Admissions

We admit children to our school in the September after their fourth birthday. Applications for reception class places at the Raleigh School should be made to Surrey County Council by January in the year of entry. Information on schools admissions will be found here -
School Admissions - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

If you would like to move your child to the Raleigh from another school, please download and complete our in-year admissions form and submit, with supporting documentation, either in electronic form to info.raleigh@sfet.org.uk or by hand to:

Mrs L Light Admissions Officer, The Raleigh School, Northcote Crescent, West Horsley, Surrey KT24 6LX

Priority for admission arrangements from September 2024 are as follows:

1. Looked After Children and Previously Looked After Children

Children who are registered as being in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by a local authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 (a), e.g. fostered or living in a children’s home, at the time an application for a school is made; and
Children who have previously been in the care of a local authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 (a) and who have left that care through adoption, a child arrangement order (in accordance with Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 and as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014) or special guardianship order (in accordance with Section 14A of the Children Act 1989).
Children 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. A child will be regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society. The parent/carer will need to provide evidence to demonstrate that the child was in state care outside of England and left that care as a result of being adopted.

2. Exceptional Arrangements

Occasionally there will be a very small number of children for whom exceptional arrangements apply which mean that The Raleigh is the only appropriate school for the child. Evidence from a consultant doctor will be required for medical cases or documented evidence from any support services involved for other sensitive family circumstances will be required. These exceptional arrangements may override other admissions priorities.
Providing evidence does not guarantee that a child will be given priority and in each case a decision will be made based on the merits of the case and whether evidence demonstrates that a placement should be made at this school above any other.

3. Children of Staff at the School

Priority will be given to children of members of the senior leadership team who have been employed at the school for two or more years and for new staff employed to a difficult to recruit position. For normal round admissions the date that will be used to assess this will be the closing date for applications which is 15^th January 2024. For in-year applications the date that will be used will be the date the application is made.

4. Siblings

Children who will have a sibling still attending The Raleigh at the time of their admission. A sibling is defined as a brother or sister (that is, another child of the same parents, whether those parents both live at the same address or not); or a half-brother or half-sister, adopted or fostered brother or sister or step-brother or step-sister, living as part of the same family unit at the same address, Monday to Friday.

5. All Other Applicants

This will be measured in a straight line from the address point of the child’s home, as set by Ordnance Survey, to the nominated gates at the site.

Tie Breaker

In the event of any category being oversubscribed, priority will be given to those living nearest to the school measured in a straight line from the home address point of the pupil’s house, as set out by Ordnance Survey to the nearest school gate for pupils to use; this is calculated using the Surrey County Council Geographical Information System. The child’s home address excludes any business, relative’s or childminder’s address and must be the child’s normal place of residence. In the case of shared custody, it is the address where the child spends most of the time. All distances will be measured by the computerized Geographical Information System maintained by Surrey’s Admissions and Transport team. Any offer of a place on the basis of address is conditional on the child being resident at the address provided.

The nominated gates are the pedestrian gate in the pathway joining Northcote Crescent and Nightingale Crescent, (Back Gate) and the gate at the front of the school in Northcote Crescent, (Main Gate).

The address to be used for the initial allocation of places to reception will be the child’s address at the closing date for application. Changes of address may be considered in accordance with Surrey’s Co-ordinated Schemes if there are exceptional reasons behind the change, such as if a family has just moved to the area. The address to be used for waiting lists, after the initial allocation, will be the child’s current address. Any offer is conditional upon the child living at the appropriate address of the relevant date. Parents have an obligation to notify the school of any change of address.

As a two-form entry primary school, parents of twins often choose us in order that their children can be placed separately in parallel classes allowing each child independently to develop socially, emotionally, intellectually and academically. The Raleigh School, in line with sound educational practice, does not place twins in the same class.

Where two or more applicants live equidistant and share priority for a place, lots will be drawn to determine which child should be given priority.In the case of multiple births, where children are ranked consecutively in their order of priority for a place and there are not sufficient vacancies remaining for each of them, the child to be offered the last remaining place will be determined by their list position which, in accordance with our tiebreaker, will have been determined by the drawing of lots.

Children of members of the leadership team staff who don’t initially fulfil the two year requirement will have their position on the waiting list updated according to eligibility on the date in question.

Starting School

There is a single intake into Reception. All children whose date of birth falls between 1st September 2019 and 31st August 2020 will be eligible to apply for a full time place in Reception in 2024. Parents can defer their child's entry to Reception until later in the school year , but this will not be agreed beyond the beginning of the term after the child's fifth birthday, nor beyond the beginning of the final term of the academic year for which the offer was made. A child can start part time until they reach statutory school age.

Out of Year Group Requests

Applicants may choose to seek a place outside of their child's chronological (correct) year group. Decisions will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and what is in the best interests of the child concerned.

Applicants who are applying for their child to have a decelerated entry to school, i.e. to start later than other children in their chronological age group, must initially apply for a school place in accordance with the deadlines that apply for their child's chronological age. If, in liaison with the headteacher, the admission authority agrees for the child to have a decelerated entry to the school the place cannot be deferred and instead the applicant will be invited to apply again in the following year for the decelerated cohort.
Applicants who are applying for their child to have an accelerated entry to school, i.e. to start earlier than other children in their chronological age group, must initially apply for a school place at the same time that other families are applying for that cohort. If, in liaison with the headteacher, the admission authority agrees for the child to have an accelerated entry to the school, the application will be processed. If it is not agreed for the child to have an accelerated entry to the school, the application will be invited to apply again in the following year for the correct cohort.

Applicants must state clearly why they feel admission to a different year group is in the child's best interest and provide what evidence they have to support this. More information on education children out of their chronological year group and the process for making such requests is available at www.surreycc.gov.uk/admissions.

Waiting Lists

Where they are more applicants than places available, waiting lists will operate for each year group according to the oversubscription criteria shown and without regard to the date the application was received or when a child's name was added to the waiting list. As part of the initial intake into Reception, applicants will automatically be placed on the waiting list if they have not been offered a higher preference school.

Waiting lists for the initial intake will be maintained until the last day of the Autumn term when they will be cancelled. parents wishing to remain on the waiting list after this date must write to the school by 31st December 2024, stating their wish and providing their child's name, date of birth and the name of their child's current school. After 31st December 2024, parents whose children are not already on the waiting list but who wish them to be so must reapply for in-year admission. Waiting lists for all year groups will be cancelled at the end of each academic year.

From 1st September 2024 in year admissions for all year groups will be administered using the criteria referred to above.

Late applications

Late applications for the initial intake to Reception will be considered in accordance with Surrey's Primary Coorindated Admissions Scheme

Appeals

If a place is not offered at the school, there is a right to appeal to an independent panel. Contact is through the Surrey Schools Appeals Service to request an appeal form.