Applying for a High School place

Before applying for a High School place

What to do before you apply

Read the High School Prospectus• Available on the Ealing Website: www.ealing.gov.uk

or view a copy at an Ealing Primary or High School

• Read the admissions criteria in the prospectus for the schools that you are interested in applying to

• Look at the statistics pages in the prospectus and check the last person to be offered a place at your preferred schools – the distance they lived from the school and the criterion under which they were offered

• Based on the statistics, ask yourself: am I likely to gain a place at any of those schools?

Measurements from home to school

• How the measurement is made to each school is defined in their admission arrangements

• To get accurate measurements to your preferred schools call school admissions on 020 8825 5522 or email: mainroundadmissions@ealing.gov.uk

Visit the schools

• Visit the schools that you are interested in applying to

• Open evening dates and times are advertised on the information leaflet, the prospectus and at www.ealing.gov.uk

Please remember

• Secondary schools vary greatly and what is suitable for one child will not be suitable for another.

• Look to see whether the schools have specialism e.g. arts, sciences that might suit your child better.

• Read the school’s Ofsted report before making an application.

• Look at other information, e.g. on the school website.

Making your application

Information on applying

Faith Schools

If you are applying to a faith school you will need to: • Complete a supplementary information form

(SIF) (get this from the school or www.ealing.gov.uk for Ealing schools)

• Return the SIF to the school by the closing date• Remember to put your preference for a faith

school on the common application form

Applications for Drayton Manor and William Perkin Schools

• Drayton Manor gives higher priority to applicants whose nearest school is Drayton Manor.

• William Perkin also gives higher priority to applicants whose nearest school is William Perkin.

• To find out if Drayton Manor or William Perkin is your nearest school contact school admissions on 020 8825 5522 or email: mainroundadmissions@ealing.gov.uk

Families who live outside the London Borough of Ealing

If you live in another borough:

• Apply through your home council

• If you wish to apply to an Ealing school, apply through your home council

Applications for Out-borough Schools

If you live in Ealing and would like to apply for a school outside the London Borough of Ealing:

• Apply for the school(s) on the same application

• Go to the council’s website where the school is located for details of entry requirements

Applications for Independent or Private Schools

• Apply directly to each independent or private school

Applications for Grammar Schools

• Your child will need to sit the 11+ test• You should have registered with the school to

take the test• Test results are sent to parents before the

closing date for the common application form

Order of Preference on the application

• Choose up to six schools where your child has a realistic chance of being offered a place

• List the six schools in order of your preference• Ensure that one of your preferences is your

nearest non-faith school• Schools will not know the preference you have

expressed for their school and they will only prioritise your application according to their admission criteria

Information required with your application

• Proof of date of birth, e.g. your child’s medical card

• Proof of address is not required at the time of application, however, if we are unable to verify the address from our records we will require proof of address. Please note that if you give a false address any offer that has been made will be withdrawn.

Siblings

• If you have an older sibling who will be attending the high school when the younger sibling is due to start high school you need to claim this on the application. The LA will not look to see if you have a sibling attending the school.

Claiming Exceptional Medical or Social Circumstances

• Check if the school to which you are applying gives priority to exceptional medical or social circumstances

• Ealing Community Schools will only consider exceptional medical or social circumstances for your first preferred school

• When applying, provide supporting evidence from a consultant or professional stating why education must be at the preferred school and that it is the only school that can meet the child’s needs

Moving address

• If you move address between 1 November and 10 December you may keep or change your preferences and your application will be treated as on time.

• If you move after 10 December and wish to change your preferences your application will be dealt with as late.

• Any change of address received after 10 December will not be dealt with until after 2 March.

Offers and waiting lists

National offer day for on time applicants is Tuesday 1 March 2016. If you apply online you will

receive an email in the evening on the 1 March confirming the school that has been offered.

Offers

• Ealing will offer one place and that will be the highest preference able to be offered

• If they cannot offer you any of your preferences they will offer you a place at a school that has a vacancy at the end of the process

• If you apply online you will receive an email on the evening of 1 March giving you the outcome of your application

• If you apply on paper the offer letters will be sent by first-class post on 1 March and you will receive it a day or so later.

If you are not offered one of your preferred schools

• Do not decline a place until you have secured a place at another school

• Accept the offer and ask to be put on the waiting list for the schools that you were unable to be offered a place

• If you decline, the place offered the place will be given to the next person on the waiting list

Waiting Lists

• You will automatically be placed on the waiting list for any higher preferences that have not been able to be met

• The waiting list for every school is kept in criteria order, the length of time on the waiting list is not considered

• Waiting lists are kept for one academic year. If you wish to stay on the list after that you need to write to Ealing in July.

Right of Appeal

• You have the right of appeal but you need to have a strong case e.g. that the council or the school has made an error, or that it was an unreasonable decision

• Refer to the prospectus on the statistical page which gives the number of appeals heard and the number upheld or refused

Need more help with your application?

• The Admissions Fair is on Tuesday 6th October 2015 at Ealing Town Hall, Liz Cantell Room, between 4pm and 8 pm

• Individual advice sessions will take place at Perceval House, from Monday 12 October to Wednesday 14 October 2014, 10am to 4pm.

*Phone 020 8825 5522 to book a slot.

Expectations in Year 6

What do levels mean?

• The previous national curriculum levels have been scrapped, and instead children will be given scaled scores. You will be given your child’s raw score (the actual number of marks they get), alongside their scaled score and whether they have reached the national average. The score needed to reach the national average has yet to be announced.

SATs week

Week beginning 9th May 2016.

• Reading test.• Grammar, punctuation and spelling test.• Maths paper 1 and mental maths test.• Maths paper 2. Level 6 maths test.• No separate writing or science test.• Writing is not tested but assessed by the teacher.

What do we expect?

• We expect all children to work hard and complete any homework tasks.

• We expect good attendance. In previous years, children whose attendance was below the levels expected (95%) did less well than those with better attendance.

• We expect parents to support us in encouraging children to attend any after school booster classes etc.

Reading Test• The reading test will be a single paper with questions based on three

passages of text. Your child will have one hour, including reading time, to complete the test.

• There will be a selection of question types, including:• Ranking/ordering, e.g. ‘Number the events below to show the order in

which they happen in the story’• Labelling, e.g. ‘Label the text to show the title of the story’• Find and copy, e.g. ‘Find and copy one word that suggests what the

weather is like in the story’• Short constructed response, e.g. ‘What does the bear eat?’• Open-ended response, e.g. ‘Look at the sentence that begins Once

upon a time. How does the writer increase the tension throughout this paragraph? Explain fully, referring to the text in your answer.’

GPS or SPAG Test

• The grammar, punctuation and spelling test will consist of two parts: a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes, and an aural spelling test of 20 words, lasting around 15 minutes.

• The grammar and punctuation test will include two sub-types of questions:

• Selected response, e.g. ‘Identify the adjectives in the sentence below’

• Constructed response, e.g. ‘Correct/complete/rewrite the sentence below,’ or, ‘The sentence below has an apostrophe missing. Explain why it needs an apostrophe.’

Maths Test• Children will sit three papers in maths:• Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes• Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minutes per paper• Paper 1 will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to

give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division. Papers 2 and 3 will involve a number of question types, including:

• Multiple choice• True or false• Constrained questions, e.g. giving the answer to a calculation, drawing

a shape or completing a table or chart• Less constrained questions, where children will have to explain their

approach for solving a problem

Science - Test• Not all children in Year 6 will take science SATs. However, a number of schools will

be required to take part in science sampling: a test administered to a selected sample of children thought to be representative of the population as a whole. (Monday 6 to Friday 17 June is the science sampling test period in which your child might sit the tests.) For those who are selected, there will be three papers:

• Biology: 25 minutes, 22 marks• Chemistry: 25 minutes, 22 marks• Physics: 25 minutes, 22 marks• It sounds very intimidating, but these are ‘questions in a physics/chemistry/biology

context’, for example:• Biology: ‘Describe the differences in the life cycle of an amphibian and a mammal’• Chemistry: ‘Group a list of materials according to whether they are solid, liquid or

gas’• Physics: ‘Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, based on

where the poles are facing’

What we will do

• Give your child every chance to succeed.• Provide extra targeted support in class and

through booster lessons where necessary.• Report to you at the end of the school year

your child’s results, both in the tests and the teacher’s assessment.

• Pass on our records to your child’s high school.

PGL Windmill Hill14th-18th September 2015

Web Links

• http://www.pgl.co.uk/en-gb/school-trips/primary-schools/centres/windmill-hill#.Ve69-E10wps

• http://www.pgl.co.uk/en-gb/school-trips/primary-schools