Trinity Academy Halifax

Applications for a place should be made in accordance with Calderdale Council's coordinated admission arrangements.

Admissions will be fair-banded as explained below and in the Supplemental Guidance document, which can be found on the school website: Trinity Academy Halifax.

Final deadline for completing and submitting the Fair Banding Registration form is Monday 25th September 2023. It is not mandatory that the supplementary application form is completed, but parents should do so if they wish their application to be considered in relation to church attendance, check the website for more information.

Procedure for allocating places, including dealing with over subscription:

Places will be allocated on the basis of Fair Banding as permitted by the Department for Education (DfE) School Admissions Code.

Pupils applying to TAH will be invited to sit a non-verbal assessment (based on cognitive ability) produced by a reputable national organisation. For further details please see Supplemental Guidance.

Applicants who sit the Fair Banding Assessment are considered for admission first.

Any applicants, including late applicants, who miss the September Fair Banding Assessment will be given a further opportunity to sit a Fair Banding Assessment in November. Note: Applicants can only sit the Fair Banding Assessment once.

Any applicants who choose not to sit the Fair Banding Assessment will be 'non-banded' and will be ranked in order of priority (after all of the banded applicants), with the level of priority then determined with reference to the oversubscription criteria (below).

How Fair Banding works. The assessment is not a traditional entrance exam which children either pass or fail. It is done to ensure that our intake exactly matches the ability profile of the children applying.

To achieve this, all applicants (by the deadline) are invited to take a non-verbal reasoning assessment to divide them into 4 ability bands, from Band 1 at the bottom up to Band 4 at the top. We will admit the required number from each band based on the spread of ability of those applying.

The assessment is externally set by a well-established educational assessment agency and the papers are collected by the agency to be marked. The academy is then provided with a list of each child's assessment mark, similar to an IQ score, with 100 being the average. The marks are divided into four bands and we are instructed how many children to take from each band e.g. if 40% of those applying are identified in Band 2, then 40% of our intake has to be from this band. This ensures that the 330 places we offer reflect the ability range of our applicants.

Parents/carers of children who sit the Fair Banding Assessment in September will be informed of their child's score (and the band they have been allocated to) prior to the national deadline for secondary school applications. Parents/carers of children who sit the later Fair Banding Assessment will also be informed of their child's score (and the band they have been allocated to).

Children in receipt of an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC), children who are in public care – 'Looked After' and children who were previously looked after, who do not take the assessment will be allocated to the appropriate band on the basis of an alternative appropriate assessment. For example, a current teacher assessment of the child's capabilities and the use of moderated professional judgment, to allocate the child into a band. Children in receipt of an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) that names TAH as the appropriate school, will be admitted before any other children.

Oversubscription criteria

In the event of oversubscription within each band, priority for admission will be determined using the following criteria:

1.  
   1. Children who are in public care – 'Looked After' (as defined by section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or children who were previously looked after but ceased to be so because they became adopted or became subject to a child arrangements or special guardianship order.
   2. Children who appear (to the admission authority of the academy) to have been in public care outside of England and ceased to be in public care as a result of being adopted. (A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.)
2. Children who attend Trinity Academy Akroydon.
3. Children whose siblings currently attend the academy and who will continue to do so on the date of admission. (“Sibling” is defined as a full or half brother or sister; a step brother or sister; an adoptive brother or sister; the children of parents living together in the same family household. The elder sibling must still be on roll at the academy when the younger child starts at the academy i.e. sibling applications will only be accepted for siblings of students in years 7 to 10).
4. Children of staff employed at the academy. 'Staff' for this purpose are defined as anyone employed by the academy who has held a permanent contract with the academy for at least two years prior to the application or to staff recently appointed to a post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
5. Children who are resident in the defined priority catchment area, as shown on the map following this policy and who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend a Church of England Parish Church. Parents must complete the church supplementary application form if they wish their child to be considered in relation to their church attendance. (“Regularly attend” means attendance at public worship at least twice per month for the year before the application is submitted.) In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these [admissions] arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.
6. Children whose place of residence is within the defined priority catchment area shown on the map following this policy.
7. Children who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend, one of the Church of England Parish Churches in the Rural Deanery of Halifax. (“Regularly attend” carries the same definition as set out at Criterion 5.)
8. Children who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend, one of the Church of England Parish Churches in the rural Deaneries of Calder Valley and Brighouse and Elland. (“Regularly attend” carries the same definition as set out at Criterion 5.)
9. Children who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend, another Christian Church within the area of the Calderdale Metropolitan District (affiliated to Churches together in England). A list of such churches is available to view by visiting: www.cte.org.uk
10. Other children.

If there is oversubscription in any category, pupils will be admitted in order of proximity to TAH. Distance will be calculated using a straight-line measurement from the pupil's home to the main school gate. Distances will be calculated using the local authority's Geographical Information System (GIS). To ensure consistency, all measurements will be carried out by the local authority's GIS system and no other method of measuring distance will be considered. Each property has a co-ordinate taken from Ordnance Survey address point data. This is the point from which distance measurements will be taken.

Should any band not fill with pupils assessed and designated to that ability banding, then pupils will be drawn from other bands in the following order: Band 4 – if no Band 4 children are available, children from Band 3 will be offered places; if no Band 3 children are available, children from Band 2 will be offered places; if no Band 2 children are available, children from Band 1 will be offered places; if no Band 1 children are available, places will be offered to nonbanded children. Band 3 – if no Band 3 children are available, children from Band 4 will be offered places; if no Band 4 children are available, children from Band 2 will be offered places; if no Band 2 children are available, children from Band 1 will be offered places; if no Band 1 children are available, places will be offered to nonbanded children. Band 2 – if no Band 2 children are available, children from Band 3 will be offered places; if no Band 3 children are available, children from Band 1 will be offered places; if no Band 1 children are available, children from Band 4 will be offered places; if no Band 4 children are available, places will be offered to non-banded children. Band 1 - if no Band 1 children are available, children from Band 2 will be offered places; if no Band 2 children are available, children from Band 3 will be offered places; if no Band 3 children are available, children from Band 4 will be offered places; if no Band 4 children are available, places will be offered to non-banded children.

Random allocation (undertaken by the local authority or another body unconnected with TAH) will be used as a tie-break to decide who has highest priority for admission if the distance between a child’s home and the academy is equidistant in any individual case. However, if children of multiple birth (twins and triplets) are tied for the final place, those siblings will be admitted over PAN.

Places will be allocated on the basis of Fair Banding as permitted by the Department for Education (DfE) School Admissions Code.

Students applying to TAH will be invited to sit a non-verbal assessment (based on cognitive ability) produced by a reputable national organisation. For further details please see Supplemental Guidance.

Applicants who sit the Fair Banding Assessment are considered for admission first.

Any applicants, including late applicants, who miss the October Fair Banding Assessment will be given a further opportunity to sit a Fair Banding Assessment in November.

Note: Applicants can only sit the Fair Banding Assessment once.

Trinity schools work collaboratively with many local primary schools to arrange for their Y6 children to sit the assessment in the familiar surroundings of their own classroom, where children feel more comfortable. Please contact your local primary school to establish if they are working with us. If your child attends a school where the assessment is not administered in-house, you will be informed via email and invited to sit the assessment at Trinity.

Any applicants who choose not to sit the Fair Banding Assessment will be ‘non-banded’ and will be ranked in order of priority (after all of the banded applicants), with the level of priority then determined with reference to the oversubscription criteria (below).

How Fair Banding works.

The assessment is not a traditional entrance exam which children either pass or fail. It is done to ensure that our intake exactly matches the ability profile of the children applying. To achieve this, all applicants (by the deadline) are invited to take a non-verbal reasoning assessment to divide them into 4 ability bands. We will admit the required number from each band based on the spread of ability of those applying.

The assessment is externally set by a well-established educational assessment agency and the papers are collected and marked. The academy is then provided with a list of each child’s assessment mark, similar to an IQ score, with 100 being the average. The marks are divided into four bands and we are instructed how many children to take from each band. For example, if 40% of those applying are identified in Band 2, then 40% of our intake has to be from this band. This ensures that the 330 places we offer reflect the ability range of our applicants.

Parents/carers of children who sit the Fair Banding Assessment in October will be informed of the band their child has been allocated to, prior to the national deadline for secondary school applications. Parents/carers of children who sit the later Fair Banding Assessment will also be informed of their child’s band.

Looked after children and children in receipt of an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC), who do not take the assessment, will be allocated to the appropriate band on the basis of an alternative appropriate assessment. For example, a current teacher assessment of the child’s capabilities and the use of moderated professional judgment, to allocate the child into a band.

For children with SEND – At the request of a primary school or parent/carer, additional steps will be taken to ensure reasonable adjustments are made to the assessment or an alternative (more appropriate) assessment is sought.

Oversubscription criteria

In the event of oversubscription within each band, after the admission of students with an Education Health and Care plan naming the academy, priority for admission will be determined using the criteria set out below, in priority order:

1.  
   1. Children who are in public care – ‘Looked After’ (as defined by section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or children who were previously looked after but ceased to be so because they became adopted or became subject to a child arrangements or special guardianship order.
   2. Children who appear (to the admission authority of the academy) to have been in public care outside of England and ceased to be in public care as a result of being adopted. (A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.)
2. Children who attend Akroydon Primary Academy.
3. Children whose siblings currently attend the academy and who will continue to do so on the date of admission. (“Sibling” is defined as a full or half brother or sister; a stepbrother or sister; an adoptive brother or sister; the children of parents living together in the same family household. The elder sibling must still be on roll at the academy when the younger child starts at the academy i.e. sibling applications will only be accepted for siblings of students in years 7 to 10.
4. Children of staff employed at the academy. ‘Staff’ for this purpose are defined as anyone employed by the academy who has held a permanent contract with the academy for at least two years prior to the application or to staff recently appointed to a post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
5. Children who are resident in the defined priority catchment area, as shown on the map following this policy and who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend a Church of England Parish Church. Parents must complete the church supplementary application form if they wish their child to be considered in relation to their church attendance. ("Regularly attend" means attendance at public worship at least twice per month for the year before the application is submitted.) In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these [admissions] arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.
6. Children whose place of residence is within the defined priority catchment area shown on the catchment area map – page 7 of this policy.
7. Children who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend, one of the Church of England Parish Churches in the Rural Deanery of Halifax. “Regularly attend” carries the same definition as set out at Criterion 5.
8. Children who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend, one of the Church of England Parish Churches in the rural Deaneries of Calder Valley and Brighouse and Elland. (“Regularly attend” carries the same definition as set out at Criterion 5.)
9. Children who regularly attend or whose parents/guardians regularly attend, another Christian Church within the area of the Calderdale Metropolitan District (affiliated to Churches together in England). A list of such churches is available to view by visiting: www.cte.org.uk (Regularly attend” carries the same definition as set out at Criterion 5.)
10. Other children.

Distance from the academy

If there is oversubscription in any category, students will be admitted in order of proximity to TAH. Distances will be calculated using the Local Authority’s GIS system (Geographical Information System). To ensure consistency applies, all measurements will be carried out by the Local Authority’s GIS system and no other method of measuring distance will be considered. This is the point from which distance measurements will be taken. In the event of two or more children living equidistant from the academy, as measured by the procedure above, then the decision on which child will be allocated will be made using random allocation.

Note - The address given must be where the child and parent/s live permanently, i.e., the address of the person holding parental responsibility for the child. It must not be the child minder’s, grandparent’s or other relative’s address. Parents may be required to provide proof of permanent address.

Multiple births

If children of multiple birth (twins and triplets) are tied for the final place, those siblings will be admitted over PAN.