The School welcomes into its community in each year pupils with a broad spread of abilities and from many different backgrounds. Any parents who would like to see the school at work and to discuss admission before making a final decision are very welcome to contact the school to arrange a visit. In admitting pupils, we are obliged to follow the guidelines laid down by Cumbria Local Authority.

The order of priority for admission can be summarised as follows:

1. Children looked after, i.e. in public care, giving priority, if necessary, to the youngest child(ren); children who were previously looked after; and children who were previously looked after outside of England – see note 1.
2. Children living in the catchment area who have brothers or sisters in the school (or associated infant or junior school) at the time of admission – see notes 2, 3 and 4.
3. Children living outside the catchment area who, at the time of their admission, have brothers or sisters in the school (or associated infant or junior school) who were allocated a place at that school by the Local Authority either (a) in the absence of a place being available in the catchment area school due to oversubscription and the school was identified by the Local Authority as the next nearest with a place available or (b) the school is named in the sibling’s education, Health & Care Plan – see notes 2, 3 and 5.
4. Other children living in the catchment area giving priority to those living closest to the school, measured by a straight-line measurement between the centre of the pupil’s home address and a common point on the school site as determined by the LA – see note 6 & 7.
5. Children living outside the catchment area who have brothers or sisters in the school (or associated infant or junior school) at the time of their admission – see notes 2, 3 & 4.
6. Children living outside the catchment area, giving priority to those who live closest to the school, measured by a straight-line measurement between the centre of the pupil’s home address and a common point on the school site as determined by the LA – see note 6 & 7.

Applications will be prioritised on the above basis. An exception will be made under the Local Authority’s policy for the education of children with special educational needs where a child holds an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) that names the school.

The school’s intake number is 210.

The Nelson Thomlinson School In-Year Admission Policy

The Local Authority has responsibility to co-ordinate the main admission round (from Year 6 to Year 7). The School is required to co-ordinate in-year processes. Parents will be able to approach The Nelson Thomlinson School direct for in-year admissions.

The School will inform the Local Authority of any admissions and refer all those who are not offered a place to the Local Authority.

The School will participate fully in line with fair access protocols. The Nelson Thomlinson School In-Year Admission form has been created for this purpose.

For further information about Cumbria’s School Admissions process, please click on the following link:

https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/schoolsandlearning/lss/schooladmissions.asp

Explanatory Notes (These notes are part of the Local Authority’s policy)

Note 1
A child looked after is a child in public care, who is looked after by a local authority within the meaning of Section 22 of the Children Act 1989. Children previously looked after are children who were looked after, but have ceased to be so because they were adopted (under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or became subject to a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship Order (Children Act 1989).

Advice issued by the Department for Education (DfE) in August 2018 states that a child previously looked after outside of England is one that was looked after, outside England, by a public authority, a religious organisation or another provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.

On 16 June 2020 DfE indicated that new non-statutory advice on how to determine eligibility for a child previously looked after outside of England will be published; this advice will be adopted as soon as it becomes available.

For a previously looked after child to be considered under criteria 1, the parent or carer must provide appropriate written evidence to support the application. Without this evidence it will not be possible to consider the application under category 1 of the LA General Admissions Policy.

Note 2
In criteria 2, 3 and 5, priority will be given to those children with the youngest siblings. Brothers and sisters are those living at the same address and includes step and foster children. Priority will only be given where it is known at the time of allocating places that a sibling will be attending the school (excluding a nursery class See note 4) at the time of admission.

Note 3
Where reference is made to ‘associated’ infant and junior schools, this is to describe those situations where infant and junior schools share the same catchment area.

Note 4
Brothers and sisters in the school at the time of admission does not include a brother or sister who will be attending a nursery class that is attached to the school.

Note 5
If parents or carer believes they qualify for consideration under criterion 3, they should indicate this on their preference form in the place provided for this purpose.

Note 6
Distance measurements will be undertaken using the Local Authority’s computerised Geographical Information System [GIS]. This measures a straight line measurement between the centre of the pupil’s home address and a common point on the school site as determined by the Local Authority.

Note 7
Random allocation will be used as a tie-break in categories 4 and 6 to decide who has the highest priority for admission if the distance between the children’s home address and the school is the same. This process will be independently verified.