Ribblesdale School
Queens Road
Clitheroe BB7 1EJ
01200 422563

11-16 Mixed Comprehensive
Head: Mrs Horrocks
Number on Roll January 2024: 1384
Admission Number: 285

Information relating to Autumn Term 2024 Year 7 Admissions:

Places Available	285
Total parental preferences (considered equally) ranked by parents	1st 246 2nd 262 3rd 190
Total preferences received	698

Initial allocation under each criterion:

Education Health Care Plan	0
Looked After Children	8
Social/Medical/Welfare	0
In GPA with Sibling	65
In GPA no siblings	137
Out GPA with sibling	16
Out GPA no sibling	52
LA Allocated	2

Summary of Policy

This is a Community School.

Geographical Priority Area

The above school’s priority area is Clitheroe, Worston, Pendleton, Mearley, Whalley, Wiswell, Mitton, Read, Sabden, Simonstone, Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, Billington, Dinckley, Balderstone, Clayton-le-Dale, Mellor, Osbaldeston, Ramsgreave, Salesbury, Wilpshire, Barrow, Stonyhurst, Brockhall Village, Hurst Green, Langho. Ribchester, Higham, Goldsaw Booth and Barley with Wheatley, (West of Barley Lane), Fence and Old Laund Booth.

Parents should note that the school does have pupils on roll who live outside the stated priority area.  Details of admissions are available from the school.  Please note that from 2023, Ribblesdale will become an all-through school, welcoming children from the age of 4 – 16.

In year admissions are no longer dealt with by schools.  Parents/Carers should contact Pupil Access directly on 01254 220747.

Transport

Parents in any doubt over the distance between home and school for the provision of transport are asked to check with their local Area Education Office.  This may be particularly relevant if you live close to a county border.

Bus Information

Admission Policy & Criteria for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools in Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle & Rossendale districts

 

An admission number will be published showing the maximum number of pupils that the school will admit in the Autumn Term 2025. Parents are given the opportunity to express three preferences for a secondary school. Published criteria are used to decide which children should be offered the available places. In secondary schools an equal preference system operates, whereby the three parental preferences are given equal status. Each preference will be considered equally against the admissions criteria.

When a secondary school is oversubscribed the following priorities apply in order:

1.Looked after children or a child who was previously looked after, but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangement order, or special guardianship order or those children who appear to the school to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted, then,

2. Children for whom the Local Authority accepts that there are exceptional medical, social or welfare reasons which are directly relevant to the school concerned. (See note (i) below) then,

3. Children eligible for services premium, then,

4. Children living within the school’s geographical priority area with older brothers or sisters attending the school when the younger child will start, (see note iii below).

5. Children living within the school’s geographical priority area, then,

6. Children living outside the school’s geographical priority area with older brothers or sisters still attending the school when the younger child will start (See note (iii) below) then,

7. Children living outside the school’s geographical priority area (see note (iv) below.

 

Notes

(i) The medical, social and welfare criterion will consider issues relevant to the child and/or the family. This category may include children without a statement who have special needs.

(ii) As required by law, all children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs/EHC naming a school will be admitted before the application of the over-subscription criteria. Children who have a statement for special needs have their applications considered separately.

(iii) Brothers and sisters includes step children, half brothers and sisters, fostered and adopted children living with the same family at the same address (consideration may be given to applying this criterion to full brothers and sisters who reside at different addresses). The priority does not apply to siblings whose brothers and sisters transferred into a sixth form at 16+.

(iv) The distance criterion which will be used as the tie breaker if there is oversubscription within any of the admission criteria; is a straight line (radial) measure. The distance measure is a straight-line measurement (radial) between the applicant's home address points and the address point of the school (co-ordinates provided by ordnance survey data).

(v) A child's permanent address is the one where he/she normally lives and sleeps and goes to school from. Proof of residence may be requested at any time throughout the admission process, (including after a child has accessed a school place).

(vi) The Local Authority will keep waiting lists for all Lancashire schools until 31 August 2025. These are kept in priority order using the school's published admission criteria. From 1 September 2025 for one school term only waiting lists will be retained by individual admission authorities (the Local 13 Authority for community and voluntary controlled schools and individual voluntary aided and trust schools will each retain their own list).

(vii) Children will not normally be able to start school other than at the beginning of the term unless they have moved into the area or there are exceptional circumstances.

(viii) Applications for school places which are received late will not necessarily be dealt with at the same time as those received by the set deadline. The reasons for a late application may be requested and where these are not exceptional the relevant admission criteria will be initially applied to all others received on time. The late application will be dealt with after this process.

Application forms received after the published closing date, will only be considered at that time if the following conditions apply:

(a) if the number of preferences received for the school is below the published admission number or:

(b) there are extenuating circumstances justifying a late application.

These may include:

(a) parents moving into the County after the closing date;

(b) parent/carer illness which required hospitalisation for the major part of the period between the publication of the composite prospectus and the closing date for applications.

(ix) Where a child lives with one parent for part of the week and another for the rest of the week only one address will be accepted for a school admission application. This will normally be the one where the child wakes up for the majority of school days (Monday to Friday). Proof of residence may be requested at any time throughout the admissions process.

(x) the highest priority must be given to looked after children(1) and children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted(2) (or became subject to a residence order(3) or special guardianship order4 ). Further references to previously looked after children in the Code means children who were adopted (or subject to residence orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after. This includes children who are legally adopted from overseas. Relevant legal documents must be provided to evidence the adoption.

The Authority has a duty to co-ordinate admission arrangements for all Lancashire maintained schools. The Authority will ensure that all Lancashire parents whose children are transferring to reception or Year 7 classes, receive the offer of one secondary or primary school place on the agreed date.

In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the churches have been closed for public worship and have 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 churches have been available for public worship.

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1 A 'looked after child' is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).

2 Under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. See section 46 (adoption orders).

3 Under the terms of the Children Act 1989. See section 8 which defines a ‘residence order’ as an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live.

4 See section 14A of the Children Act 1989 which defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).