Admissions

Parents or guardians considering applying for a place at Ainsdale St John’s are warmly invited to visit the school and meet the Headteacher.

Please call the school office on 01704 578427  to arrange a tour of the school. 

 

We would urge you to read our admissions criteria for further information on how to apply for  a place in school.

The booklets, ‘Parent’s Guide’ and ‘Admissions Information’ are available for  parents to view/download at www.sefton.gov.uk/admissions

The online application is available on the Citizens Portal from 1st September until mid January.

 

Admission Appeals Information - Applications for Reception

If you are refused a place at any of your preferred school(s), by law you have the right to appeal against that decision.

For residents of Sefton, who have been refused a place at a Sefton school, you will receive an information leaflet with the decision letter, explaining the appeals process.

The leaflet is also available on the School Admission Appeals webpage at www.sefton.gov.uk/admissions.

If you do not reside within Sefton, but wish to appeal for a Sefton school, please contact Sefton Admissions Team for further information on how you can appeal.

Appeals are heard by an Independent Appeal Panel.

For Infant Class Size Appeals, the Appeal Panel will simply hear the Admission Authority’s explanation as to why a place has been refused followed by your reasons for saying that the appeal should be allowed on one of the grounds referred to above before making their decision.

Parents are allowed at least 20 school days* from the date of notification that their application was unsuccessful for any of the preferred schools, to prepare and lodge their written appeal.

*School days refers to Sefton’s standard school term dates. Appeals are not heard during school holidays.

For Sefton Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary Schools (including Church of England Academy schools) - appeals should be sent to the Chairperson of the School’s Governing Body c/o the school in question.

To help you make an informed decision as to whether you want to proceed with an appeal for a Reception school place, Sefton publishes the number of successful and unsuccessful Reception appeals heard for all Sefton Primary Schools for previous academic years.

If my appeal for a Sefton School is unsuccessful can I appeal again?

If your appeal is refused, you do not have the right to a second appeal for the same school for the same academic year unless, in exceptional circumstances, the Admission Authority accepts a second application from the appellant because of a significant and material change in the circumstances of the parent, child or school.

Examples of a significant and material change in circumstances may include:

a) If a sibling link has been created at the preferred school, which was not there at the time of the appeal hearing.

b) You have moved house and the Admission Authority accepts that you can no longer attend the existing school due to the distance.

You may, of course, also request a further appeal to be heard if there are other significant reasons which you feel should be taken into account and these will be given due consideration. If a request for a further appeal is considered and allowed, a fresh appeal may be heard. However, if a request for a further appeal is denied by the Admissions Authority no further appeal can take place in the same school year.

Any further appeals relating to infant classes, the appeal panel may only grant an appeal if the Admissions Authority has either acted unreasonably or made an error in the way places were allocated. This is to ensure that the limits placed on infant class sizes are maintained, in accordance with current legislation. 

Further information on how to appeal can be found on the Sefton website. 

 

In Year School Admissions

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