Co-ordinated Secondary Admission Arrangements 2012
All local authorities are required by regulations in the School Standards and Framework Act 1988 to have co-ordinated admissions for all schools within its area for each academic year.
Co-ordination establishes a mechanism that ensures that, as far as practical, every child living in a local authority area who has applied in the normal admissions round receives one and only one offer of a school place on the same day.
The Local Authority co-ordinates the admission arrangements for all schools within Darlington Borough.
This includes receiving all application forms for Community Schools and, on behalf of governors of Hurworth School - A Specialist College, St Aidan's Church of England Academy, Longfield Academy, Hummersknott Academy and Carmel RC College, then writing to parents/carers informing them which school place has been allocated.
Pupils Transferring to Secondary School in September 2012
Children who were born between 1st September 2000 and 31st August 2001 will transfer to secondary school in September 2012. If your child falls into this age group and lives in Darlington Borough, in the week beginning 5th September 2011 your child will receive a SSA (secondary school application) asking parent/carers to express a preference(s) for a secondary school(s). The form provided for your reply should be returned directly to the Schools Admissions Team, Town Hall, Darlington, DL1 5QT by 31st October 2011. Forms received after 31st October 2011 (late applications) will only be considered in exceptional circumstances (such as families who have moved into the area after the closing date). These applications will be considered up to and including Friday 6th January 2012.
Where a family intends to move into the Borough, a request for a school place based on the new address cannot be considered until a letter is provided from a licensed conveyancer or solicitor confirming exchange of contracts.
All other applications will only be considered once the process for allocating places has been applied to those applications received by the deadline. Where a SSA has not been received by 1st March 2012, Darlington Borough Council will offer a place at the nearest school to the child’s home address with available places.
Whilst every effort will be made to ensure that your preferences are met, the Authority will, in any event offer your child a place on 1st March 2012. You are required to reply to the offer within 14 working days from the date of the offer letter, otherwise the Authority will look to withdraw the offer of the place.
Any enquiries about secondary school admissions should be made to the School Admissions Team, Children, Families & Learning, Town Hall, Darlington DL1 5QT, Telephone 01325 388027 or 01325 388812.
Please remember to return your secondary school application form by 31st October 2011.
Pupils not living in the Borough of Darlington but attending a Primary School in Darlington Borough
If you live in another local authority area but wish to express a preference for a school in Darlington, then you must complete the application form sent to you by your 'home' authority. They will then send that information direct to us
You can view a list of the neighbouring Local Authorities to this area in the current secondary Guide for Parents 2012/13.
Expressing your preference of school
The law allows parents/carers to express a preference for the school(s) they wish their child to attend. However, where a school is popular and oversubscribed, some parents/carers will inevitably be disappointed as priority for admission must be given to those applicants with the strongest claim under the published admissions arrangements (see the current Guide for Parents 2012/13). The SSA you receive from the Authority will provide space for you to state your preferred school(s) and indicate your reasons for such. All preferences and the reasons for them will be considered. However this Authority has a policy of NOT selecting pupils by aptitude for any of its secondary schools and therefore does not allocate places according to a schools specialism. The only criteria used to allocate places are those published in the Guide for Parents.
Before you make your final decision you should find out which school(s) you prefer, visit the schools and meet the Head Teacher, staff and children. Each school also produces a prospectus and has an open evening. The prospectus includes information about the school and details about the curriculum, attendance and admissions arrangements to help you decide which school is right for your child. You can also find reports about schools [external link] on the website of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and annual school performance tables [external link].
The Head teacher cannot offer your child a place or guarantee that a place will be available at the school.