How much automony on admissions do voluntory aided coe schools have?

[ElenorRigby]

thats it really
how free are they to choose?
how much weight would they give to a baptised child?

thats it really
how free are they to choose?
how much weight would they give to a baptised child?

Voluntary aided schools set their own admissions policies, so you should look at the specific school's admissions policies which should be public - on their website, or they can send you them. Usually weight is given to current religious worship of the parents - a statement is usually needed from a local vicar stating regular worship, for example, rather than baptism alone.

The C of E school at which I'm a governor follows the LEA's admissions criteria, but with the insertion of an additional criterion about church attendance. We don't mention baptism, possibly (I guess) because many of the children attend churches which don't practice infant baptism. Many C of E schools also divide their places between foundation places (use church attendance as one of the criteria) and open places (follow the LEA's standard criteria).

Do you have a particular scghool in mind? You should be able to find their admissions criteria on their website and/or in the LEA's schools admissions booklet (usually available online).

HTH

DSD has been unhappy at her current school for some time.
Her mother recently had her baptised. A good alternative school is coe voluntary aided. She was baptised by her grandfather. Would it help her application if it had a supporting letter from her grandfather who is a vicar and who baptised her.

I would speak to the school concerned and see what they say. If it is not for reception entry then I guess it just depends whether they have places or a waiting list. I don't know whether the relious aspect would make a difference to the position on the waiting list or not.

If it's not in the normal reception admission rounds, then it's down to if the school have places free. If not they may have a waiting list & will probably use criteria similar to their reception admissions to control waiting list order.

In my LEA (probably similar in others) I haven't seen a CofE VA school use baptism of the child on its criteria (unlike RC schools) as has already been said probably because they support applications from "Churches Together" & not all churches do infant baptism. All the ones I've seen use parental worship over x months/years and some also use child's attendance at Sunday school etc.

The admissions criteria are probably on the LEA website and/or school website

Whilst all VA schools have their own admission criteria, it will mainly be appropriate at the time you apply for a place in reception year.
Your child is already in a school and you can move them to another school when you wish. If the VA school in question has an available place in the year group of your child then they cannot refuse you entry if you make the request. IF the school is full in the year group, that is it is upto its admission number, then the school will refuse admission but you can still appeal for a school place.
The independant appeal panel will consider all the reasons that you state for wanting your child to go to that school, compare it against the prejudice of admitting another pupil to the school year group and make a decision.
I would have to say that your reason of wanting to get out of school you do not consider to be any good is not a good reason for a panel to agree admission.

Well, if it were our school, a letter of support from a grandfather who happens to be a vicar would not carry any weight: a baptism of a school-age child (presumably after the parents began to think about moving schools ) would not fulfil the criteria for a foundation place and would be irrelevant for an open place. What we ask for (for a foundation place) is confirmation from the vicar/priest of the church which the family attends, stating that they have been regular attenders for 2+ years.

interesting link

Yes, it's very interesting but in a way it supports my point.

In the circumstances which the OP describes, a letter of recommendation from a grandfather who is a vicar might perhaps show that the family will "support the ethos of the school". We don't, though, ask for any such commitment and the adjudicator has ruled that in any case it's against the requirements of the admissions code - for foundation places we use church attendance as a much more measurable and objective proof of religious affiliation and for the open places then religious affiliation isn't measured or required in any way.

MadBad - I agree with you - the VA school my daughter attends would not look at support from grandparents, even if the grandparents took the child to services every week, they'd want to be sure that the parents were totally committed, including service attendance over a proven period as well as other factors. I was posting it because in response to the OP's question - are they free to choose? They are but there is government pressure to reduce the choice.

Other than looked after children, those who get top priority for a place at our VA CofE school are those whose parents have attended church regularly for at least a year prior to application date, and this would need to be supported by a clerical reference confirming attendance, and whom have been confirmed. Next on the list are those that attend regularly but have not been confirmed, followed by those of other faiths etc. If there are more applications than places those with siblings in the school take priority followed by those who live close by.

With our school is is entirely up to them who to allocate places to and they are always over subscribed.

HTH

TP

Tikkapots - Interesting that your school asks about confirmation. Ours doesn't, I think because of the same issue about many member churches not having confirmation, in the same way that they don't have infant baptism. For our foundation and for our open places, siblings take priority (after looked after children and children with a statement of SEN).

MNWL - I wasn't taking issue with you, either. I know that all C of E schools in the diocese have been working with the diocesan advisers to ensure that their admissions criteria comply with the admissions code and don't amount to covert selection.