St Michael’s Church of England High School
Determined Admission Arrangements 2025-26
Making an application
Applications for admission to the school should be made on the Local Authority application through the online system provided by admissions at Apply for a Secondary School Place in Lancashire. This application should be made between 1st September 2024 and 31st October 2024 for admission to the school in September 2025 It is not normally possible to change the order of your preferences for schools after the closing date.
Parents who wish their application to this church school to be considered against the faith criteria should also complete the school’s supplementary form and return to St Michael’s CE High School by 31st October 2024. If the school is oversubscribed, a failure to complete the supplementary form may result in your application for a place in this school being considered against lower priority criteria as the Governing Body will have no information upon which to assess the worship attendance.
N.B. Applications may be made online by using the common application form but the supplementary information form must be completed and sent to St Michael’s CE High School by 31st October 2024.
Parents will be informed by the Local Authority whether or not their child has been allocated a place on 1st March 2025. Parents of children not admitted will be offered an alternative place by the Authority and given information on waiting lists and the appeal process.
Admission procedures
Arrangements for admission have been agreed following consultation between the Governing Body, the Diocesan Board of Education, Local Authorities and other admission authorities in the area.
The number of places available for admission to Year 7 in the year 2025 will be a maximum of 225.
The Governing Body will not place any restrictions on admissions to Year 7 unless the number of children for whom admission is sought exceeds their admission number. The Governing Body operates a system of equal preferences under which they consider all preferences equally and the Local Authority notifies parents of the result. In the event that there are more applicants than places, after admitting all children with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) naming the school, the Governing Body will allocate places using the criteria below which are listed in order of priority.
1 (a) Children in public care and previously looked after children. This means a ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements or special guardianship order, including those 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 (please see definitions below). A ‘looked after child’ is a child who is (a) in the care of the local authority or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in 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 the school.
An adoption order is an order under the Adoption Act 1976 (see Section 12 adoption orders) and children who are adopted under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (see Section 46 adoption orders). A ‘child arrangements order’ is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with
whom the child is to live under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 as amended by Section 14 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Section 14A of the of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individual’s to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians). A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.
1 (b) Children with specialmedical or social circumstances affecting the child where these Needs can only be met at this school. Professional supporting evidence from a professional, e.g. a doctor, psychologist, social worker, is essential if admission is to be made under the criterion for special medical or social circumstances, and such evidence must set out the particular reasons why the school in question is the only school where these needs can be met and the difficulties which would be caused if the child had to attend another school. Parents must submit this evidence to the school by 31st October 2024, if they wish their application to be considered under this criterion.
2.1 Parent or child is a regular fortnightly worshipper at a foundation church listed below which has membership of Churches Together in England or the Evangelical Alliance. Regular fortnightly worship attendance is defined as a minimum of twice per month for a period of no less than 2 years up to the 1st September in the year of application for admission to the school. (Twoyearperiod appliesto1stSept2022–1stSept2024). The governors will request confirmation of this from the relevant clergy or church officer. Within criterion 2.1 first priority will be given to siblings of pupils who are on the school roll at the date of application and on the date of admission (1st September 2025). *
Foundation churches served by the school:
AdlingtonStPaul
ChorleyStPeter
BrindleStJames CoppullParish
CharnockRichardChristChurch CoppullStJohn
ChorleyAllSaints EuxtonParish
ChorleyStGeorge HeapeyStBarnabas
ChorleyStJames WhittleleWoodsStJohn
ChorleyStLaurence WithnellStPaul
2.2 Parent or child is a regular fortnightly worshipper at another Christian church with membership of Churches Together in England or the Evangelical Alliance.
Regular fortnightly worship attendance is defined as a minimum of twice per month for a period of no less than 2 years up to the 1st September in the year of application for admission to the school. (TwoyearperiodappliestoSept2022–Sept2024). The governors will request confirmation of this from the relevant clergy or church officer. Within criterion 2.2, first priority will be given to siblings of pupils who are on the school roll at the date of application and on the date of admission (1st September 2025).*
During the COVID19 pandemic, churches and other religious buildings have been closed by law for public worship and for other uses. Since the schools oversubscription criteria includes church attendance, the following variation applies:
In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has 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 church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.
3 Children who have a sibling attending the school on the date of application and on the date of admission. Siblings include step, half, foster, adopted brothers and sisters living at the same address.*
4 Other children*
NOTE:
*Wheretherearemoreapplicantsfortheavailableplaceswithinacategory,thenthe distancebetweentheOrdnanceSurveyaddresspointsfortheschoolandthehome measuredinastraightlinewillbeusedasthefinaldeterminingfactor,neareraddresses havingpriorityovermoredistantones. Thisaddresspointiswithinthebodyofthe propertyandusuallylocatedatitscentre. Wherethecutoffpointisforaddresseswithin thesamebuilding,thenthesinglemeasurebetweenaddresspointswillapplyandthe LocalAuthority'ssystemofarandomdrawwilldeterminewhichaddress(es)receivethe offer(s).
The list of Churches can be found on the Churches Together in England website at cte.org.uk, and for the Evangelical Alliance at eauk.org; lists are taken as on 1st September 2024. Churches in membership of the equivalent bodies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are also accepted.
Fortheavoidanceofdoubt,matterswhichthegovernorsdonottakeintoaccountinthe allocationofplacesincludethefollowing:
a)Attendanceatachurchschool
b)Attendanceatchurchaspartofnormalschoolactivity
c)Whetherachildisconfirmedorbeingpreparedforconfirmation
d)Whetherachildisbaptized
e)Academicabilities
Late applications for admission
Where there are extenuating circumstances for an application being received after the last date for applications, and it is before the governors have established their list of pupils to be admitted, then it will be considered alongside all the others.
Otherwise, applications which are received after the last date will be considered after all the others, and placed on the waiting list in order according to the criteria.
Waiting list
Where we have more applications than places, the admissions criteria will be used. Children who are not admitted will have their name placed on a waiting list if they have notified Lancashire County Council that they wish to do so. The names on this waiting list will be in the order resulting from the application of the admissions criteria. Since the date of application cannot be a criterion for the order of names on the waiting list, late applicants for the school will be slotted into the order according to the extent to which they meet the criteria. Thus it is possible that a child who moves into the area later to have a higher priority than one who has been on the waiting list for some time. If a place becomes available within the admission number, the child whose name is at the top of the list will be offered a place. This is not dependent on whether an appeal has been submitted.
This waiting list will operate until the 31st December of the relevant year.
Address of pupil
The address used on the school’s admission form must be the current one at the time of application, ie the family’s main residence. If the address changes subsequently, the parents should notify the school. Where the parents live at different addresses, and there is shared parenting, the address used will normally be the one where the child wakes up for the majority of Monday to Friday mornings. If there is any doubt about this, then the address of the Child Benefit recipient will be used. Parents may be asked to show evidence of the claim that is being made for the address, e.g. identity cards of various sorts showing the child’s address as the one claimed. Where there is dispute about the correct address to use, the governors reserve the right to make enquiries of any relevant third parties, e.g. the child’s GP, Council Tax Office, Electoral Registration Officer, utilities provider. For children of UK Service personnel and other Crown Servants returning to the area proof of the posting is all that is required.
Non routine/In-year admissions
In-year admission is the process of applying for a school place during the school year. Any applications for the intake made after the start of the autumn term will be treated as an in-year application. The in-year admission process is managed by the school. Parents are required to complete the in-year application form, which is available from the school website. Where a place cannot be secured, parents will be offered a legal right of appeal to an independent appeal panel. Lancashire County Council administers the appeals process on behalf of the school. Parents can complete the school’s appeal form on Lancashire County Council’s website.
Please note that you cannot re-appeal for a place at a school within the same school year unless there has been relevant, significant and material change in the family circumstances.
Appeals for routine admissions
Where the governors are unable to offer a place because the school is over-subscribed, parents have the right to appeal to an independent admission appeal panel, set up under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998, as amended by the Education Act, 2002. Parents should notify the clerk to the governors at the school by 16th April 2025. Parents will have the opportunity to submit their case to the panel in writing and also to attend in order to present their case. You will normally receive 14 days’ notice of the place and time of the hearing. Where possible, the appeals will be heard in person although some are now heard through a digital format.
Please use the Local Authority weblink for appeals: Lancashire County Council Admission Appeals
Fraudulent applications
Where the governing body discovers that a child has been awarded a place as the result of an intentionally misleading application from a parent (for example a false claim to residence in the catchment area or of involvement in a place of worship) which effectively denies a place to a child with a stronger claim, then the governing body is required to withdraw the offer of the place. The application will be considered afresh and a right of appeal offered if a place is refused.
Twins/Triplets etc. Where there are twins wanting admission and there is only a single place left within the admission number, then the Governing Body will exercise as much flexibility as possible. If places for twins or all triplets, etc cannot be offered, the family will be advised accordingly. This may also apply to siblings who are in the same year group. If only a single place can be offered for twins, then the Local Authority’s system for a random draw will decide which pupil receives an offer.
Supplementary Form
Admission to Church of England schools September 2025
To be completed by the parent/guardian
Child’s Surname
Child’s Christian name(s)
Child’s date of birth
Name of parent/carer
Address
Postcode
Telephone
Mobile
Are you applying for a place under any of the following: EHCP
Children in public care and previously looked after children
Special social/medical needs*
Parent/child faith commitment
Sibling in school – please give their name(s):
(you may tick more than one box)
If you are applying on faith grounds, please complete the following:
Parent/carer/child regularly attends:
Name of church
Name of vicar/minister
Address of church
Post code
Telephone of church
Email of church
(This named person will be contacted in order to verify your church attendance)
Signed: Date:
PLEASE RETURN THIS COMPLETED FORM TO THE SCHOOL NO LATER THAN 31 OCTOBER 2024 admissions@saint-michaels.lancs.sch.uk
*Special Medical or Social Circumstances. For further clarification see oversubscription criteria 1(b) on p2 of the Admissions Arrangements.
Reference Request – Admission to St Michael’s Church of England High School September 2025
Please confirm whether the parent(s) or child(ren) named below has attended public worship at this church for a minimum of twice per month between 1st September 2022 and 1st September 2024, except during the period(s) of church closure.
Name of church
Name of vicar/priest/minister
Name of child Name of parent(s)
Fortnightly Attendance for the specified 2 year period* Yes/No No attendance to your knowledge Parent or child attends
Comments (Attendance between September 2022 –September 2024)*
*Exceptduringtheperiod(s)ofchurchclosure.
Please be aware that these responses may be required by Lancashire County Council in the event of an appeal hearing. I confirm that the above church is a member of the following: Churches Together cte.org.uk Evangelical Alliance eauk.org
Name of person completing form
Position in church
Signature
Date