Powell’s School Admissions Information

The admission authority for Powell’s School is the Governing Body. The published admission number for each year group is 60 pupils.

Powell’s complies with the requirement to admit a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan who applies to the school, (or such equivalent requirement as may be revised from time to time), and with the Local Authority Fair Access Protocol (or such equivalent protocol as may be revised from time to time).

This policy has three parts:

Admission into Reception in September 2025

Other in-year admissions

Waiting Lists and Appeals

Part 1: Admission into Reception in September 2025

Children usually start school at the beginning of the academic year in which they turn 5 years old.

Powell’s operates within the Gloucestershire County Co-ordinated Admissions scheme for Reception entry and therefore this policy should be read in conjunction with the ‘Guide for Parents and Carers’ which can be found on www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schooladmissions . If you have not received a letter from the Local Authority by the end of November 2024, you should contact the Local Authority admissions team at Shire Hall, Gloucester, GL1 2TP. Telephone: 01452 425408.

Deferring entry to Reception or joining on a part-time basis:

A child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their 4th birthday. Parents have the right to defer their child's entry until later in the school year, or for the child to attend part-time until they reach compulsory school age. However Places cannot be deferred to the next academic year.

Admission of Summer Born Children for Reception Entry for Powell’s School:

The Governing Body of Powell’s School acknowledges the updated advice from the Department of Education that parents/carers of “summer born” children (born between 1st April and 31st August) may request to start the Reception Class of a school a whole academic year later. The Governing Body will make a decision on behalf of Powell’s School based on the information provided by the parent/carer on the ‘Request for Deferred Admission’ form (available from the School Office). If the Governing Body approves your request to defer, you will need to make a new application as part of the main admission round for the following year.

When applying for a place in Reception at Powell’s in September 2025:

The Local Authority Common Application Form must be received by the Local Authority by 15th January 2025.

In order for an application to be considered under category 3 of the oversubscription criteria (see below), a completed Powell’s Minister Support Form must be received by Powell’s office by 8th January 2025. In the absence of this Form, the applicant will be ranked according to the other categories of admission. This form is available on the school website or from the school office.

If there are more applications than places, the 60 places in Reception will be offered according to the oversubscription criteria in the table below. Please read the definitions carefully.

The Local Authority will communicate to parents the offer of a place at a school on 16th April 2025. The deadline for parents to accept the offered place or to ask for reconsideration is 23rd April 2025. If an application is unsuccessful, the parents of the child will have a right to appeal to an independent panel. Appeals will be heard in June – July 2025. See further detail below. Please check the Powell’s website nearer the time for information about the closing date (see Part 3 below).

OVERSUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA
	Short Title	Definition
1	Child in public care or previously in public care	The 2021 School Admissions Code (the Code) requires children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”. A looked after child (1) or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption (2) child arrangements order (3) or special guardianship order (4) (1) A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school. In Gloucestershire, such children are referred to as Children in Care. (2) This includes children who were adopted under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children’s Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders). (3) Under the provisions of section 12 of the Children and Families Act 2014, which amend section 8 of the Children Act 1989, residence orders have now been replaced by child arrangements orders. (4) See Section 14a of the Children Act 1989 which defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).
2	Sibling	The applicant child has a sibling who already attends the school and will still attend the school when the applicant child would start to attend. Sibling means full, half, step or adoptive brother or sister, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner, and in every case the child must be living in the same family unit at the same address.
3	Local residence and Parish worship In order for an application to be considered under this category, a completed Powell’s Minister Support Form must be received by Powell’s office by 8th January 2025	Both of the following conditions must be met: Local residence means that the distance measured in a straight line from the ordnance survey point of the child’s home address to the ordnance survey point of the school using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system is not more than 3 miles AND A parent of the child is a regular worshipper at one of the three churches of the Parish of Cirencester, namely St. John Baptist, Holy Trinity Watermoor or St Lawrence Chesterton. Regular means at least fortnightly on average throughout the year for at least a year prior to the closing date for applications. In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the churches in the parish of Cirencester have been closed for public worship and have 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 churches or alternative premises have been available for public worship
4	Proximity	Closest proximity to the school measured in a straight line from the ordnance survey point of the child’s home address to the ordnance survey point of the school using the Local Authority’s computerised measuring system, with those living closer to the school receiving higher priority. In the event of two or more children living the same distance away from the school, drawing lots will be used as a tie break to determine priority.

In the event of oversubscription within any of categories 1-3 above, proximity as defined in category 4 will be used to determine priority within the relevant category.

Key dates

From November 2024	Letters sent out to Gloucestershire residents explaining how to apply for a school place
From 4 November 2024 to Midnight 15 January 2025	Application Window. Closing date for school applications is Midnight on 15 January 2024
Wednesday 16^th April 2025	Allocation Day
Wednesday 23^rd April 2025	Closing date to return reply form accepting the School/Academy place or requesting to be put on waiting list/s
After Wednesday 14^th May 2025	Outcome of Waiting List Requests
Midnight Wednesday 21^stMay 2025	Closing date for return of reply forms
June 2025 to July 2025	Appeals

Part 2: In-Year admissions September 2024 onwards

To apply for an admission in-year, please complete the In-Year Admissions Common Application Form found at the bottom of this page.

If there is a vacancy in a year group (meaning that there is a place within the published admission number of 60 pupils), the school will offer the place to the child who is top of the waiting list for that year group on the basis of the oversubscription criteria (see table above).

If the year group is full (meaning that it has the published admission number of 60 pupils), an application will normally be refused. The Governing Body may seek guidance from the Local Authority and the Diocese of Gloucester. If an application is refused, parents may ask for the child to be placed on the waiting list and also have a right to appeal to an independent panel (see Part 3 below).

Part 3: Waiting Lists and Appeals

Please note that the application of the requirement to admit a child with a statement of special educational needs who applies to the school (or such equivalent requirement as may be revised from time to time) or the Local Authority Fair Access Protocol (or such equivalent protocol as may be revised from time to time) may result in a child taking precedence over other children on the waiting lists. The school is required to admit a child with a statement of Special Educational Needs or an Education Health Care Plan (EHC) that names the school, even if the school is full.

Reception waiting list: When the school has allocated all its places for Reception it will hold a waiting list until the end of the academic year on which children are ranked in priority order according to the oversubscription criteria (see table above). At the start of the new academic year you must complete an In-Year Admission application form in order to be kept on the in-year waiting list.

In-year waiting list: In order to be placed on the in-year waiting list for admission to any year group, you must contact the school office. The list expires at the end of each academic year so you must contact the school again in September to be placed on the new list. If and when a vacancy arises in the relevant year group, the children will be ranked in priority order according to the oversubscription criteria (see table above) and the place will be offered to the child who is top of the list for that year group.

Appeals Procedure: If the Governors are unable to offer your child a place because of over subscription you as a parent have a right of appeal and to submit your case to an independent appeals panel. If you wish to appeal you should notify the Clerk to the Governors of Powell’s Church of England Primary School of this within 25 school days of receiving the letter which will have given the grounds for refusing a place. You must set out your grounds for the appeal in writing.

You will normally receive at least 10 days’ notice of the time and venue for the appeal hearing where you will be able to present your case in person. Decision letters will be sent within 5 school days of the hearing wherever possible.

Powell's Admission Policy & Forms

GCC Admission Appeal guidance notes

The school office can provide information about the appeal process. Further information about the School Admissions Appeals Code is also available on the website of the Department for Education.

Transport: Please note that no transport is provided to appeals.

(Click on the headings below to view)

Reception: Powell's Admission form 2025/2026

Ministers Support form 2025/26

Admissions Policy 2024/25

Admission Policy 2025/26 GCC Primary-guidance-booklet-2024/25 GCC Infant, Primary & Junior Schools Information Booklet In Year Admissions Guidance Booklet In Year Admission form Deferred Admission form*If you require a paper copy of any of our documents please contact the office 01285 653799