It is a legal requirement that an Admissions Authority gives notice of any proposed variations to its admissions arrangements.

Following the granting of parliamentary approval to the Admissions Code 2021*, the Governing Board of St Peter’s Catholic Voluntary Academy Trust (as its own Admissions Authority) hereby gives notice of a proposed variation to the determined Admissions Policy for September 2021-22 and 2022-23.

This variation was approved by the Board of Governors on 19 July 2021. A consultation is not required for the purposes of this amendment, but we offer notice of the following changes-

1. Giving the same priority to children who have been adopted from state care outside of England (IAPLAC) as to Previously Looked After (PLAC) 

• The 2021 School Admissions Code requires children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted- to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). These children are referred to as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”.
• It is therefore intended to extend the highest admissions priority to IAPLAC by including Catholic IAPLAC applicants in Category 1 and other IAPLAC applicants in Category 3.
• The definition of previously looked after children within the Admissions Policy will therefore be amended to include those children who appear (to the Governing Board) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

2. Catholic Faith applicants who provide the required Baptismal Certificate before the published submission deadline will be treated as falling into that category regardless of the submission of a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) detailing evidence of practice of the faith.

• Paragraph 2.4 of 2021 School Admissions Code states that an applicant must not be given additional priority solely on the basis of having completed a supplementary form. (SIF).
• If an applicant has provided the Baptismal Certificate but no SIF they will fall into the faith category but will rank below applicants who have submitted a SIF.

The revised Admissions Policy and associated Supplementary Information Form for September 2021-22 and September 2022-23 admissions years will be published to view on the school website. Hard copies can be obtained from the school office on request.

N Sharp, Chair of Governing Board, St Peter’s Catholic Voluntary Academy Trust

*Regulation 19 of the School Admissions Regulations 2012.

 (1) This regulation prescribes for the purposes of section 88E(9)(b) the circumstances in which an admission authority may vary the admission arrangements they have determined for a particular academic year.

 (2) An admission authority may vary the admission arrangements under which pupils are to be admitted to school to the extent that such variation is necessary to give effect to any of the following— (a) the School Admissions Code.

If you wish to apply to join St Peter's in September 2021, please refer to the appropriate policy below

All Primary and Secondary applications must be made to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council. For Primary and Secondary apply here. For Sixth Form apply here.

Infant class sizes for Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 are limited to no more than 30 pupils. An appeal for an infant class where an extra child would take the class over 30 pupils will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances, as the powers of the Appeal Panel are limited by legislation.

Please refer to the following link Frequently Asked Questions before you consider lodging your appeal.

If having read the document, you believe you have grounds to appeal against the decision not to offer a place to your child, you can download the appeal form here