Transfer from Primary to Secondary School 2015 ARE YOU THE PARENT OF A CHILD IN YEAR 6 AT PRIMARY SCHOOL? If so, your child will be transferring to secondary school next September and you need to know how to apply to secondary schools. Even if you want to apply to a secondary school that is not in Tower Hamlets – READ ON. The information here explains broadly how the system works. You can find further information in the ‘Ready for Secondary School in Tower Hamlets’ brochure available from Tower Hamlets primary schools and the Council’s Pupil Services Team. It is also on the Tower Hamlets Council website www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/schooladmissions. If you have any queries, please telephone Pupil Services on 020 7364 5006 - we can help. TRANSFERRING TO SECONDARY SCHOOL If your child attends a Tower Hamlets primary school or lives in Tower Hamlets you will receive a copy of the ‘Ready for Secondary School in Tower Hamlets’ brochure in early September. The brochure explains the co-ordinated school admissions system, application procedure and how decisions are made if a school receives more applications than places available. There is also a DVD to help prepare you and your child for the change from primary to secondary school. The school visiting times, which are also in the brochure, are set out opposite. To obtain more information about schools in other local authority areas, you should contact the School Admissions Team in that area for their admissions brochure or the schools directly for a prospectus and details of their open days. Contact details can be found in the ‘Ready for Secondary School in Tower Hamlets’ brochure or alternatively you can contact Pupil Services. THE APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR ALL TOWER HAMLETS RESIDENTS APPLY ONLINE Applying online is a simple and easy way to submit your applications for secondary schools. You can apply online from now until 31 October 2014, the closing date, and you will not have to complete a paper form. You can also make changes to your application up until 31 October. You will then receive an e-mail (as well as a letter) informing you of the results in early March next year. Go to: www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/schooladmissions MAKING YOUR APPLICATION You MUST apply online or complete a Tower Hamlets Secondary Transfer Application Form (CAF – Common Application Form), even if you are not applying to a Tower Hamlets secondary school. If your child attends a Tower Hamlets primary school the form will be given to you by the primary school in early September. If your child attends a school outside Tower Hamlets you can obtain an application pack from the Tower Hamlets Pupil Services Team. You will not need to complete the CAF if you apply online (see above). You can apply for up to six schools in Tower Hamlets or across London You should name the schools in your order of preference on the application form, and put the school that you would most like your child to attend first on the form, the next school that you prefer you should put second, and so on. This is what is known as "ranking" your applications. If you decide not to apply for as many as six schools we strongly recommend you name at least three schools. • If you are applying for the Bishop Challoner schools, Sir John Cass, or Raine’s you will need to complete a supplementary form as well as complete an online application or CAF. The supplementary form must be obtained and returned directly to the schools. The "supplementary form" is NOT an application form but needs be completed for these schools. • if you are a applying for a music place at St Paul’s Way Trust School or a specialist language place at Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat School, please contact the school directly for a copy of the registration form. As well as completing and returning the registration form direct to the school, you must also choose the school when you apply online or complete the CAF. • If you are applying to out of borough schools you may also need to complete a supplementary form for some schools. You should contact the school or the School Admissions Team in the relevant local authority (LA) to find out if this is the case. Information for non-Tower Hamlets residents Parents of children who do not live in Tower Hamlets cannot complete the Tower Hamlets CAF, even if they are applying to a Tower Hamlets school. They must contact the School Admissions Team in the LA where they live for an application form and more information. All non-Tower Hamlets residents must complete a Supplementary Form if they are applying to any of the Tower Hamlets schools. Please contact the Tower Hamlets Pupil Services Team for guidance. CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS Your completed application must be submitted by 31 October 2014. By applying online you can be certain that your application reaches us by 31 October. If your child attends a Tower Hamlets primary school and you do not apply online, you should return the CAF to the primary school by Friday, 24 October. Any applications received later than the closing date will be considered after those received on time, and the chances of being offered a place at one of your chosen schools will be greatly reduced. AFTER THE CLOSING DATE Admissions to schools in Tower Hamlets and across London are co-ordinated using a central computer called the ‘Pan London Register’. The register holds and exchanges information for all the London local authorities and helps to ensure that each child receives a single offer of a school place. This process will take place from November to late February 2015. Tower Hamlets LA will make decisions on applications for schools which use the council’s admission policy by using the oversubscription criteria set out in the www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/schooladmissions ‘Ready for Secondary School in Tower Hamlets’ brochure. The governing bodies of the Bishop Challoner schools, Sir John Cass, Raine’s, Wapping High and London Enterprise Academy will decide using their own criteria which are also set out in the brochure. NOTIFYING YOU OF THE OUTCOME OF YOUR APPLICATIONS On 2 March 2015 notification letters will be sent to parents to advise whether or not a place can be offered for their child. Parents who applied online will receive an email on 2 March 2015. If you live in Tower Hamlets the letter will come from the Pupil Services Team, regardless of whether the school being offered is in Tower Hamlets or elsewhere. No child will be offered more than one school place. You will therefore be notified of the highest "ranked" school that is able to offer a place. Lower ranked offers will be cancelled or ‘withdrawn’. If an application to a higher ranked school is unsuccessful, the letter will explain how you can appeal against the decision to refuse a place. If you live in Tower Hamlets and it is not possible to offer your child a place at any of your preferred schools, we will tell you which schools in Tower Hamlets you can still apply for. If necessary, we will allocate (reserve) your child a place at the nearest school with an available place. WAITING LISTS If your child has not been offered a place at any of your preferred schools, s/he will remain on the waiting lists for these schools for the next school year or until a place can be offered. However, if you have received an offer at one of your preferred schools, your child will remain on the waiting list until the October half-term. If you wish to remain on the waiting list for a Tower Hamlets school after the October half-term, you must complete an In Year Transfer form, which is available from the Pupil Services Team. Please note that transfers take place at the beginning of every term and half term, and you can view the timetable in the guidance notes which accompany the In Year Transfer form on the Tower Hamlets Council website. You can also contact Pupil Services to place your child on the waiting list for Tower Hamlets schools that you did not apply to originally. For the Bishop Challoner schools, Sir John Cass, Raine’s, Wapping High and London Enterprise Academy, please follow advice from these schools. You are invited to an advice session for parents on secondary transfer on Wednesday 17 September 2014 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm at the Professional Development Centre, 229 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 6AB. Officers will be available to explain how to apply and to answer your questions. 10 NEWS FROM TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 8 – 14 SEPTEMBER 2014
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