New Draft Admissions Policy(for review)

Admission Policy of
Cosby National School

Stradbally, Co. Laois.
R32 VP9F

Roll number: 10544W

School Patron: The
Right Rev. Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory.

1.
Introduction

This
Admission Policy complies with the requirements of the Education Act 1998, the
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and the Equal Status Act 2000. In
drafting this policy, the Board of Management of the school has consulted with school
staff, the school patron and with parents of children attending the school.

The
policy was approved by the school patron on [date]. It is published on the school’s
website and will be made available in hardcopy, on request, to any person who
requests it.

The relevant dates and timelines for Cosby National
School’s admission process are set out in the school’s annual admission notice
which is published annually on the school’s website at least one week before
the commencement of the admission process for the school year concerned.

This policy must be read in conjunction with the annual admission
notice for the school year concerned.

The
application form for admission is published on the school’s website and will be made available
in hardcopy on request to any person who requests it.

2.
Characteristic spirit and general objectives of the school

Cosby N.S. is a co-educational primary
school with a Church of Ireland ethos under the patronage of the Right Reverend
Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory.

“Church of Ireland/Anglican” ethos in the context of
a Church of Ireland primary school means the ethos and characteristic spirit of
the Anglican Christian tradition. This seeks to nurture and encourage the
formation of the intellectual, academic, sporting, social and religious
abilities of each child within the framework of the community of faith. A
Church of Ireland ethos encourages intellectual diversity of thought and
encourages the individual to seek to understand themselves, the world around
them and the connection between the world and the Divine. This understanding of
school ethos promotes pluralism in thought and living, in the context of a
Christian school community. Drawing on its Anglican tradition, the Church of
Ireland School encourages home/family involvement, highlighting the importance
of the family/home in the social and emotional development of the child, and
more broadly, the community of the school and church.

In accordance with S.15 (2) (b) of the Education
Act, 1998 the Board of Management of Cosby N.S. shall uphold, and be
accountable to the patron for so upholding, the characteristic spirit of the
school as determined by the cultural, educational, moral, religious, social,
linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform and are
characteristic of the objectives and conduct of the school.

Mission
Statement

At
Cosby National School we endeavour to create a well-functioning, happy and safe
environment which promotes the dignity and individuality of every pupil,
enabling them to reach their full potential: cognitive, intellectual, physical,
cultural, moral and spiritual. We aim to
educate the whole child in a Christian atmosphere in partnership with
parents/guardians and the wider community.

Ethos

Cosby National School is a Church of Ireland school
and a community where all pupils are equally valued and respected –
irrespective of gender, social or ethnic background, family circumstances,
educational achievement, physical characteristics or intellectual
functioning. Pupils experience a sense
of caring and belonging, they are treated fairly and their spiritual, moral and
religious development is encouraged, as is their intellectual, social and
academic development.

It is a community where moral values such as
honesty, truthfulness, justice, fairness, sensitivity to others and civic
responsibility are nurtured and protected.
The justification of these qualities is based on Biblical teaching
interpreted by the Church.

Our school is a part of the local community and the
Parish. Pupils attend and take part in
services in the local church and the Rector visits the school on a regular
basis.

Religious Education occupies a central position in
the school curriculum and is regarded as a core subject. All pupils in the school are expected to
attend classes in Religious Education unless their parents/guardians have
specifically requested exemption.

Freedom of thought and a personal relationship with
God are nurtured and encouraged. This is
most evident in the teaching of Religious Education and in the life of the
school community.

The work of the school is conducted in an atmosphere
of tolerance and respect for religious differences. The admission policy of the school allows
those of other faiths or none to become pupils.

3.
Admission Statement

Cosby
N.S. will not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on any
of the following:

the gender ground of
the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the civil status ground
of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the family status
ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the sexual orientation
ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the religion ground of
the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the disability ground
of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the ground of race of
the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned,
the Traveller community
ground of the student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned, or
the ground that the
student or the applicant in respect of the student concerned has special
educational needs

As
per section 61 (3) of the Education Act 1998, ‘civil status ground’, ‘disability ground’,
‘discriminate’, ‘family status ground’, ‘gender ground’, ‘ground of race’, ‘religion
ground’, ‘sexual orientation ground’ and
‘Traveller community ground’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of
the Equal Status Act 2000.

Cosby N.S. is a school whose
objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain
religious values and does not discriminate in relation to the admission of a
student who has applied for a place in the school in accordance with section 7A
of the Equal Status Act 2000.

Cosby N.S. is a school whose
objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain
religious values and does not discriminate where it refuses to admit as a
student a person who is not a member of the Church of Ireland and it is proved
that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

4.
Admission of Students

This
school shall admit each student seeking admission except where –

the
school is oversubscribed (please see section 5 below for further details)

a parent of a student,
when required by the principal in accordance with section 23(4) of the
Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the code of
behaviour of the school is acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall
make all reasonable efforts to ensure compliance with such code by the student

Cosby N.S. is a Church of Ireland
school and may refuse to admit as a student a person who is not of a member of
the Church of Ireland where it is proved that the refusal is essential to
maintain the ethos of the school.

5.
Oversubscription

In the event that the school is
oversubscribed, the school will, when deciding on applications for admission,
apply the following selection criteria in the order listed below to those
applications that are received within the timeline for receipt of applications
as set out in the school’s annual admission notice:

Priority Cosby
N.S.
is a Church of Ireland school. In the
event that the number of applications exceeds the number of available places,
the priority categories below, which are listed in order of priority, are used
to determine the priority given to applications in the descending order
outlined below from (a) to (d) , as follows:

Priority Category 1: An Applicant Student
who is a member of the Church of Ireland or a Protestant reformed church or is
a member of a minority religion which has the same religious ethos, or a
similar religious ethos to the programme of religious instruction/education
which is provided in the school[1] and who lives within the
boundary of Stradbally Union of
Parishes.

Priority Category 2: An Applicant Student who is a member of the
Church of Ireland, or a Protestant reformed church or is a member of a minority
religion which has the same religious ethos, or a similar religious ethos to
the programme of religious instruction/education which is provided in the
school[2] and who lives within the
boundary of Killeshin Group of parishes,
which has no Church of Ireland school.

Priority Category 3: An Applicant Student
who lives within 12kms radius of the School and who complies with the terms of
this Policy

Priority Category 4: All other Applicant
Students who comply with the terms of this Policy

In respect of Priority categories 1 and 2 above, the
Applicant must provide the following documentation with the application form in
order for the application to be complete, as the School must satisfy itself
that the Applicant Student is a member of a minority religion and that it
provides a programme of religious instruction or religious education which is
of the same religious ethos as, or a similar religious ethos to, the religious
ethos of the minority religion of the Applicant Student.

a
statement from the Applicant confirming (i) that the Applicant Student is a
member of a minority religion and (ii) that the Applicant wishes the Applicant
Student to be educated in a school that provides a programme of religious
instruction/education which is of the same religious ethos, or a similar
religious ethos to, the religious ethos of the minority religion of the
Applicant Student.

and

evidence
from the Applicant to support the statement that the Applicant Student is a
member of the minority religion. This
evidence will consist of:-
- a
  letter from the relevant religious leader confirming, that the Applicant
  Student is a member of the minority religion or

the
signature and stamp of the relevant Church leader on the application form
confirming, that the Applicant Student is a member of the minority religion

In the event that there are two or more
students tied for a place or places in any of the selection criteria categories
above (the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining places), the
following arrangements will apply:

It
is to be noted that where oversubscription occurs in any one of the above
priority categories, priority will be given within the priority category (and
only in that priority category) to Applicant Students, who have siblings
currently enrolled in the School (“Sibling Applicant Students”).

Where
the number of Sibling Applicant Students in such a priority category, exceeds
the available number of places, the remaining places will be allocated to
Sibling Applicant Students using a lottery system.

Where
the number of Sibling Applicant Students in such priority category does not
exceed the number places available, the remaining places in this category will
be allocated using a lottery system.

The
lottery system will involve the drawing of names witnessed by a person
independent of the school, held in good standing and without connection to the
families involved.

Where the Applicant Students in a category are not
successful in achieving a place, their names will be placed on a waiting list
in the order in which such names were drawn in the category. Applicants will be informed of the Applicant
Student’s place on the waiting list as it applies in the particular priority
category.

6.
What will not be considered or taken into account

In accordance with
section 62(7) (e) of the Education Act, the school will not consider or take
into account any of the following in deciding on applications for admission or
when placing a student on a waiting list for admission to the school:

a student’s prior attendance at a
pre-school or pre-school service, including naíonraí,
the
payment of fees or contributions (howsoever described) to the school;
a
student’s academic ability, skills or aptitude;
the
occupation, financial status, academic ability, skills or aptitude of a
student’s parents;
a
requirement that a student, or his or her parents, attend an interview, open
day or other meeting as a condition of admission;
a
student’s connection to the school by virtue of a member of his or her family
attending or having previously attended the school; other than in the case of a student who has a sibling currently
enrolled in the school, as provided for in section 5 of this policy.
the
date and time on which an application for admission was received by the school,

This
is subject to the application being received at any time during the period
specified for receiving applications set out in the annual admission notice of
the school for the school year concerned.

This
is also subject to the school making offers based on existing waiting lists (up
until 31^st January 2025 only).

7.
Decisions on applications

All
decisions on applications for admission to Cosby N.S. will be based on the
following:

Our
school’s admission policy
The
school’s annual admission notice (where applicable)
The
information provided by the applicant in the
school’s official application form received during the period specified in our
annual admission notice for receiving applications

(Please
see section
13 below in relation to
applications received outside of the admissions period and section
14 below in relation to applications for places
in years other than the intake group.)

Selection
criteria that are not included in our school admission policy will not be used
to make a decision on an application for a place in our school.

8.
Notifying applicants of decisions

Applicants will be informed in writing as
to the decision of the school, within the timeline outlined in the annual
admissions notice.

If a student is not offered a place in
our school, the reasons why they were not offered a place will be communicated
in writing to the applicant, including, where applicable, details of the
student’s ranking against the selection criteria and details of the student’s
place on the waiting list for the school year concerned.

Applicants will be
informed of the right to seek a review/right of appeal of the school’s decision
(see section 17 below for further details).

9. Acceptance of an offer
of a place by an applicant

In accepting an offer of admission from Cosby N.S., you must indicate—

whether
or not you have accepted an offer of admission for another school or schools.
If you have accepted such an offer, you must also provide details of the offer
or offers concerned and

whether
or not you have applied for and awaiting confirmation of an offer of admission
from another school or schools, and if so, you must provide details of the
other school or schools concerned.

10. Circumstances in which offers may not be made
or may be withdrawn

An offer of admission may not be made or
may be withdrawn by Cosby N.S.
where—

it
is established that information contained in the application is false or
misleading.

an
applicant fails to confirm acceptance of an offer of admission on or before the
date set out in the annual admission notice of the school.

the
parent of a student, when required by the principal in accordance with section
23(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, fails to confirm in writing that the
Code of Behaviour of the school is
acceptable to him or her and that he or she shall make all reasonable efforts
to ensure compliance with such code by the student; or

an
applicant has failed to comply with the requirements of ‘acceptance of an
offer’ as set out in section 10 above.

11. Sharing of Data with other schools

Applicants
should be aware that section 66(6) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act
2018 allows for the sharing of certain information between schools in order to
facilitate the efficient admission of students.

Section
66(6) allows a school to provide a Patron or another Board of Management with a
list of the students in relation to whom—

(i) an application for
admission to the school has been received,

(ii) an offer of
admission to the school has been made, or

(iii) an offer of
admission to the school has been accepted.

The
list may include any or all of the following:
(i) the date on which an
application for admission was received by the school;

(ii) the date on which
an offer of admission was made by the school;

(iii) the date on which
an offer of admission was accepted by an applicant;

(iv) a student’s
personal details including his or her name, address, date of birth and personal
public service number (within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare
Consolidation Act 2005).

12. Waiting list in the event of oversubscription

In the event of there being more
applications to the school year concerned than places available, a waiting list
of students whose applications for admission to Cosby N.S. were unsuccessful due to the school being oversubscribed
will be compiled and will remain valid for the school year in which admission
is being sought.

Placement on the waiting list of Cosby N.S. is in the order of priority
assigned to the students’ applications after the school has applied the
selection criteria in accordance with this admission policy.

Applicant students whose applications are
received after the closing date outlined in the Annual Admission Notice, will
be placed at the end of the waiting list in order of the date of receipt of the
application.

Offers of any subsequent places that
become available for and during the school year in relation to which admission
is being sought will be made to those students on the waiting list, in
accordance with the order of priority in relation to which the students have
been placed on the list.

13. Late Applications

All
applications for admission received after the closing date as outlined in the annual
admission notice will be considered and decided upon in accordance with our
school’s admissions policy, the Education Admissions to School Act 2018 and any
regulations made under that Act.

Late
applicants will be notified of the decision in respect of their application no
later than three weeks after the date on which the school received the
application. Applicant students will be offered a place if a place is
available. In the event that there is no place available, the name of the
applicant student will be added to the waiting list in accordance with Section
13 of this policy.

14. Procedures for
admission of students to other years and during the school year

The
procedures of the school in relation to the admission of students who are not
already admitted to the school to classes or years other than the school’s
intake group are as follows:

Applicants will be notified of the
decision in respect of their application no later than three weeks after the
date on which the school received the application. Applicant students will be
offered a place in the relevant class if a place is available. In the event
that the number of applications exceeds the number of available places in the
relevant class, the school will apply the selection criteria set out in Section
6 of this policy to those applications.
In the event that there is no place available, the name of the applicant
student will be added to the waiting list in accordance with Section 13 of this
policy.

The procedures of the school in relation
to the admission of students who are not
already admitted to the school, after the commencement of the school year in
which admission is sought, are as follows:

Late applicants will be notified of the
decision in respect of their application no later than three weeks after the
date on which the school received the application. Applicant students will be
offered a place if there is a place available. In the event that there is no
place available, the name of the applicant student will be added to the waiting
list in accordance with Section 13 of this policy.

15. Declaration in
relation to the non-charging of fees

The Board of Cosby N.S.
or any persons acting on its behalf will not charge fees for or seek payment or
contributions (howsoever described) as a condition of-

an
application for admission of a student to the school, or
the
admission or continued enrolment of a student in the school.

16. Arrangements regarding students not attending
religious instruction

The
following are the school’s arrangements for students, where the parents have
requested that the student attend the school without attending religious
instruction in the school. These
arrangements will not result in a reduction in the school day of such students:

A
written request should be made to the Principal of the school.
A
meeting will then be arranged with the parent(s)/guardians or the student, as
the case may be, to discuss how the request may be accommodated by the school.
Reviews / appeals

Review of decisions by the Board of
Management

The parent of the
student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the
student, may request the Board to review a decision to refuse admission. Such
requests must be made in accordance with Section 29C of the Education Act
1998.

The timeline within
which such a review must be requested and the other requirements applicable to
such reviews are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under
section 29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the
Department of Education and Skills.

The Board will conduct
such reviews in accordance with the requirements of the procedures determined
under Section 29B and with section 29C of the Education Act 1998.

Note: Where an applicant has
been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must
request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior to
making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998.

Where
an applicant has been refused admission due to a reason other than the school
being oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that
decision by the board of management prior to making an appeal under section 29
of the Education Act 1998.

Right of
appeal

Under Section 29 of the
Education Act 1998, the parent of the student, or in the case of a student who
has reached the age of 18 years, the student, may appeal a decision of this
school to refuse admission.

An appeal may be made
under Section 29 (1) (c) (i) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to
admit was due to the school being oversubscribed.

An appeal may be made
under Section 29 (1) (c) (ii) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to
admit was due a reason other than the school being oversubscribed.

Where an applicant has
been refused admission due to the school being oversubscribed, the applicant must
request a review of that decision by the Board of Management prior
to making an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. (see
Review of decisions by the Board of Management)

Where an applicant has
been refused admission due to a reason other than the school being
oversubscribed, the applicant may request a review of that
decision by the Board of Management prior to making an appeal under section 29
of the Education Act 1998. (see Review of decisions by the Board of
Management)

Appeals under Section 29
of the Education Act 1998 will be considered and determined by an independent
appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.

The timeline within
which such an appeal must be made and the other requirements applicable to such
appeals are set out in the procedures determined by the Minister under section
29B of the Education Act 1998 which are published on the website of the
Department of Education and Skills.

Ratification
and Review

This Policy was ratified by the Board on __________________
and follows guidelines issued by the Patron in respect of admissions.
This Admissions Policy will be regularly reviewed by
the Board.

Signed:
____________________________ Date:

Thomas Cosby

(Chairperson, Board of Management)

[1] As defined in Section 7(A)(2) of the Equal Status Act

[2] As defined in Section 7(A)(2) of the Equal Status Act