Welcome!

We are a warm and friendly, values based school community with a door that is open to all families in our local and wider area. We are very proud of our high-quality learning and teaching, which is celebrated in our Estyn Inspection Report 2024, but most importantly, we nurture confident and happy children, as wellbeing is at the centre of all that we do.

As a Church in Wales school, we celebrate the Christian faith, along with a wide range of different faiths and traditions, enabling our learners to develop into tolerant, inclusive and thoughtful young people.

Applications are submitted to the Local Authority, however, as a Voluntary Aided school, the Governing Body is responsible for the admission arrangements at ARW. This means that these applications are sent from the Local Authority to the Admissions Sub-Committee of the schools Governing Body, who then review all applications. If there are more applications than available places, the Admissions Committee use the Admissions Policy to allocate places according to policy. More information is outlined below.

We recommend that wherever possible and if appropriate to you as a family, you include a faith reference with your application.

The school will admit a child at the start of the academic year in which he/she will be 5 years old. The legal requirements confirm that parents are

able to delay the admission of their child until the term following their

5th birthday; however, the school follows the Local Authority Policy that

the child will continue to follow their chronological year group unless

exceptional circumstances apply.

The School Admissions Code (2013) gives parents the right to express a preference for their child to be admitted to any school maintained from public funds. The School’s admission policy sits within the parameters of the School Admissions Code of Practice and School Admissions Appeals Code of Practice July 2013. This policy is in place to cover the following:

i) Admission Round applications – The application process to be followed for children that are eligible to start primary school.

ii) In year transfers between school – The application process to be followed for children that are already of school age but wish to transfer from one school to another.

Admission Number:

The admission number for the school is derived from the physical capacity of the school which is calculated in accordance with the Welsh Government’s ‘Measuring the Capacity of Schools in Wales’.

The Admission Number of 30 is the number up to which children should be admitted to a relevant age group e.g. reception, if sufficient applications are received. Pupils may not be refused a place until the 30 is reached.

Expressing a preference:

The school works closely with the LA to co-ordinate closing dates for receiving applications and sending offer letters across the Local Authority area.

The agreed dates for the Admission Round 2027/2028 are:

Application Received:	Decision Issued to Parents:
16th – 31st January 2027	1st May 2027
February 2027	3rd May 2027
March 2027	14th May 2027
April 2027	21st May 2027
May 2027	11th June 2027
June 2027	9th July 2027
1st – 10th July 2027	16th July 2027
11th – 17th July 2027	23rd July 2027
18th – 24th July 2027	30th July 2027
25th – 31st July 2027	6th August 2027
1st – 7th August 2027	13th August 2027
8th – 14th August 2027	20th August 2027
15th – 21st August 2027	27th August 2027
22nd – 28th August 2027	Within one week

Distribution of Application Forms;

Application forms are available via the Citizen Portal on monmouthshire.gov.uk. PLEASE NOTE: All application forms must be submitted to Monmouthshire County Council and NOT the school.

Allocation of School Places:

When the number of applications received is less or equal to the number of available places, all children will be admitted assuming that the school can meet the needs of all applicants. However, when there are more applications than places in a school, the admission number is exceeded and the over subscription criteria will be applied to select which children are to be offered places at the school concerned. If Archbishop Rowan Williams Church in Wales (VA) Primary School is specified on a Statement of Special Educational Needs, the school must admit the child concerned.

When applying the oversubscription criteria to determine who is to be awarded places, all parental preferences will be considered equally and allocated in line with the criteria below. When considering the remaining available places, the following criteria will be used to determine the children that are to be offered places:

1. Looked After Children or previously Looked After Children. i.e. children who are in the care or have previously been in the care of the Local Authority, will be given priority over those fulfilling points 3-7 below.

2. Children who have a sibling admitted under point 1 who is a pupil at the school at the time of application and who will be a pupil at the school at the time of admission

3. Children, who have been baptised and whose parent regularly/habitually worships in an Anglican Church and who live within the Benefice of Caldicot.

4. Children with a home address in the catchment area of the school i.e. Leechpool, Portskewett and Sudbrook. Please ask at the school office for a map of the catchment area.

5. Children who have a sibling who is a pupil at the school at the time of application and who will be a pupil at the school at the time of admission.

6. Children whose parent regularly/habitually worship at a Church of a Christian denomination.

7. Children with exceptional medical needs, supported by written evidence, normally given by an independent medical officer or other appropriate person (see Note 1 for definition).

Notes: Children who are Looked After (CLA) is a child who is looked after by a local authority in Wales or in England in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 and whom the LA has confirmed will be looked after at the time of the child’s admission to the school. A parent is any person who has parental responsibility for, or is the legal guardian of, the child.

Regular/Habitual worship is defined as attending worship on at least one Sunday each month over the previous 12 month period. Evidence of this must be provided by a written statement signed by the relevant priest or minister. The school will consider the child’s home address to be the place where the child resides for the majority of the school week. In the event that the residency of a child is shared between two parents, the address where the child concerned resides for the majority of the school week will be used for allocation purposes.

This is the address that should be declared on the application. If the residency with both parents during the school week is equal, however, the address for where the child benefit is paid will be used for allocation purposes. The school reserves the right to check the validity of any address given, by asking for evidence such as inclusion on the Electoral Roll, or a recent utilities bill confirming your name and address. Where a child’s permanent address is not the same as the parents’ (e.g. if he or she is resident with a grandparent) the school reserves the right to see official documentation, such as a child benefit book or medical card.

Childcare arrangements are not sufficient reason for listing another address. If you are moving into the catchment area, we will ask you for evidence of your move, before considering any application for a place. Typical evidence is a letter from your solicitor confirming that you have a legally binding agreement to buy the house or a formal lease agreement. Sibling refers to brother or sister, half brother of sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, foster child, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner where the child for whom the school place is sought .

The school will use the Local Authority Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to calculate home to school distances. Determination of the shortest safe walking route will be calculated using official routes known to the Local Authority and Highways agencies, from the main entrance of the applicant’s home address to the nearest official open school gate. The coordinates of an applicant address will be determined using the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and Ordnance Survey Address Point data. Where a safe walking route cannot be determined for an applicant, the shortest driving route will be used for allocation purposes.

Applicants wishing for their application to be prioritised on the child’s medical needs must supported by a medical consultant’s report (obtained by the parents at the time of application) outlining why the preferred School is the only viable option and the difficulties that would be caused if the child had to attend another school.

Address Validations

If the over-subscription criteria need to be applied parents will be required to submit suitable evidence to validate their address such as a council tax bill.

Parents in the Process of Moving Property

Parents who are in the process of moving property will be required to notify the school at the time of application of the proposed move and submit evidence to validate their new address, in order for this address to be considered. Suitable evidence would be a copy of the exchange of contracts (for purchases) or long term tenancy agreement (for rental arrangements), which must be received prior to the published closing date in order to be considered as an “in time” application.

Where the school accepts evidence to validate a property move and uses the new property for allocation purposes, the offer of a school place will be based on the applicant being resident at this property at the time of the child’s entrance into the School. Any offer of a school place could be withdrawn if it is found that the applicant is not resident at the property at the time of child’s entrance into the school. The offer of a school place will be based upon the applicant being resident at the address declared on the application form, as at the published offer date. However, if the parent / carer is aware prior to the published offer date that they will be moving from the address declared on the application, they must inform the Local Authority prior to the published offer date, where their application details will then be amended.

Notification of a change of address received after the published closing date will result in the application being determined as late, if it is likely to impact upon their position within the oversubscription criteria for the preferred school.

Any offer of a school place could be withdrawn as a result of non- compliance of the above.

School Catchment Areas

Whilst residing within the catchment area for a school forms an element of the over-subscription criteria, it does not guarantee a placement on this basis. The school will refuse to admit above the School’s admission number, unless the application complies with the permitted exceptions.

Admission of Multiple birth children (e.g twins or triplets)

If when applying the over-subscription criteria, the last child to be admitted is one of a multiple birth, then the Local Authority will admit the other sibling(s).

Admission Outside the Normal Round

All applications for admission at any time other than the normal entry into Reception should be made on the Monmouth County Council application form. This form will then be forwarded to the admissions committee at the school for a decision regarding offer of a placement. Places will be offered subject to space being available in the relevant class.

Late Application Arrangements

Any application that is received after the published closing date, or applications that remain incomplete (e.g. without evidence to validate a new address) on the closing date but received prior to the closing date, will be dealt with under the late application arrangements.

Notifying Parents

Parents will be notified of a decision on their application on the published offer date. For the 2027/2028 admission round, the date by when parents will be informed of decisions on their applications will be 16th April 2027.

Acceptance of A School Place

On receipt of an offer of a school place, parents are required to confirm their acceptance of this school place in writing within 14 days of notification of the school place offer. Failure to do so could result in the offer of a school place being withdrawn.

In Year Transfers (admissions outside the normal admission round)

All In Year Transfers are dealt with in date order of receipt, and where more applications are received on the same day than the number of places available, the school’s over subscription criteria will be applied to determine the child(ren) to be offered places. As part of the process, the school will contact the child’s current school to obtain information to share with the receiving school. This is to ensure that we are in a position to support appropriate transition between schools.

If an application is received for Children who are Looked After (CLA), in accordance with the protocol that has been agreed with schools, a CLA meeting will be arranged, to which all interested parties are invited. In advance of this meeting the placing authority is required to share relevant information including the Personal Education Plan, School Records and Statement of Educational Needs, if the child has one.

Refusal of Admission

A refusal for admission to a school is made in line with the School Admissions Code of Practice 2013 and is based on the following decisions;

• Whether to admit a child would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources
• Where an Admission Number has been met Welsh Government Class size regulations
• Following refusal of a school place, the child’s details will be held on a waiting list until the 31^st August, just before school starts. If any places are handed back during this time places will be allocated from the waiting list as per the over-subscription criteria.

Waiting Lists

Waiting lists will be prioritised as per the oversubscription criteria and not based upon the date that the application was submitted. It is the responsibility of the applicant to inform the school of any change in circumstances which impacts on the oversubscription criteria and therefore their child’s place on the waiting list. An example of this would be a change of address. The parent concerned will be contacted by the school within 7 working days of the place becoming available, if their child qualifies for consideration of the place. The parent will be given 7 days to formally accept or decline the offer of the school place in writing. After such time, the child’s name will be withdrawn from the waiting list, and the place will be offered to the next child on the waiting list, as the school will assume that the place is no longer required.

Appeals

Parents of children not offered a place may appeal to an independent appeals panel. Details on the procedure for appeals are available from the school and will be given to parents upon refusal of a place for their child.

Infant Class Size Initiative

The Welsh Government is committed to ensuring that no child in Foundation Phase will be in a class where the pupil teacher ratio is more than 1:30. The Infant Class Size Initiative was a phased programme between September 1999 and September 2001 thus ensuring that all children up to the age of 7 will be taught in classes containing no more than 30 pupils. Two main changes arose from the class size legislation. Firstly, admission authorities will not be required to admit a child to an infant class if in doing so would result in a class operating at a greater than 30:1 pupil/teacher ratio. An admission authority can refuse to admit a child to a school where to do so would require the school to take ‘qualifying measures’ (i.e. employing an additional teacher, building an additional classroom) to meet the statutory class size limit.

Secondly, when dealing with admission appeals under class size legislation, appeal panels do not follow the two stage process as outlined above. Instead, an appeal panel will be able to uphold a parental appeal only if the decision to not admit the child was due to the admission arrangements being incorrectly implemented or the decision of the admission authority was not one which a reasonable admission authority would make in that case.

Key Stage 2 Class Size Limits

Whilst there are no regulations to limit class sizes to 30 in Key Stage 2, the school supports the Local Authority in its commitment to complying with the Welsh Government target to ensure that the 1:30 pupil teacher ratio in Key Stage 2 is maintained.

Exceptions to the Infant class size initiative

There are however exceptions (called “excepted pupils”) which may allow the 30 pupil class limit to be exceeded. Excepted pupils are:

i. Children whose statements of ALN specify that they should be educated at the school concerned, and who are admitted to the school outside a normal admission round;

ii. Looked after children or previously looked after children admitted outside the normal admissions round;

iii. Children initially refused admission to a school, but subsequently offered a place outside a normal admission round by direction of an admission appeal panel, or because the person responsible for making the original decision recognises that an error was made in implementing the school’s admission arrangements;

iv. Children who cannot gain a place at any other suitable school within a reasonable distance of their home because they move into the area outside a normal admission round;

v. Children for whom education at a school which is Welsh speaking is desired where the school concerned is the only such school within a reasonable distance of their home;

vi. Children for whom education at a school with a designated religious character is desired where the school concerned is the only such school within a reasonable distance of their home;

vii. Pupils admitted to the school within an age group in which children are normally admitted and • admitted after the first day of the relevant school year; and • where the school has not yet reached its admission number but has already organised its classes; and • where admission of the child would mean that the school would have to take a relevant measure;

viii. Children of armed forces personnel who are admitted outside of the normal admission round.

ix. Children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth are admitted as non-excepted pupils, as the final pupil(s) allocated a place before the admission number is reached.

x. Children who are registered pupils at special schools, but who receive part of their education at a mainstream school; and

xi. Children with ALN who are normally educated in a special unit in a mainstream school, but who receive some of their lessons in a non- special class.

Excepted pupils will remain so, once admitted, for the remainder of their time in the infant class or until class numbers fall back and they can be organised to comply with the infant class size limit. For further information please contact the school. Contact details are as follows:

Archbishop Rowan Williams Church in Wales (VA) Primary School, Crick Road, Portskewett, Monmouthshire, NP26 5UL

01291 420526

ARW.primary@monmouthshireschools.wales

X: @ARWPrimary