Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policies

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Sally-Anne
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policies

Post by Sally-Anne »

With the conversion to Academies, all the Bucks grammar schools now have differing Admissions Policies. I thought it would be helpful for parents to have an “at a glance” guide to the proposed Policies for admission to Year 7 in September 2014. (The “main point of admission” – in-year admissions into Year 7 may be subject to different criteria.)

The admission criteria are applied in descending order in the event of over-subscription for the school.

I have removed some common verbiage from all of the Policies, and edited certain items and wording as follows.

:: Under the terms of the Admissions Code there are two groups of children who must be given priority ahead of all other qualified children, but I have removed them from each Policy to keep the criteria as simple as possible. The two groups are, in order, children with a statement of Special Educational Needs that names the school and Looked After/Previously Looked After children. (At least one of the schools needs to tighten up their wording for the latter - they omit to mention "previously looked-after children". They also make no mention in their Policy of children who have a statement that names the school.)

:: Where Policies mention “Exceptional medical or social needs”, it is my shorthand for the following: ”Children who have exceptional medical or social needs supported by written evidence from a doctor, social worker, educational welfare officer or other appropriate person.”

:: I have left the wording for sibling rules, and some other more unusual criteria, exactly as they are given in each Policy because these are potentially the greyest areas.

:: Parents should note that there is a marked difference between schools in the way that siblings are handled. Some give priority to siblings regardless of whether they live in catchment, while others prioritise catchment children above non-catchment siblings.

:: I have omitted various statements about tie-breaks for distance and admissions for multiple births when only a single place is available. Although both can arise in theory, the likelihood of them doing so is quite small.

:: I must emphasise that this is merely an “at a glance” guide, and it is not a substitute for reading the full draft Policies for schools that you are interested in. As an example, where children on FSM are given priority, there will be qualifying dates associated with that which are not shown below.

I hope there are no errors, because I have copied and pasted from each consultation document, but please do let me know if you find any.

Aylesbury Grammar School

1. Boys eligible for free school meals
2. Siblings of boys in Years 7 to 12 at Aylesbury Grammar School who are on the roll and will be on the roll at the time of the proposed admission
3. Siblings of girls in Years 7 to 12 at Aylesbury High School who are on the roll and will be on the roll at the time of the proposed admission
4. Siblings of boys who have attended Aylesbury Grammar School previously.
5. Exceptional medical or social needs
6. Children living in catchment
7. Distance

Aylesbury High School

1. Students who qualify for Free School Meals
2. Siblings of girls in Years 7 to 12 at Aylesbury High School who are on the roll and will be on the roll of the applicable school at the time of the proposed admission
3. Siblings of boys at Aylesbury Grammar School who are on the roll and will be on the roll of the applicable school at the time of the proposed admission
4. Children living in catchment
5. Distance

Beaconsfield High School

1. Siblings of girls who live within the school’s catchment area who will be in attendance at the school in the Autumn term of entry
2. Children living in catchment
3. Siblings of girls who live outside the school’s catchment area who will be in attendance at the school in the Autumn term of entry
4. Distance

Burnham Grammar

1. Children living in catchment
2. Siblings of children in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made, and are expected to be on the school roll at the time of the proposed admission
3. Exceptional medical or social needs
4. Distance

Chesham Grammar School

1. Children living in catchment
2. Siblings of children in Years 7 to 10 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission
3. Exceptional medical or social needs
4. Distance

Dr Challoners Grammar School

1. Brothers of boys in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission
2. Boys living in the catchment area of the school and who qualify for Free School Meals
3. Children living in catchment
4. Brothers of boys in Years 7 to 12 living outside the catchment area of the school
5. Distance

In addition, parents should note the following information very carefully for DCGS.

Evidence of Normal Home Address

The process for verifying the normal home address of applicants will match that outlined in the County Scheme except that:
a) In order to qualify for admission under Rule 2, the applicant must have been resident within the catchment area continuously since April 1st of the year preceding proposed admission.
b) If a family still owns a property within 20 miles of the school which has been the main family home, a property closer to the school will not be accepted as the basis for a legitimate residence qualification even if the former property is leased to a third party.
c) The school may require a higher standard of evidence for "residence qualification" than that outlined in the County Scheme if there are reasons for casting doubt on the honesty of an application.

Dr Challoners High School

1. Children living in catchment
2. Girls who are entitled to free school meals
3. Sisters of girls in Years 7 to 10 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission.
4. Exceptional medical or social needs
5. Distance

N.B. DCHS considered withdrawing priority for siblings in their draft Policy, but have postponed the change after consultation. The school's reasons for both the initial proposal and postponement of the change can be found here: http://www.challonershigh.com/_files/Ad ... B5A4CD.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

John Hampden Grammar School

1. Children living in catchment
2. Brothers of children in Years 7 to 10 who are on the roll of the School at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the School at the time of the proposed admission
3. Brothers of a pupil at Wycombe High School who is on the roll of Wycombe High School at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the School at the time of the proposed admission
4. Exceptional medical or social needs
5. Distance

Royal Grammar School (Day Places only)

1. Children living in catchment
2. Brothers of boys on the roll of the school at the time of allocation and will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission
3. Exceptional medical or social needs
4. Sons of a member of staff who 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 the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage
5. Distance

Royal Latin School

1. Children living in catchment
2. Siblings of children in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll and will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission
3. Exceptional medical or social needs
4. Students who qualify for Free School Meals
5. Distance

Sir Henry Floyd

1. Students who qualify for Free School Meals
2. Siblings of students in Years 7 to 12 at the school who are on roll and will be on the roll at the time of the proposed admission.
3. Siblings of former students at the school
4. Children living in catchment
5. Distance

Sir William Borlase Grammar School

1. Children living in catchment
2. Siblings of children in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission
3. Exceptional medical or social needs
4. Distance

Wycombe High School

1. Children living in catchment
2. Younger sisters of current students in Years 7 to 12 at the point of allocation and who will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission
3. Distance

N.B. In their draft Admissions Policy, WHS included the same statement on residence requirements as DCGS (above). In the final Determined Admission Arrangements that statement has disappeared.
Mostlymum
Posts: 116
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 12:14 pm

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admissions Polici

Post by Mostlymum »

Thanks for this SallyAnne, I know there are a lot of GX parents concerned about the DCHS changes.
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admissions Polici

Post by Sally-Anne »

No problem, mostlymum. GX parents do have a very hard time of it, boys or girls.

If there are Bucks GS Heads or Governors reading this, I do hope that they might consider the possibility of developing a common form of wording for some criteria. Examples from three schools are these (the italics are mine):
:: Siblings of children in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made, and are expected to be on the school roll at the time of the proposed admission

:: Siblings of children in Years 7 to 12 who are on the roll of the school at the time allocations are made and who will be on the roll of the school at the time of the proposed admission.

:: Siblings of girls who live within the school’s catchment area who will be in attendance at the school in the Autumn term of entry
They all have the same intention, without a doubt, but the wording is bound to confuse parents.
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by Sally-Anne »

I have updated my original post to reflect what I believe are the final Determined Admission Arrangments for each school.

The only change that I am aware of to the Draft Policies is the postponement of the proposal to remove sibling priority at DCHS.

Please do let me know if you find any discrepancies beyond that.
lyallnt
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 3:59 pm

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by lyallnt »

Dear Sally- Anne,

I've stumbled upon this forum and it's brought me out in a cold sweat....

You say that for Wycombe High School families "must have been continuously resident within the catchment area since 1 April preceding the proposed September admission".

I can't see any mention of this in the WHS admission policy - http://www.whs.bucks.sch.uk/documents/A ... rmined.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

The note on evidence of home address states:

The process for verifying the normal home address of applicants will match the County Scheme except that:
a) the School may require a higher standard of evidence for ‘residence qualification’ than that outlined in the County Scheme if there are reasons casting doubt on the honesty of an application
b) Returning forces personnel and crown servants will be managed in line with the County Scheme.

This is in contrast with the Dr Challenors policy which has the rule which you're talking about.

I do hope you're wrong about this - we've exchanged contracts and are moving into the Wycombe area in July....
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi lyallint

Sorry for the delay in replying to you - somehow I completely missed this post.

The draft Admissions policy for WHS definitely included the statement about residency for 18 months. I remember being very puzzled by it at the time because I am not aware that there has ever been a particular problem with fraudulent applications for the school.

You are quite correct that it is not in the final Determined Admission Arrangements for 2014. I will edit my post accordingly.

I suspect that there was an element of "copying and pasting" in some of the Draft Admissions Policies this year - that statement was identical to the one given for DCGS.

Although Admissions Policies should be very high on the list of priorities for the Governing Body of an Academy, I suspect that is not always the reality, especially for schools that have recently converted to Academy status and have a huge amount of new admin to deal with. To add to the problem, the Draft Policies have to be published by the very early part of January each year, when schools are closed. If the need to publish the Policy is overlooked at the end of the autumn term, it could easily be the case that "something, anything" is published in haste, simply to comply with the law. Any errors are then sorted out later once the consultation has closed and the final Policy is determined.

I am not suggesting that this was what actually happened at WHS, but there was certainly evidence of some Policies being produced in a hurry, and a couple of them were not posted until several days after the official deadline.

Many apologies for bringing you out in a cold sweat though!
d2001
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:19 pm

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by d2001 »

Hi Sally Ann and everyone,

Many thanks for this post. I was a little confused with the whole Bucks policy for GS.

From what I have read, if you are not in a catchment area then there is no point doing the Bucks exam..... am I correct?

Appreciate your response,

DP.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by Guest55 »

For some of the 'popular' GS this is true BUT some of the schools nearly always have spare places.

Chesham Grammar and Sir Henry Floyd GS (Aylesbury) are both very good schools but are regularly under-subscribed so it is worth applying if either of them is near you.
d2001
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:19 pm

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by d2001 »

thanks for your reply,
we live miles away from Bucks but are happy to relocate. I guess if he can get into Chesham GS or Sir Henry Floyd GS it better then our local
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Quick reference guide to Bucks GS 2014 Admission Policie

Post by Guest55 »

Do try and visit them.

Their websites are both quite informative:

Chesham Grammar: http://www.cheshamgrammar.bucks.sch.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar: http://www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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