Respective functions of the Board of Governors and Principal in relation to Admissions to the school

The Board of Governors draws up the admissions criteria and delegates to an admissions subcommittee (“the Admissions Committee”), the responsibility for applying these criteria. Any reference herein to the term “Board of Governors” includes any committee or subcommittee appointed by the Board of Governors for the purposes of applying the admission criteria set out herein.

Please Note:
1. If the school is stated as the second, third or fourth preference to any school outside the Dickson Plan it is unlikely that the school(s) stated in preference to Craigavon Senior High School (the “preferred school(s)”) will have decided whether to offer that child a place by the date on which the Board of Governors of Craigavon Senior High School decide on admissions to this school (“the admissions date”). On the admissions date the Board of Governors is not able to consider second, third of fourth preference applications which have not already been decided on by the preferred school(s). If the number of children admitted on the admissions date is equal to the school’s admission number, no further places will be available after that date.

2. The Education Authority of Northern Ireland operates an on-line system of application for admission to the school (the "on-line system") for the academic year beginning in September 2024 . This system involves all applications and supplemental information being uploaded to an on-line portal (the Portal") available on the Education Authority's web-site. If the on-line system is in operation:

 o all references to “applications” or “applying” to the school shall be taken to mean doing so via the Portal;

 o all applications and supporting information must be uploaded to the Portal before it is closed at 4.00 pm on Friday 3rd May 2024; o the Board of Governors will not be able to consider any additional documents or information not uploaded to the Portal.

ADMISSION TO YEAR 11 (AGE 14+ YEARS)

Provided that the school’s enrolment and admissions numbers have not been exceeded the school will enroll all those pupils whose parents wish them to attend.

In accordance with statutory requirements, in applying the criteria and sub-criteria set out below, any child resident in Northern Ireland at the time of the proposed admission to the school will be selected for admission to the School before any child not so resident.

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any application form/transfer form. The provision of false or incorrect information or the failure to provide verifying documents by the required deadline may result in either the withdrawal of a place or the inability of the school to offer a place.

ADMISSION TO YEAR 11 (AGE 14+ YEARS)
If the number of applications exceeds the school’s admissions number the Board of Governors will select pupils for admission in the following order:

1. Pupils attending a junior high school [1] whose parents have indicated Craigavon Senior High School as a stated preference, provided the application is received by 4.00 pm on 3rd May 2024 and the pupil is still enrolled in the Junior High School on 27 April 2024.

If the number of applicants under Criterion 1 exceeds the school’s admission number the Board of Governors will select pupils using the following sub-criteria in the following order:

(a) a child who, at the date of application, has a child of the family currently enrolled at the school at the time of application, or is the eldest child of the family eligible to apply for admission to the school or is an only child;

(b) a child who is selected for admission on the basis of the initial letter of his/her surname (as entered on his/her birth certificate) in the order set out below:

F D H Y G T E R L V Mc K N Mac X Q O Z C P B J S W A M I U

In the event of surnames of one or more children beginning with the same initial letter (or, in the case of “Mc” and “Mac”, beginning with these letters), the subsequent letters of the relevant surnames will be used in alphabetical order. In the event of two identical surnames, the alphabetical order of the initial letters of the first of the forenames of the relevant children (as entered on his/her birth certificate) will be used.

(c) A child who is selected for admission through the use of a computerised random selection programme.
[1] A junior high school is defined as one of the School’s four feeder junior high schools: Lurgan Junior High School, Clounagh Junior High School, Killicomaine Junior High School and Tandragee Junior High School.

If the number of applicants under Criterion 2 exceeds the school’s admission number the Board of Governors will select pupils using the same sub-criteria, in the same order, as set out in Criterion 1.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
If a child is affected by medical or other special circumstances which the Board of Governors should take into consideration in deciding whether to select that child, documentary evidence of these special circumstances must be provided to the school by the child’s parents/guardians not later than 4.00 pm on 3rd May 2024. If the on-line system is in operation, this evidence must be provided by being uploaded to the Portal and the Board of Governors will not be able to consider any evidence apart from this.

This evidence must include:

Precise details of the special circumstances, where relevant with independent evidence to corroborate its existence;

If the special circumstance is of a medical nature, the evidence must include an appropriate medical certificate or other documentary evidence provided by a suitably qualified medical practitioner.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS Special Provisions apply to:

• Children whose parents/guardians wish them to transfer from schools outside Northern Ireland;
• Children, who have not been enrolled in any school in the academic year 2023-2024.

Parents/guardians who wish their child to apply to the school under Special Provisions must provide the appropriate documentary evidence to the school no later than 4.00 pm on 3 May 2024. If the on-line system is in operation, this evidence must be uploaded via the Portal and the Board of Governors will not be able to consider any evidence apart from this.

NOTES ON SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND SPECIAL PROVISIONS
On the basis of the evidence provided by the parents/guardians, the Board of Governors, in its absolute discretion, will decide if a child has been affected by Special Circumstances or comes within Special Provisions.

The Board of Governors will make this decision based on the medical and/or other evidence made available to the School. It is therefore important that those seeking to rely on Special Circumstances or Special Provisions make sure that the relevant application and supporting evidence is submitted by 4.00 pm on 3rd May 2024 at the latest and that this sets out clearly the reason(s) that Special Circumstances/Special Provisions apply. The onus is on parents/guardians to ensure that the above information is provided to the school by the relevant date. Failure to provide such information by the relevant date will result in the school being unable to consider the application for Special Circumstances.

Please note that judgement of the importance of the evidence provided in support of Special Circumstances/Special Provisions will be at the discretion of the Board of Governors. The existence of Special Circumstances/Special Provisions does not in itself lead to automatic admission to the school. Each case is considered on its own merits by the Board of Governors.

APPLICATIONS AND ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 11