School Applications special circumstances.

[Helenx83]

My DD is starting high school next year. I’ve started applying. It’s a faith school and both her brother and sister attend the school. However due to covid I’m not sure we will have enough church attendance to get a place.

So my question is. Last month my DDs father passed away suddenly. So far she is doing ok her current school is supporting her and she has a lot of family support. Would this class as special circumstances? For one it’s going to be a hard few years for her and she needs to be with her siblings and have their support at school. 2. The school is small and very supportive and they already Have things in place for my two children that attend the school.

Does the school have an 'exceptional social need' category in its entry criteria?

Also, has it published anything about church attendance in times of Covid?

I take it there is no sibling priority

You need to check what the deal is on church attendance. I'm sure most areas will be making some sort of adjustment where there is no means of knowing who has "attended" online services. Different areas have different systems - in ours it's a reference from the priest/minister, which would mean the exact level of attendance in the last six months would not be the only measure.

I don't know about on the application form, but if it comes to an appeal, I would have thought that "being able to attend bereavement counselling with her siblings" or similar is something that school can offer and no other can.

You need to act quickly as you only have till the end of October to apply and get any supplementary forms back to the school.
I would speak to the school. They will obviously know about the circumstances and be able to advise about the level of church attendance required under covid. What ever happens get anything that is said in writing as it may well needed at any appeal. If they do not confirm in writing, you confirm in writing saying "my understanding of what you said was........"
No matter what happens, on the supplementary form make sure it is obvious that you have special circumstances etc and send in the form before the end of the month, even though you know you might not meet the absolute requirements set out in the admission criteria.

Sorry for your loss, what a shock for you all. Have you spoken to your church too? Attendance for our school only included time when the church was open. I am not sure whether that was added this year or has always been there and I hadn't noticed. If for any reason there is a problem do appeal, these are exactly the sort of circumstances when an appeal is likely to be passed. I am sure that all the schools involved would see the value of being near siblings in those circumstances. There is lots of support on here for appeals should you need it.

I’m really sorry your dd has had this trauma, and I’m glad her school is supporting her.

Regarding your questions;

1. Covid/Church attendance - the school should have applied for a variance to the admission policy, if attendance is a component of the admissions policy. If they haven’t done this, then they have a problem when it comes to appeal, because it is not possible to attend when churches are closed, and all applicants will be in similar positions. The variance to the policy needs to have been verified and approved by the schools adjudicator.

2. Special circumstances - it depends if the school gives priority for special circumstances or not, and this will need to be detailed in the policy. If it’s not there, then the admissions body will not be able to take that into account. If there is priority, then you will need to present the special circumstances, but of course they may be weighed against others’ claim to special circumstances. Do you know who is the admissions body for the school? Is it the governors?

So, I would say don’t worry too much about the church attendance side, though it would be interesting for you to find out if they have applied and obtained a variance (that should be on the website). Look through the policy and see if there is a line about special circumstances. If not, then they can definitely be used at appeal.

If you wanted to C&P the policy here it would be easier to give specific replies, but you might not want to do that. HTH!