ADMISSIONS
RECEPTION CLASS VACANCIES
We have vacancies to join our reception class in September 2023. If you would like to apply, please apply by 23rd May 2023. You can apply by logging into admissions online and editing your application. Any problems, please contact the school office.
ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS 2023/24
Admissions are now closed. Allocations will be sent out by Herts County Council on 17th April 2023.
Primary, junior and middle school places | Hertfordshire County Council
As Aston St Mary’s is a Voluntary Aided Church of England School, the Admissions Policy is agreed and administered by the Governing Board of the school. The Published Admission Number is for 18 children. The Governing Board works closely with Hertfordshire County Council who will coordinate the admissions process on behalf of the Governing Board to ensure that there is equality of opportunity for all parents. Children who have an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP), where an agreement that this school is named, will be offered a place.
As Aston St Mary’s is a Voluntary Aided Church of England School, the Admissions Policy is agreed and administered by the Governing Board of the school. The Published Admission Number is for 18 children. The Governing Board works closely with Hertfordshire County Council who will coordinate the admissions process on behalf of the Governing Board to ensure that there is equality of opportunity for all parents. Children who have an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP), where an agreement that this school is named, will be offered a place.
2023/24 Admission Link Allocations for September 2023 will be made on 17th April 2023
Open Aston Civil Parish Map on Google Maps
Important note: The above link to the Aston Civil Parish map on Google Maps is to be viewed on a desktop computer/laptop. Due to the variations in mobile mapping software the boundary may not display correctly if the map is viewed on a mobile device.
TIEBREAK
When there is a need for a tie break where two different addresses are the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random. Every child entered onto the HCC admissions database has an individual random number assigned, between 1 and 1 million, against each preference school. When there is a need for a final tie break the random number is used to allocate the place, with the lowest number given priority.
ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS
Parents are welcome to visit the school when considering seeking a place for their child/children.
• Further details about the school can be found on our website, www.astonmarys.herts.sch.uk.
• We will admit over the school’s published admission number when a single twin/multiple birth child is
allocated the last place at the school.
CHILDREN OUT OF YEAR GROUP
If parents/carers believe their child/children should be educated in a different year group, at the time of application,
supporting evidence must be submitted from relevant professionals working with the child/children and family
stating why they must be placed outside their normal age appropriate cohort. The Governing Board which is the
admissions authority, through a panel process, will decide whether the application will be accepted. There is no
guarantee that an application will be accepted and parents have no right of appeal against the Governing Board’s
refusal to admit a child outside his/her normal age group.
IN-YEAR ADMISSIONS
All in year admissions are co-ordinated by the school governing body and will depend on vacancies in the relevant year group at the time of application. Parents seeking an in-year school place should contact the school directly for further information or complete the application and SIF forms on the Admissions Page of the school website. In the event of there being more applicants than places available the admission criteria will be applied. The school aims to inform parents and carers of the outcome of their in-year application in writing within 10 days and within 15 school days. The school will inform unsuccessful applicants of the right to appeal. Prospective parents/carers are always welcome to visit the school. To do so, please make an appointment with the school office.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for a place, please go to www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions. The closing date is the 15th January 2023
and allocations are sent out on the 17th April 2023.
Parents/carers are also required to complete a School Information Form (SIF) available from the school or on our
school website and return it to the school. If a SIF is not completed, the Governing Board will apply the school’s Admission Arrangements using only the information supplied on the Hertfordshire County Council application form, which may result in the application being given a lower priority. This SIF should be returned to the school before 9.30am the 15th January 2023. Please include any appropriate accompanying documentation for categories 5 and 6.
It is the parents’/carers’ responsibility to provide all the information required. The school is not obliged to chase
missing information.
The school reserves the right to amend the category applied under if the forms are not completed fully or the
information cannot be verified.
The Local Authority will notify all parents of the place offered or refused at the same time as it does for Community Schools. Details of this can be found at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk\admissions.
OVER SUBSCRIPTION
If there is over subscription in any category, the Governing Board will determine the allocation of places in that category by geographical proximity using a straight line measurement to the school. A ‘straight line’ distance measurement is used in all home-to-school distance measurements for community and voluntary controlled schools in Hertfordshire. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the Address Base Premium address point of your child/children’s house to the address point of the school. Address Base Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.
ADMISSIONS FILES
| Document Name | Files |
|---|---|
| Admission Application (not for Cat 5 & 6) | Download File |
| Categories 5 & 6 Admission Application Only | Download File |
| Admissions Policy 2024/2025 | Download File |
| Admissions Policy 2023/2024 | Download File |
| Aston Admissions Map | Download File |
SUMMER BORN CHILDREN
If parents believe their child/children born between 1 April 2019 and 31 August 2019, will not be ready to start Reception in the 2023/24 academic year, they may instead defer their application to start Reception the following year (2024/25). Parents who want to defer their child/children should contact the school directly to discuss further. Deferring stays with the child throughout their schooling.
PART TIME PLACES
Parents can request that their child/children attend part time until they reach compulsory school age.
CONTINUING INTEREST LIST
After places have been offered, the Governors of the school will maintain a continuing interest (waiting) list. A child’s position on a CI list will be determined by the admission criteria outlined above and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it. The School will contact parents/carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child. The Continuing Interest Lists will be maintained for reception year group until the 31st December 2023. To retain a CI application after this time, parents must make an in-year application.
CROSS BOARDER CO-ORDINATION
Please apply for primary places on your home LA’s application form.
APPEALS
Parents wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log in to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details and log into www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.
TRANSPORT INFORMATION
For transport information including booklets and guidance, please follow the link to the Herts Direct Admission pages: www.hertsdirect.org/scholearn/admissions
ADMISSIONS CRITERIA
Places are offered using the following criteria applied in order.
CATEGORY 1
Children in England looked after and children who were previously looked after but ceased to be so
because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.
Children outside of England looked after by the State (including from abroad) and children who were previously
looked after by the State but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangements
order or a special guardianship order.
Children previously looked after abroad and subsequently adopted will be prioritised under Rule 1 if the child’s
previously looked status and adoption is confirmed by Hertfordshire’s “Virtual School”.
The child’s previously looked status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children &
Social Work Act 2017:
i. to have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been
cared for adequately, and
ii. to have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted.
A child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by –
(a) a public authority,
(b) a religious organisation, or
(c) any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society.
CATEGORY 2
Children of parents or carers who reside at any address that is within the Civil Parish of Aston (a copy
of the map showing the civil parish of Aston is attached) with a sibling at the school at the time of admission.
CATEGORY 3
Children of parents or carers who reside at any address that is in the Civil Parish of Aston. (A copy of
the map showing the civil parish of Aston is attached.)
CATEGORY 4
Children of parents or carers outside the Civil Parish of Aston who have siblings attending the school
at the time of admission (see note a).
CATEGORY 5
Children with parents or carers, at least one of whom is a practicing member of St Mary’s Church,
Aston and children from the Aston congregation (see note b).
CATEGORY 6
Children with parents or carers, at least one of whom is a practicing member of any Christian
denomination that are members of the “Churches Together in England” or “Churches Together in Stevenage” (see
note b).
CATEGORY 7
Any other children.
NOTES
Click on the tabs to expand
The Governing Board has the same understanding of the term sibling as that found in the Hertfordshire admissions literature and website and who will still be at the school at the time the new child/children join. This means the sibling will normally be in Reception to Year 5 at the time of allocation of places. Sibling includes: brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, child of the parent / carer or partner, children looked after or previously looked after. This doesn’t include children temporarily living in the same house, for example, a looked after child in a short term foster or bridging placement. In every case, the sibling must be living permanently in the same family home (at least Monday to Friday).
Practising member of a Church is defined as someone who attends a service in that Church at least once a
month.
• This attendance has been at this frequency for a minimum of one year prior to receipt of the application by
the school.
• In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public
worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these admissions
arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises
have been available for public worship.
• All such applications must be accompanied by a letter of confirmation by the minister or priest of the
church concerned.
• If applicants are new to the area, previous church connections can be used.