ADMISSION AND ENROLMENT POLICY

 

The Board of Governors of Cooley Primary School has determined that the following criteria shall be applied in the event of the number of pupils applying for places in Year 1 being greater than the admissions number, in the order set down below.

 

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA – YEAR 1

 

During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered before late applications are considered.   The application procedure opens on 10 January 2025 at 12noon (GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 24 January 2025 at 12noon (GMT) will be treated as a punctual application.   An application received after 12noon (GMT) on 24 January 2025 and up to 4 pm on 29 January 2025 will be treated as a late application, this is also the last date and time for processing a change of preference in exceptional circumstances.  After 4 pm on 29 January 2025 no applications will be processed until after the close of procedure on 9 April 2025.

 

COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE

 

Any child who reaches their 4th Birthday on or before 1st July 2025 is of Compulsory School Age.  Under the School Age (NI) Act which became Law in Northern Ireland in April 2022 ‘compulsory school age’ also includes those children who deferred commencing Primary 1 in September 2024 as defined by the new School Age (NI) Act (both groups to be treated equally).

 

Priority will be given to children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission to the those who are not so resident.

 

ADMISSIONS YEAR 1

     

1. Children of compulsory school age who have brother/half-brother(s)/sister/half-sister(s) enrolled at the school or are the eldest eligible/only child in the family.

2. Other children of compulsory school age.

 

If there are more pupils satisfying the last criterion that can be applied, than there are places remaining, then selection will be on the basis of the chronological order of age starting with the eldest. In the event of two or more identical dates of birth final selection will be made by using the random letters in the order as listed below:

 

C F W L A K Mc X P B D O G Mac H Z J N E Q I V R Y T S U M

 

 

The order was determined by a randomized selection of letters. In the event of surnames beginning with the same letter the subsequent letters of the surnames will be used in alphabetical order. In the event of two identical surnames the alphabetical order of the initials of the forenames will be used.

 

When considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on the application form. Parents/Guardians should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school's admission criteria is stated on the application form.  It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to provide verification documents to the first preference school i.e. birth certificate, benefit verification etc.  Failure to present these may result in a place being withdrawn.

 

YEAR 1 ADMISSIONS – AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

 

The same criteria will apply as for Year 1.

 

DUTY TO VERIFY

 

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any application form.

If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline given, this will result in the withdrawal of an offer of a place. Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

 

WAITING LISTS

 

Should a vacancy arise after 9 April 2025 all applications for admission to Year 1 that were initially refused, new applications, late applications and applications where new information has been provided will be treated equally and the published criteria applied. This waiting list will be in place until 30 June 2026. The school will contact you in writing if your child gains a place in the school by this method. Please contact the school if you wish your child’s name to be removed from the list.

 

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA – YEARS 2-7

 

The following criteria will be applied to all pupils seeking admission to Year 2 to 7. Priority shall be given to children resident in Northern Ireland.

 

Pupils will be considered for enrolment provided that the school would not exceed its enrolment number and in the opinion of the Board of Governors their admission would not prejudice the efficient use of school’s resources.

 

If at the time of consideration of the application, there are more eligible applicants than places available then the Admissions Criteria for entry to Year 1 will be applied.

 

For admissions to Year 2 – Year 7, the Governors have delegated responsibility to the Principal to apply the criteria set down above.