Source: https://www.london-oratory.org/page/?title=First+Year+%28Year+7%29&pid=144
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 12:28:09+00:00

Document:
The School was founded by The Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri (London) and the Fathers of this Congregation are the Trustees of the School. The London Oratory School and the London Oratory Church have always maintained a close working relationship which includes the Oratory Fathers supplying chaplaincy to the School and the School supplying the Schola choir for the parish.
The School’s aim is to assist Catholic parents from across London in fulfilling their obligation to educate their children in accordance with the principles and teachings of the Church, to provide a unique liturgical life founded in the spiritual and musical traditions of the oratories of St Philip Neri and of the London Oratory Church; to do this within an environment which will encourage and support the spiritual, physical, moral and intellectual development of the child and help them to grow towards full Christian maturity; and to provide a wide and rich range of educational and cultural experiences which will encourage children to discover and develop their potential to its maximum and to strive for high standards of excellence in all activities.
In these arrangements, "parent" means the parent of, or adult with legal responsibility for, the child (candidate) for whom a place at The London Oratory School is being sought.
For further details of these meetings and other enquiries please contact the School’s Registrar.
Applications for places should be made on your local authority’s e admission system and on The London Oratory School Supplementary Information Form (SIF) for those applicants who, in the case of there being more applicants than places available, wish to be considered against the relevant over- subscription criteria. All applicants should register an application on the e admission system by 31st October 2018. You should submit the SIF to this school by the same date. Parents will be informed of the outcome on 1st March 2019.
Applications received after the applicable closing date given in these arrangements will only be considered in exceptional circumstances, for example, when a family has just moved from abroad.
Separate provision is made for candidates with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Details of this separate procedure are set out in the SEN Code of Practice.
There were 970 applications for the 160 places (Published Admission Number) in first form in September 2018.
The School will admit 160 boys from across London to the first form (year 7) without reference to ability. In determining to which candidates places will be offered, priority will always be given to Catholics (see note 1).
After the admission of boys with an Education, Health and Care Plan which names the School, places will be allocated according to the arrangements below.
Catholic looked after boys and Catholic boys who have been adopted, or made subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders, immediately following having been looked after (see notes 3, 4, 5 and 6).
Catholic boys from practising Catholic families with a Certificate of Catholic Practice (see note 2).
(1) Candidates who have a sibling at the School on the date of admission to the School (see note 7). Candidates meeting this criterion will be placed at the top of Category B.
(2) Candidates who are a sibling of a former pupil (see note 8). Candidates meeting this criterion will be placed at the top of Category B after any candidates meeting (1) above.
(3) Candidates who at the time of application attend the Oratory Primary School, Bury Walk, Cale Street, SW3 6QH. Candidates meeting this criterion will be placed at the top of Category B after any candidates meeting (1) and/or (2) above.
Other looked after and previously looked after children (see notes 3, 4, 5 and 6).
Catechumens (see note 9) and members of an Eastern Christian Church (see note 10).
In the event of a tie for a place after the above criteria have been applied, a ballot system of random allocation will be used with each tied candidate’s name being entered into the ballot and names then selected randomly by an independent external organisation, until a rank of all candidates has been established. If the School is oversubscribed by Catholic applicants with a Certificate of Catholic Practice, only children from Category B will be included in the tie-break.
Offers of places will be sent to parents by their home Local Authority on 1st March 2019. The School will also write to the parents with successful applications on 1st March 2019, providing them with the necessary forms to complete, and a reply within five working days will be appreciated, so that the School has an early indication of places not taken up at this stage which will then be offered to the next eligible candidates.
After admissions decisions have been made and places have been accepted, the Governors will hold a waiting list of candidates until 31st December 2019, using the priority order set out in the admission policy, of those who have positively indicated their wish to be placed on the list. Each added child will require the list to be ranked again in line with the published over-subscription criteria. Priority will not be given to children based on the date their application was received or their name was added to the list.
The School is committed to taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols. Accordingly, outside the normal admissions round the Governing Body is empowered to give absolute priority to a child where admission is requested under any local protocol that has been agreed by both the Diocese and the Governing Body for the current school year. The Governing Body has this power even when admitting the child would mean exceeding the published admission number.
Parents may apply for their child to be educated outside his chronological age group i.e. a year behind or a year ahead. Application should be made to the Chair of Governors at the time of application and any supporting evidence should be submitted at the same time. Governors will consider each case on its own merits and permission will only be given in exceptional circumstances.
If an application for a place is unsuccessful, parents will be given an opportunity to appeal against the decision to an appeal panel set up in accordance with the statutory provisions in force at the time.
1. Catholic means a member of a Church in full communion with the See of Rome. This includes the Eastern Catholic Churches. This will normally be evidenced by a certificate of baptism in a Catholic Church or a certificate of reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church. For the purposes of this policy, it includes a looked after child who is part of a Catholic family where a letter from a priest demonstrates that the child would have been baptised or received if it were not for their status as a looked after child (e.g. a looked after child in the process of adoption by a Catholic family).
For a child to be treated as Catholic, evidence of baptism or reception into the Church will be required. Those who have difficulty obtaining written evidence of baptism should contact their Parish Priest who, after consulting with the Diocese, will decide how the question of baptism is to be resolved and how written evidence is to be produced in accordance with the laws of the Church.
3. Looked after child has the same meaning as in s.22 of the Children Act 1989, and means any child in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them (e.g. children with foster parents at the time of making an application to the school).
4. Adopted refers to a child who is adopted under the terms of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 s.46 (adoption orders).
5. Child Arrangements Order means an order under the terms of the Children Act 1989 s.8 settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live. Children ‘looked after’ immediately before the order is made qualify in this category.
6. Special Guardianship Order means an order under the terms of the Children Act 1989 s.14A which defines it as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian(s).
7. Sibling is defined as a brother or sister of whole or half-blood, or an adopted brother or sister who permanently resides at the same address.
8. Sibling of a former pupil is defined as a brother or sister of whole or half-blood, or an adopted brother or sister, of a former pupil who completed at least one full year of education at the School.
9. Catechumen means a member of the catechumenate of a Catholic Church. This will normally be evidenced by a certificate of reception into the order of catechumens.
10. Eastern Christian Church includes Orthodox Churches, and is normally evidenced by a certificate of baptism or reception from the authorities of that Church.
Extract from the current Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 25th January 1983. For members of Eastern Catholic churches the relevant CCEO canons will apply.
Canon 1247. On Sundays and other holydays of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass. They are also to abstain from such work or business that would inhibit the worship to be given to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, or the due relaxation of mind and body.
Canon 1248. The obligation of participating in the Mass is satisfied by one who assists at Mass wherever it is celebrated in the Catholic rite, either on the holyday of obligation itself or on the evening of the previous day. If it is impossible to participate in a Eucharistic celebration, either because no sacred minister is available or for some other grave reason, the faithful are strongly recommended to take part in the liturgy of the Word, if there be such in the parish church or some other sacred place, which is celebrated in accordance with the provisions laid down by the diocesan Bishop; or to spend an appropriate time in prayer, whether personally or as a family or as occasion presents, in groups of families.
Canon 867. §1 Parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptised within the first few weeks. As soon as possible after the birth, indeed even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to ask for the sacrament for their candidate, and to be themselves duly prepared for it. §2 If the infant is in danger of death, it is to be baptised without any delay.
Canon 226. §1 Those who are married are bound by the special obligation, in accordance with their own vocation, to strive for the building up of the people of God through their marriage and family. §2 Because they gave life to their children, parents have the most serious obligation and the right to educate them. It is therefore primarily the responsibility of Christian parents to ensure the Christian education of their children in accordance with the teaching of the church.
Canon 793. §1 Parents, and those who take their place, have both the obligation and the right to educate their children. Catholic parents have also the duty and the right to choose those means and institutes which, in their local circumstances, can best promote the Catholic education of their children. §2 Parents have moreover the right to avail themselves of that assistance from civil society which they need to provide a Catholic education for their children.
Canon 796. §1 Among the means of advancing education, Christ's faithful are to consider Schools as of great importance, since they are the principal means of helping parents to fulfil their role in education. §2 There must be the closest cooperation between parents and the teachers to whom they entrust their children to be educated. In fulfilling their task, teachers are to collaborate closely with the parents and willingly listen to them; associations and meetings of parents are to be set up and held in high esteem.
Canon 798. Parents are to send their children to those Schools which will provide for their Catholic education. If they cannot do this, they are bound to ensure the proper Catholic education of their children outside the School.

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