Admission and Oversubscription Policies
Maharishi School Richmond
D5: Admissions Policy
Overview
The Admissions Body is the Governing Body of Maharishi School Richmond. The maximum number of children admitted to reception is 48 and year 7 is 72.
The Maharishi School is a Reception to Year 13 (all-through) School. A child already enrolled at the school in Year 6 will automatically have a place in Year 7 and there will be no need to reapply.
The school will be part of Richmond’s coordinated admissions scheme. If there is not time to join that scheme for 2013, the school will ensure that information on the places it offers are relayed to the Local Authority so it can eliminate multiple offers as far as possible.
Any pupil will be admitted without reference to academic ability or aptitude, race, colour, gender, religion, socio-economic status, ethnic or national origins. It is acknowledged that the success of Maharishi School as reflected by the success of its pupils is dependent upon the unique Consciousness-based Education curriculum and principles embedded in our day-to-day activities. This curriculum includes the daily practice of Transcendental Meditation as taught exclusively under the auspices of the Maharishi Foundation. Although it is not expected that each child will be practising Transcendental Meditation (TM) prior to being offered a place at the School, each child will learn and be regularly practising TM prior to the 1st day of their first term at the School. The School will be happy to make arrangements for this once an offer of a place is accepted, and there will be no charge for any pupil learning TM to attend the School.
It is expected that at least one carer/parent also learns TM at the same time as the child. Experience has shown that not only does this enable a parent to understand and support the child’s experience and growth, but also results in significant benefit to the parent. Should the child’s circumstances preclude a parent or carer learning, as in the case of a child in public care, then this expectation can be waived.
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Applications for children with a statement for special educational needs (or in receipt of other SEN support) are considered separately in liaison with the Local Authority. Where places are allocated within this category during the normal round they are counted within the school’s published admission number. However, where an SEN statement names the school, the pupil will be given a place even if the admission takes the school over the PAN.
Shared Parenting
Where a child lives between addresses then the address where he or she wakes up for the majority of school days will be considered for admission purposes. Parents may be asked for evidence of residence where this is required to apply the admission policy (ie for straight line measures).
Twins / Triplets etc.
Where a single place remains and the next the next offer is for twins / triplets (or other multiple births) then the Governing Body will consider using discretion to allocate all of the children places.
Waiting List
Disappointed applicants will be placed on a waiting list ranked in the same order as published in the oversubscription criteria to the published admissions criteria. The waiting list will remain in operation from the day the original places are awarded and will be used to allocate places which become available before the start of the school year. A separate waiting list will be maintained for each year group.
Parents can be notified on request of where their child has been placed on a waiting list but indication of the likelihood of being offered a place will not be given as their position may change if families having a higher priority, who apply for places for their children, move into the neighbourhood of the school. The Local Authority will retain the waiting list until 31st August each year and the Governing Body will retain the list from 1st September until 31st December.
Appeal Procedures
Parents wishing to appeal against the refusal to admit a child to the School may do so by writing to the Chairman of the Governors at the School, preferably within 14 school days of receipt by parents of a letter from the School informing them that a place is not available. An independent appeal panel will be convened to consider the appeal.
Oversubscription
Primary phase places
Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available, selection will be made by the School Governing Body who will, after the admission of pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs where the school is named in the Statement, apply the following criteria in the order set out below, to decide which children to admit:
a) A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order.
b) Where the applicant is considered a sibling of a child currently enrolled at the School (sibling, half-sibling, adopted sibling or foster sibling, whether or not their main address is the same).
c) Children of staff in either or both of the following circumstances:
i) where 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, and/or
ii) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post in the School for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage for the requirements of the post
d) (Tie break) Where having applied the above criteria and allocated places to the children satisfying those criteria there remain places available, 55% (rounded down) of the places remaining will be allocated in order of proximity of the child’s address to the School’s address, with the most proximate first. Distance will be measured by the shortest route by road or maintained footpath, accompanied as necessary, from the seed-point of their home to the nearest pedestrian school gate used by the relevant year-group. Accessibility of private or public transport will not be considered. All distances will be measured using a computerised geographical information system. The remaining 45% of places remaining (rounded up) will be allocated by a random draw.
Secondary phase places until 2020
Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available, selection will be made by the School Governing Body who will, after the admission of pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs where the school is named in the Statement, apply the following criteria in the order set out below, to decide which children to admit:
a) A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order.
b) Where the applicant is considered a sibling of a child currently enrolled at the School (sibling, half-sibling, adopted sibling or foster sibling, whether or not their main address is the same).
c) Children of staff in either or both of the following circumstances:
i) where 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, and/or
ii) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post in the School for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage for the requirements of the post
d) (Tie break) Where having applied the above criteria and allocated places to the children satisfying those criteria there remain places available, 65% (rounded down) of the places remaining will be allocated in order of proximity of the child’s address to the School’s address, with the most proximate first. Distance will be measured by the shortest route by road or maintained footpath, accompanied as necessary, from the seed-point of their home to the nearest pedestrian school gate used by the relevant year-group. Accessibility of private or public transport will not be considered. All distances will be measured using a computerised geographical information system. The remaining 35% of places remaining (rounded up) will be allocated by a random draw.
Secondary phase places from 2020
As indicated in the overview above, all children already on roll at the school in year 6 transfer automatically into year 7. The oversubscription criteria below relate to the places remaining after this transfer.
Where applications for admission exceed the number of such places available, selection will be made by the School Governing Body who will, after the admission of pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs where the school is named in the Statement, apply the following criteria in the order set out below, to decide which children to admit:
a) A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order.
b) Where the applicant is considered a sibling of a child currently enrolled at the School (sibling, half-sibling, adopted sibling or foster sibling, whether or not their main address is the same).
c) Children of staff in either or both of the following circumstances:
i) where 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, and/or
ii) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post in the School for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage for the requirements of the post
d) (Tie break) Where having applied the above criteria and allocated places to the children satisfying those criteria there remain places available, the places remaining will be allocated in order of proximity of the child’s address to the School’s address, with the most proximate first. Distance will be measured by the shortest route by road or maintained footpath, accompanied as necessary, from the seed-point of their home to the nearest pedestrian school gate used by the relevant year-group. Accessibility of private or public transport will not be considered. All distances will be measured using a computerised geographical information system.
Post-16
Entry to the sixth form is available only to those already on roll at the school. No external admissions to year 12 will be accepted.
Usually entry will be restricted to those obtaining at least 5 GCSEs at A* to C. All students achieving this will be admitted.
Entry will be available to those achieving less than this only if, in the judgement of the governing body (informed by the principal and relevant staff at the school), the AS/A2 courses available would be suitable for them.
