting list the local authority will be notified and the child will be admitted.  If more applications are received than there are places available then applications will be ranked by the governing body in accordance with the oversubscription criteria, with the following modifications: (Catholic children without an offer of a school place elsewhere are given priority immediately after Catholic ‘looked after’ children; similarly, other children without an offer of a school place are given priority immediately after other ‘looked-after’ children).  If a place cannot be offered at this time then you may ask us for the reasons and you will be informed of your right of appeal.  You will be offered the opportunity of being placed on a waiting list.  This waiting list will be maintained by the governing body in the order of the oversubscription criteria (as modified above) and not in the order in which the applications are received.  Names are removed from the list at the end of each academic year.  When a place becomes available the governing body will decide who is at the top of the list so that the LEA can inform the parent that the school is making an offer.

Fair Access Protocols

The school is committed to taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols.  Accordingly, outside the normal admissions round the governing body is empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under andy local protocol that has been agreed by both the Diocese and the governing body for the current school year.  The governing body has this power even when admitting the child would mean exceeding the published admission number.

Appeals

In the event that an applicant is unsuccessful in receiving a place and appeal can be made by contacting the school.  School contact details are St Michael’s Catholic High School, High Elms Lane, Garston, Watford, Herts WD25 0SS.  Tel:  01923 673760.

The schools own Supplementary Information Form is requested to be completed in addition to the LEA Secondary Transfer Form. Where there are more applications than places available, places will be offered according to the following oversubscription criteria:
    

Oversubscription Criteria

  1. Catholic looked after children (please refer to Section 22 of the Children’s Act 1989) (see note 1 below)
  2. Baptised Catholic children (see Note 2 below) whose siblings (see note 5 overleaf) are on the school roll on the student's first day of their first academic year.
  3. Baptised practising Catholics (see note 3 below) who are attending the following feeder schools: Divine Saviour, Abbots Langley; Holy Rood, Watford; Sacred Heart, Bushey; St Adrian’s, St Albans; St Anthony’s, West Watford; St Catherine’s, Garston; St Joseph’s, South Oxhey; St Theresa’s, Borehamwood.
  4. Baptised Catholics (see note 2 below) who are attending the following feeder schools: Divine Saviour, Abbots Langley; Holy Rood, Watford; Sacred Heart, Bushey; St Adrian’s, St Albans; St Anthony’s, West Watford; St Catherine’s, Garston; St Joseph’s, South Oxhey; St Teresa’s, Borehamwood.
  5. Baptised practising Catholics (see note 3 below) who are resident in the Watford Deanery (i.e. parishes of Abbots Langley, Bushey, Carpenders Park, Chipperfield, Chorleywood, Croxley Green, Garston, Mill End, Rickmansworth, Watford, Watford North) since other Catholic secondary schools are available in other Deaneries.
  6. Baptised Catholics (see note 2 below) who are resident in the Watford Deanery (i.e. parishes of Abbots Langley, Bushey, Carpenders Park, Chipperfield, Chorleywood, Croxley Green, Garston, Mill End, Rickmansworth, Watford, Watford North) since other Catholic secondary schools are available in other Deaneries.
  7. Baptised practising Catholics (see note 3 below) who are resident outside the Watford Deanery, for whom St Michael’s is the nearest Catholic school.
  8. Baptised Catholics (see note 2 below) who are resident outside the Watford Deanery, for whom St Michael’s is the nearest Catholic school.
  9. Other Baptised practising Catholics (see note 3 below)
  10. Other Baptised Catholics (see note 2 below)
  11. Other Children looked after by the LA
  12. Baptised Christians (see note 4 overleaf) whose siblings (see note 5 below) are on the school roll on the student’s first day of their first academic year and who produce an original Baptismal Certificate or Certificate of Baptism.
  13. Baptised Christians (see note 4 below) attending a Catholic Primary school in the Watford Deanery, who produce an original Baptismal Certificate or Certificate of Baptism.
  14. Baptised Christians (see note 4 below) who produce an original Baptismal Certificate or Certificate of Baptism.
  15. Any other children.

 

All Catholic applicants in criteria 2 to 10 will be required to supply a certificate of Catholic baptism.  For criteria 3, 5, 7 and 9, where you are applying as a practising Catholic, a Diocesan priest’s reference is also required.  This reference is enclosed with the application pack or can be obtained on application to the school office.  It can also be found on the Westminster Dioceses website at www.redow.org.uk.  Please fill in part A and hand both parts A and B to your parish priest.  He will complete part B and return it to the school. See note 2 for a definition of a baptised catholic and note 3 for the definition of a baptised practising catholic.

All Christian applicants in criteria 12, 13 or 14 must ensure that their application form is accompanied by a letter of support from their priest, vicar or minister.

Tie Break

In case of over subscription within each of the criteria a proximity measurement will be applied, with priority given to children who live nearest to the school.  Measurements are carried out by Hertfordshire County Council using a GIS system as outlined in the HCC booklet ‘Moving On’. In the event of a tie break in distance then priority will be given to social need (where such applications are received they must be accompanied by a letter from a professional such as a doctor, priest or social worker.  The letter must set out the reasons why St Michael’s is the only school which can meet the particular need, these reasons must be compelling.

In the event of oversubscription the school will maintain a waiting list for one term in the year of admission.  Children will be ranked in the same order as the published oversubscription criteria and will not be prioritised based on the date of application or when the child was added to the list.  Parents/carers of children who are not successful in obtaining a place during the initial allocation are requested to inform the school if they wish their child to be entered on the waiting list.

Note 1

In this Act, any reference to a child who is looked after by the LA is a reference to a child who is:

  1. in their care; or
  2. provided with accommodation by the authority in the exercise of any functions (in particular those under this Act) which stand referred to their social services committee under the (1970 c. 42) Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.

 

Note 2

For the purposes of admission criteria the term ’Catholic’ is taken to denote a baptised person who is in full communion with the Catholic Church, that is to say, a member of any Catholic Church that is in full communion with the See of Rome.
                                

Note 3

For the purposes of admission criteria the term ‘practising catholic’ means a Catholic child from a practising Catholic family where this practice is verified by a reference from a Catholic priest in the standard format laid down by the Diocese.

Note 4

The term ‘Christian’ refers to a child baptised in the non-Catholic Christian tradition e.g. Anglican, Eastern Churches not in communion with Rome and/or Orthodox Churches.

Note 5

A sibling means the brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister, adopted brother or sister, of the child of the parent/carer or partner, and in every case living in the same house Monday to Friday.

Note 6

In the case of application for children who are twins/multiple births it is school policy to ensure that a place is offered to all the children or none, depending on which criterion they come under.

Copies of the Archdiocese of Westminster Guidance on Admissions is available on line at www.rcdow.org.uk