Have you completed your Secondary School Application?

Parents of children who will start secondary school in 2018 are being reminded that the deadline for them to apply for a school place is the end of today.

Children who were born between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007 will be due to start secondary school in September 2018.

Parents should have already received information about making an application for secondary school from their child’s current primary school. Anyone who does not have this should contact Bradford Council’s admissions team.

Bradford Council’s online system allows people to view and amend their application at anytime until the closing date. People will receive an automated email acknowledging that their application has been received.

Only one application maybe submitted for a child but parents can choose up to five secondary schools in that application.

Coun Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills said: “Moving up to secondary school is a big step in every child’s life.

“It is important that applications are made on time to give people the best chance of getting into one of their chosen schools.”

To make your application or find out more information please visit: www.bradford.gov.uk/admissions

 

 

Parents reminded that school place offers will be made next week

Parents of children who are set to start in reception in primary school from September this year will find out next week which school their child has been offered a place at. This year National Offer Day takes place on Tuesday April 18 because of the Easter Holidays. Bradford Council will be sending out emails to parents from 9am on Tuesday.  People should expect to receive two emails. The first will inform them which school their child has been offered a place at and the second will contain the formal offer letter, acceptance slip and important dates for parents. Anyone who has not received their emails are advised to check their spam and junk folders  before contacting Bradford Council’s Admissions Team from April 19. Parents who applied through an individual primary school’s online system or on a paper form will be sent their offer letter by 1st class post on April 18.  Allocations will not be given over the telephone. Bradford Council’s Admissions Team encourages parents to put forward five preferences to maximise their chances of getting a place at a preferred school. This year the council has handled more than 7,500 applications for reception places in Bradford district primary schools for the 2017/18 academic year. Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills Coun Imran Khan said:  “We know that discovering where a child will be starting school is a big moment for every family and we work hard to ensure that as many pupils as possible are allocated to one of their preferred schools. “Since 2010 we have also provided 8,500 additional places at primary schools to ensure the district can meet the demand and we are constantly revisiting where more places might be needed.” National Offer Day for primary school places normally takes place on April 16 but it has been put back to Tuesday April 18 this year because of the Easter Holidays.

Steeton Primary School Open Morning

You are cordially invited to visit Steeton Primary School Open Morning on:

Wednesday 7^th December 2016

0930am – 1130am

For parents with children starting school in September 2017

This is an opportunity for parents to

• Meet with the staff
• Take a tour around the school
• Experience positive learning opportunity in a safe environment

www.steeton.bradford.sch.uk

Tel 01535653315

School admissions for secondary places now open

Secondary school admissions across the District opened this week.  Parents and carers can now apply for a secondary school place for their child for entry in September 2016.  Applications for primary places open in November.

Bradford Council has written to all parents whose children need to apply with information on how to do so. This includes a Unique Identification number (UID) so the parents can apply online.

Applying online makes the application quicker and easier as all a child’s details will already be completed from the Council’s database.  Parents will also be emailed straightaway when the decision is made on 1 March next year.

The online admissions system is available for secondary applications until 31 October 2015 for children born between 1 September 2004 and 31 August 2005.
To make the application process as simple as possible and ensure that parents and carers are able to send their child to a preferred school, the Council is suggesting five key steps parents need to take. These are:

1. Make sure you check the criteria that your preferred schools set for admissions.  You can do this by visiting each schools website or reading the Guide for Parents, available online from 12 September.
2. Read the guidelines set out in the Applying for Secondary School booklet.
3. Fully complete the application form and put in your five preferences and fill in any required Supplementary Information Forms.
4. Make sure that you submit your application by 31 October 2015.
5. Only submit one application – don’t do an online form and a paper form.

If parents and carers have any queries, they can visit the Council’s website or contact the Admissions Team in the following ways:

• Email secondaryadmissions@bradford.gov.uk
• Call the School Admissions Team on 01274 385967
• Write to the School Admissions Team, Future House, Bolling Road, Bradford BD4 7EB
• Call into our drop in sessions at Future House: Monday, Wednesday and Friday – 9.30am to 12.30pm or Tuesday and Thursday – 1pm to 4pm

Coun Susan Hinchcliffe, Executive Member for Education, Skills and Culture, said: “It’s a big step for any child as they apply for a secondary school place for next year.  We are likely to have nearly 8000 children applying for secondary school places this year.  The easiest way of applying is to do so online.

“We’ve tried to make the application process as simple as it can be .  To give your child the best chance I’ m asking parents and carers to follow the five key steps and I’d particularly recommend using all five preferences.  We know that nearly 20% of applications last year only named one school which meant that if the family didn’t get their first preference, their child could be allocated any school in the district.  Obviously this then causes a lot of heartache.

“It’s also important that parents check out the criteria of the schools they are applying for as the Admissions Authority (the Council or School) have to abide by these criteria when offering places.”

Educate Positive – Edition 5

Welcome to the fifth edition of Educate Positive, our fortnightly bulletin which showcases the innovative and effective practice taking place within the district’s schools and settings. In this edition we celebrate one primary school’s improved attendance, another primary opening its ‘Adult Learning Centre’, and how practitioners came together to share skills and knowledge through their work with children from birth.

Improved attendance – sharing best practice

Rigorous monitoring of absence at a local primary school is paying dividends as the school is celebrating an all time high of 95.97% attendance, up from 92.7% in 2009/10. Trinity & All Saints Primary School in Bingley researched best practice and came up with the new way of tackling absence.

The school started work on its new Attendance Policy in Spring 2010, and implemented the new practices to great effect.  They tirelessly continue to assess these practices and policies, and communicate with other schools within the Airedale Learning Community to promote a uniform approach to attendance within its community of schools.

What did the school do to achieve its goal?

• Created a clear set of practices and procedures for absences
• Continuous and thorough monitoring of attendance
• Regular communication with parents and other stakeholders promoting a positive attitude to the importance of good attendance and punctuality and linking attendance with achievement

A new rewards system was implemented where children collected credits when their attendance was over 95% each term, and bonus credits where 95% has been sustained for over two terms. Pupils spent their credits in the “school shop” which allowed them to buy pencils, rubbers, sharpeners, notebooks etc, most of which were branded with “excellent attendance”. All pupils with 100% attendance all year round receive a £5 gift voucher at the end of the year.

The school, which subscribes to the Council’s Education Social Work Service, also had a “Be on Time Week” in school when an educational social worker was in attendance – this also proved very effective.  Pupils are also involved in promoting the importance of school attendance: so much so, that the School Council is putting on a play in school in June around the benefits of being on time and being in school.

The school is delighted with this achievement and it continues to communicate with parents, the LA, other schools and other outside agencies.  It has improved not only its whole school attendance but has also made an impact on reducing persistent absence, helping some of the school’s most vulnerable pupils.

The new monitoring of absence has also contributed to the school’s academic performance; in the last three years it has achieved year on year improvements in its levels of attainment and progress within EYFS and Key Stage 1 classes.

For further information please contact Jane Glendinning, Headteacher at the school on 01274 564977.

First Investors in Health Conference for Special Schools

Pupils at Special Schools across the district were able to learn new skills at the inaugural Investors in Health Conference last month.  Following the successful event, plans are in place for this event to become a regular feature of the Health and Well Being calendar for schools –primary and secondary phases.

Special Schools from all over the District took part in this event, organised by the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Team and the School Nursing Service – hosted by Beechcliffe School in Keighley.  Various workshops took place including:

• Interactive and informative Workshops on key issues were provided by Hazelbeck School (Participation and Pupil Voice),
• High Park School (Personal Care, with reference to boys)
• Nicola Hawkins, Health promotion Specialist of the Public Health Sexual Health Team (Relationships and additional needs).

Innovative Conference for Early Years practitioners

Key practitioners in the field of early years gathered in the district last month to share skills and knowledge as well as exploring scientific discoveries around working with children from birth to three years.

Practitioners from various agencies, including Bradford Council’s Early Childhood and Library Services and the National Literacy Trust hosted the conference called “I’m under 3 talk to me – building secure foundations in the early years.”

Those working in this area play a key role in helping parents and carers of young children to understand how important they are in shaping a child’s brain development and emotional capacities.

The “Early Communication Project” focuses on:

• Enabling more children to start school with age related expectations for communication and language and personal, social and emotional development.
• Ensuring that there is greater emphasis on children’s language development, particularly in pre-school children.
• Having effective early identification of children at risk of language delay.
• Supporting and increasing skilled and confident practitioners to have good knowledge and understanding of communication and language development. This involves taking actions to involve and engage parents and respond effectively to support children at risk of delay.

Learning together at Killinghall

Parents in BD3 now have the opportunity to improve their own educational skills and become more involved in their children’s learning thanks to a new ‘Adult Learning Centre’, named ‘Brighter Future’ at Killinghall Primary School.  It is hoped that the new facility will have a significant impact on Parental Involvement and raising the aspirations of parents and carers within their communities.  The school is keen to increase its Family Learning Programmes, involving more parents, especially ‘dads’ to learn with their children.  All parents who attended the opening ceremony of the new Centre signed up for courses in the future which will provide them with the learning they need to be more involved in the pupils’ learning and school life.

For further information please contact the headteacher at the school, Gill Edge, on 01274 771166.

 We hope you have found this bulletin informative and look forward to providing updates to you on a regular basis.  If you have any stories to contribute please contact Alyson Hardaker T 01274 385615 or Simon O’Hare T 01274 438899.

School Places Update

Do you have children starting primary or secondary school in September 2015?

The Council’s school admissions team is currently working on allocations for children starting Secondary School in September 2015. All parents who applied online by the closing date should receive an email telling you which school your child has been offered on Sunday, 1 March 2015.

All applicants will be sent a confirmation letter informing them of the school offered on Monday, 2 March.

Parents who applied online for children who are due to start Reception in September 2015 should receive an email on Thursday, 16 April telling you which school your child has been offered.

All applicants will be sent a confirmation letter informing them of the school offered.

If you have not yet applied for a secondary or primary school place for September, please call 01274 385967 or email: schooladmissions@bradford.gov.uk

*Please note, this blogpost was updated on 18/02/15 due to an error in the original post, for which we apologise.

Secondary School Admissions 2015

Is your child moving up to Secondary school next year?  If so you need to apply and you can now do this online! Further information and help can be found on the School Admissions pages of the Council’s website.