2025-26 consultation
Consultation on admission arrangements for 2025/2026 – The Sittingbourne School
I am writing to notify you of the upcoming consultation on The Sittingbourne School’s admissions policy. The consultation period will run from Wednesday 18 October 2023 until Wednesday 29th November 2023; during this time, parents are invited to express their views and any concerns about admission arrangements at The Sittingbourne School.
In accordance with the DfE’s 2021 statutory ‘School Admissions Code’ guidance, as a school we must consult on our admission arrangements when changes are proposed, and at least once every seven years.
The Sittingbourne School is proposing the following changes to its admission arrangements:
We are consulting to amend our admissions oversubscription criteria. We propose to add a criterion which would place the staff of children as part of the application of our admissions policy. The proposed wording is as follows:
- b) Children of Staff: priority will next be given to children of staff at the school, in either of the following circumstances:
- The member of staff has been employed at the school for 2 or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, or
- The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage
Please find the full policy and admissions arrangements attached. The applicable section can be found on pages two to four and has been highlighted for ease in finding it.
A full version of the proposed changes to the admission arrangements, is available below or in hard form from reception, at the address above.
In accordance with statutory DfE guidance, the consultation will run for at least six weeks and, as an interested party, we are keen to hear your views on the current admission arrangements. Therefore, we invite you to participate in the consultation if you have any concerns regarding the matter.
All responses to the consultation should be made in writing and submitted before
3.00pm on Wednesday 29 November 2023 to tss-admissions@swale.at. Please label the email’s subject as “Admissions Consultation”.
Please note that written responses should outline your personal details, including your name, address, and relationship to the school. You are also encouraged to provide feedback to the Kent County Council here: kentonlineadmissions@kent.gov.uk
At the end of the consultation period, the Local Governing Body will meet to consider responses. The outcome of the consultation will be published on the school website as soon as possible following a decision being reached by the Local Governing Body. Hard copies of the final report will be made available on request to all respondents of the consultation.
For further information regarding the consultation process, please refer to our proposal document, copies of which can be located on the school website or in hard copy from our main. If you wish to further discuss this matter, or anything mentioned in this letter, please contact Ms Gambell via email at tss-admissions@swale.at or by calling the school.
Mr N Smith
Headteacher