FCAT ParentPay Contact Us School Calendar RSS Facebook Twitter Search Academy Principal's Welcome Staff Students Parents Curriculum Term Dates Term Dates Academy Governors Admissions Calendar Events E-Safety Letters News Ofsted Report Policies Pupil Premium School Day School Performance Table School Prospectus Staff List Vision and Values Tweets by @blackpoolaspire Latest News Runner-up medal for Bradie 24 March 2015 read more... Lancashire Young Citizen Awards 16 March 2015 read more... Events ROCKIT 22 April 2015, 7.00pm read more... Home / Parents / Admissions Admissions Blackpool Aspire Academy Admission Arrangements for 2015-16 Blackpool Aspire academy is an Academy and the Fylde Coast Academy Trust is the admissions authority. The admission number for Year 7 is 180. The Academy operates within an equal preference scheme and welcomes all children. Application Procedures Applications must be made using the Common Application form which will be made available by the Local Authority’s School Admissions Team. Applications can also be made online via the Local Authority’s website – www.blackpool.gov.uk/schooladmissions Applications for secondary school places must be made direct to the Local Authority no later than Friday 31st October 2014. All places will be offered by the Local Authority’s School Admissions Team on behalf of the Fylde Coast Academy Trust, within the secondary co-ordinated admission scheme operational in the Local Authority’s area. You must apply to the authority where you live. If you are unsure, for example if you live near council boundaries, it is whichever Local Authority you pay your council tax to. You can apply for a secondary school in any area, but you must apply to your home authority. If you live outside the Blackpool area, please contact your home authority to request an application. A Lancashire County Council application can be requested by ringing the Pupil Access Team on 01524 581112 or writing to the Area Education Office (North), PO Box 606, White Cross Education Centre, Quarry Road, Lancaster LA1 3SQ. Parents/Carers requesting a place at Blackpool Aspire Academy either because they are new to Blackpool, or because they are wishing to transfer from another Blackpool School will be required to complete a common application form allowing them to express three preferences. The admission of all students to Blackpool schools will be co-ordinated by the School Admissions Team (see Non-Routine Admissions). If your child has a Statement of Special Educational Needs which names a school, then that school must give your child a place. If you apply for a place in the middle of the school year, the school must give your child a place straightaway, even if classes are full. Oversubscription Criteria In the event of the Academy being oversubscribed the Fylde Coast Academy Trust’s criterion gives priority to the following children: *A Looked After Child is a child in the care of the Local Authority or provided with accommodation by the Authority (as defined in Section 22 of the Children’s Act 1989) at the time of the application and allocation. Under recent legislation, children who leave public care through adoption, a residence order or special guardianship order, will continue to be given the same priority although they are no longer looked after by the state. Siblings. Priority is given to children who have siblings attending Blackpool Aspire Academy at the time of application and who will be attending at the time of admission. This includes full brothers and sisters who may not live at the same address. Stepchildren or foster children who live at the same address are also classed as siblings. You must give full details of all siblings in the application. Medical Conditions. Priority will be given when a child or their parent/carer has a serious medical condition. There must be substantive medical evidence e.g. in the form of a letter from a consultant doctor. This evidence must be submitted with the application. If you are applying on-line you must send the supporting document(s) to the School Admissions Team with your child’s name and date of birth clearly stated. Social or Welfare Reasons. Where there are exceptional sensitive individual and compelling family circumstances, which are directly relevant to the preferred school, these may also be considered at the time of application. Request for consideration within this criterion will require appropriate professional reports e.g. from a social worker, police officer or educational psychologist. The report must demonstrate exact reason and the impact on the child or the family’s circumstances as to why this is the only suitable school compared to other schools available. The higher priority of social or welfare reason will be given to the child for the preferred school only if the submitted report unequivocally proves the circumstances and why an alternative school is unsuitable. If you are applying on-line you must send the supporting document(s) to the School Admissions Team with your child’s name and date of birth clearly stated. Distance. The address you state on your application must be the current one at the time of application. If your address changes after you have submitted your application, you should notify the School Admissions Team immediately. The distance between the applicant’s home (included flats) and school is taken as a straight line between the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) address point of the applicant’s home and of the school. The LLPG is a point within the boundary of the property and is usually located at its centre. Distances are measured using the Council’s Geographic Information System. In the event of the admission number being reached within anyone of the oversubscription criteria in the order listed above, the distance criteria will be used as a ‘tie breaker’. In the event of equal distance, a random allocation will be used to determine who takes priority for a place. Additional Information Late Applications Applications received after the published closing date will be treated as late applications. Only in exceptional circumstances, and where appropriate evidence is provided, will those applications received after the closing date (but before offers of places have been made) be considered concurrently with those applications received on time. The circumstances which might justify a late application include, but are not restricted to, the illness of a single parent/carer which might have reasonably impinged upon their ability to submit an application on time. Cut-off date for late applications Any application for a school place received after the start of the academic year will be treated as a non-routine admission. Applications received during the course of the year require parents to send information to the School Admissions Team at Blackpool Children’s Services department. This application for a non-routine admission will then be considered in the context of available school places. Change of Preference Once you have submitted your preferences, you may only request a change if there is a significant reason for doing so, for example, if you move address. You will be unable to access the on-line system after the closing date. Any requests for a change of preference should be made in writing, but evidence must be provided to demonstrate the reasons for your changes. Fraudulent Applications If it is found that a child has been allocated a place due to misleading information having been provided, for example an incorrect address, then the offer of a place may be withdrawn and the offer of an alternative school will be made by the Local Authority. Waiting Lists Waiting lists will be set up in the week following the letters being sent to parents. As places become available, the child highest on the waiting list will be offer the place. This is not dependent on whether an appeal has been submitted. The Local Authority’s School Admissions Team will maintain the waiting list on behalf of the Academy until the end of the Autumn Term. Appeal Arrangements All appeals will be co-ordinated by Blackpool Children’s Services Department. Where the Fylde Coast Academy Trust is unable to offer a place because the school is oversubscribed, parents have the right of appeal to an independent admission appeal panel, set up under the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998 as amended by the Education Act 2002. Parents should notify Blackpool Children’s Services Department as soon as possible if they want to appeal. Parents will have the opportunity to submit their case to the panel in writing and also to attend in order to present their case. You will receive 10 school days’ notice of the place and time of the hearing. Non-routine admissions It sometimes happens that a child needs to change school other than at the “normal” time; such admissions are known as non-routine admissions. They will be required to complete a common application form, provided by the Local authority, allowing them to express up to three preferences. The admission of all students to Blackpool schools will be co-ordinated by the Schools Admissions Team. If there is no place, then the School Admissions Team will provide information about how to appeal against the decision. Appeals for children moving into the area will not be considered until there is evidence of a permanent address, e.g. exchange of contracts or tenancy agreement with rent book. Please note that you cannot re-appeal for a place at a school within the same school year unless there has been relevant, significant and material change in the family circumstances. Timetable for Admission Appeals 2015 About Us Blackpool Aspire Academy Bispham Road Blackpool Lancashire FY2 0NH T: 01253 353155 F: 01253 500397 Office contact: Mrs K Clancy Useful Links Citrix CPD Genie Email GoogleDocs Vacancies Get email updates Signup for our email newsletters Subscribe! 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