ST LOUIS GRAMMAR SCHOOL. KILKEEL      

151 Newry Road 

Kilkeel 

NEWRY 

BT34 4EU 

Telephone: 028 4176 2747 

Fax: 028 4176 5694 

Email: info@stlouis.org.uk 

Website: www.stlouis.org.uk 

Principal: Mr Kevin Martin BEd(Hons), MEd, PQH(NI) 

Chairperson of Governors: Mr Brendan Cunningham 

  

Voluntary Grammar

Age Range:  11 – 18 

Admissions Number:        130  

Enrolment Number:        770 

 

Open Night:

Due to Covid restrictions schools are not permitted to host Open Nights in the academic year 2021-22. Further information about the school including an online video presentation will be available at www.stlouis.or.uk

 

Voluntary Contribution £60.00 p.a. (Maximum £150 per family) 

 

RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND PRINCIPAL 

IN RELATION TO ADMISSIONS TO THE SCHOOL 

 

ADMISSIONS POLICY

St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel, is a Catholic grammar school for girls and boys. This school normally accepts boys and girls who are suited for the type of education it offers and whose parents/guardians are in agreement with the philosophy and aims of the school.

St Louis Grammar previously used the outcomes of GL Entrance Assessment as the basis of selection of P7 pupils for up to 40% of its admissions.

The Board of Governors considered the impact of school closures on our local community as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and recognised there has been disruption to the education of pupils since March 2020.

The Board of Governors agreed, in light of the current Covid-19 circumstances and for one further year only, that academic admissions criteria will not be used for the academic year 2022-23. As a result, St. Louis Grammar will not use outcomes from GL Entrance Assessment as part of its Admissions Criteria for the academic year 2022-23. Pupils applying will not be required to provide a GL Entrance Assessment result.

Careful consideration was given to the decision to temporarily remove the academically selective element for the academic year 2022-23. St. Louis remains committed to its own ethos and academic focus on high quality teaching and learning. Those who would normally apply to be admitted are encouraged to continue to do so.

When considering which children can be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which parents/ guardians detail on the online Transfer Application. Parents/ guardians should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admission criteria is stated on the online Transfer Application or included as an uploaded attachment. An example of such information includes whether the child has or had a “child of the family1 (sibling)” (list name of sibling) at the school.

Please note:

St Louis Grammar has been directed by regulations to select for admission all children resident in Northern Ireland at the time of their proposed admission before any child not so resident may be selected for admission.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR ENTRY INTO YEAR 8

For admission in 2022/23 St Louis Grammar School will operate a 3 stage application process. All applications will be considered for Stage One initially and applications which are not admitted at Stage One will automatically be considered at Stage Two. Applications will be considered at Stage Three in the event that residual places remain unfilled.

Stage One

Places will initially be allocated to those pupils applying for admission from the local area of Lower and Upper Mourne who have indicated St Louis Grammar School as their first preference. The local areas of Lower and Upper Mourne are geographically defined by the Diocese of Down and Conor parish boundaries. Pupils will be considered as being from the local area if they (i) live in the area, or (ii) attend a primary school in the local area. It will be the responsibility of parents to provide sufficient evidence that their child falls into this category.

If there are more eligible applications than there are places available, the following criteria will apply:

1. Applicants who have a child of the family1 (sibling) enrolled at the School at the time of application; full responsibility rests with Parents/Guardians to provide sufficient details when submitting the online Transfer Application to allow the sibling relation to be identified.

2. Applicants who, at the date of their application, have a Parent/Guardian who is a member of the permanent teaching, administrative or support staff of the School, or have a Parent/Guardian who is due to take up such an appointment.

3. Applicants who have a child of the family1 (sibling) that was previously enrolled in the School; full responsibility rests with the Parents/Guardians to provide sufficient details when submitting the online Transfer Application to allow the sibling relation to be identified.

4. Applicants who are the eldest² child of the family¹ to be eligible to transfer to a mainstream Post-Primary School.

5. Applicants who are the eldest² child of the family¹ to be eligible to apply to a Grammar School.

6. Applicants who, at the date of their application, are entitled to Free School Meals Provision.

7. Other applicants ranked by date of birth with the youngest child admitted first and all other children admitted by age (youngest first) until all places have been filled. In the event of two or more applicants having the same date of birth and thereby qualifying for the last place(s), the applicants will be ranked by alphabetical order of surname and then forenames as listed on the birth certificate.

If after the application of a particular criterion there are not enough places available for all those applicants who meet that criterion then the next criterion will be applied to select applicants for places, in the order set out above through to criterion number 7.

1 ‘Child of the family’ is defined by the Department of Education in “The Procedure for Transfer from Primary to Post-Primary Education”, DE Circular 2016/15 revised 16 November 2021) as: a child born to a married couple or to a couple in a civil partnership; a child born to a co-habiting couple; a child born to a single parent; a child of either/any of those people by a previous marriage, civil partnership or relationship; a child living with a couple who has been treated as a “child of the family” whether there is a marriage or a civil partnership or not; a child living with an individual, who has been treated as a “child of the family”; an adopted or fostered child; a situation where, for example, an orphaned cousin is being brought up with a family or individual.

2 Twins and other multiple birth applicants will be regarded as joint eldest. Eldest ‘child of the family’ to be eligible to transfer includes cases where the eldest child has completed his/her post-primary education, the applicant is the eldest child of a reconstituted family, the eldest child of the family was statemented or attended a special school or where a family has relocated to Northern Ireland.

Stage Two.

For those pupils who have named St Louis Grammar School as their first preference on the Transfer Application, up to 40% of places (52 students) will be allocated based upon the order shown.

1. Applicants who have a child of the family1 (sibling) enrolled at the School at the time of application; full responsibility rests with Parents/Guardians to provide sufficient details when submitting the online Transfer Application to allow the sibling relation to be identified.

2. Applicants who, at the date of their application, have a Parent/Guardian who is a member of the permanent teaching, administrative or support staff of the School or have a Parent/Guardian who is due to take up such an appointment.

3. Applicants who have a child of the family1 (sibling) that was previously enrolled in the School; full responsibility rests with the Parents/Guardians to provide sufficient details when submitting the online Transfer Application to allow the sibling relation to be identified.

4. Applicants who are eldest² child of the family¹ to be eligible to transfer to a mainstream Post-Primary School.

5. Applicants who are the eldest² child of the family¹ to be eligible to apply to a Grammar School.

6. Applicants who, at the date of their application, are entitled to Free School Meals Provision.

7. Other applicants ranked by date of birth with the youngest child admitted first and all other children admitted by age (youngest first) until all places have been filled. In the event of two or more applicants having the same date of birth and thereby qualifying for the last place(s), the applicants will be ranked by alphabetical order of surname and then forenames as listed on the birth certificate.

If after the application of a particular criterion there are not enough places available for all those applicants who meet that criterion then the next criterion will be applied to select applicants for places, in the order set out above through to criterion number 7.

Stage Three

If, after Stage One and Stage Two have been completed there remain unfilled places, all applications which remain unplaced after Stage One and Stage Two will automatically be considered at Stage Three. Pupils will be admitted in the following order until 130 places have been filled in total between Stage One, Stage Two and Stage Three:-

1. Within Stage Three, priority will be given to all pupils for whom St Louis Grammar School is listed as the first preference school on the Transfer Application, before those applicants for whom the school is listed as second preference. Second preference applicants will then be prioritised before third preferences and so on.

Where selection has to be made between pupils after application of criterion 1 of Stage Three, the following criteria will be applied in the order set down until all places are filled:-

I. Applicants who have a child of the family1 (sibling) enrolled at the School at the time of application; full responsibility rests with Parents/Guardians to provide sufficient details when submitting the online Transfer Application to allow the sibling relation to be identified.

II. Applicants who, at the date of their application, have a Parent/Guardian who is a member of the permanent teaching, administrative or support staff of the School or have a Parent/Guardian who is due to take up such an appointment;

III. Applicants who have a child of the family1 (sibling) that was previously enrolled in the School; full responsibility rests with the Parents/Guardians to provide sufficient details when submitting the online Transfer Application to allow the sibling relation to be identified.

IV. Applicants who are the eldest² child of the family¹ to be eligible to transfer to a mainstream Post-Primary School.

V. Applicants, who at the date of their application, are entitled to Free School Meals Provision.

VI. Other applicants ranked by date of birth with the youngest child admitted first and all other children admitted by age (youngest first) until all places have been filled. In the event of two or more applicants having the same date of birth and thereby qualifying for the last place(s), the applicants will be ranked by alphabetical order of surname and then forenames as listed on the birth certificate

NOTES FOR INFORMATION:

a. Each year 130 pupils may be admitted to Year 8.

b. The criteria are drawn up by the Board of Governors which may delegate the application of them to an Admissions Subcommittee. 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.

c. Parents/Guardians are asked to note that it is their full responsibility to provide all relevant information to the Board of Governors on or attached/uploaded to the online Transfer Application, and the Board of Governors shall not be obliged to consider or seek any representations or additional information or documentary proofs not so furnished at the required time.

DUTY TO VERIFY

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on the online Transfer Application or appended/uploaded to the Transfer Application by Parents/Guardians.

Unless such verification is given in the required format and by the required deadline it will not be considered. Inaccurate or misleading information pertaining to an applicant's status may prejudice the award of a place and may lead to the withdrawal of any place awarded to an applicant who has thereby gained improper advantage.

The responsibility to ensure that:

• the online Transfer Application and other necessary documentation is correctly completed;

• any required verification documents are provided within specified deadlines,

lies with the Parents/Guardians of the child. Failure to ensure that this occurs will lead to any request for Special Circumstances not being considered and/or the application not being considered by the Board of Governors and/or the withdrawal of a place in the School.

APPLICATIONS AND ADMISSIONS TO YEAR 8

Year    2019/20

Admissions No    130

Total Applications All Preferences    111

Total Admissions    111

Year    2020/21

Admissions No    130

Total Applications All Preferences    114

Total Admissions    114

Year    2021/22

Admissions No    130

Total Applications All Preferences    120

Total Admissions    117

ADMISSION TO YEARS OTHER THAN YEAR 8

The School accepts girls and boys considered capable by the Board of Governors (which term includes any Committee or Admissions Subcommittee or persons appointed by the Board of Governors to apply the Admission criteria set out herein) of benefiting from a Grammar School education and also contributing to the School ethos.

It is expected that an application to attend St Louis Grammar School in

dicates an acceptance of all school regulations by both parents and pupils.

Applications for admission to Years 9 to 13 should be submitted to the Principal. Application Form AP1 for Year 9 onwards is available from the school office or the Education Authority Website www.eani.org.uk/admissions.

ADMISSIONS POLICY TO YEARS 9 to 14

The Board of Governors delegates the admission of pupils other than to Year 8 to the School Principal.

Admissions to Years 9 -12

The following criteria will be applied to applicants for Admissions to Years 9 -12 in the following order:

1. There must be a place available in the required year, within the School's approved enrolment number.

2. In every case, suitability for St Louis Grammar School’s provision will be an over-riding consideration. Convincing evidence of this suitability must be provided from his/her former school including reports, examples of classwork and homework and copies of completed examination papers. The School may also require applicants to complete assessments in Literacy and Numeracy.

3. A pupil must come with the recommendation of the Head of his/ her previous school.

Conditions

Application for entry will include an interview with the Principal and/or the Vice-Principal;

• The applicant must show an acceptance of the required academic standard and a willingness to achieve and maintain this standard.

• The applicant must have demonstrated very good behaviour and attendance in their previous school.

• The applicant and his/ her parent(s)/guardian(s) must accept the rules and regulations of the School.

If the number of applicants who fulfil the criteria above for Admission to Years 9 -12 exceeds the number of places available, the Principal will, on the basis of the information presented to him, apply the following sub-criteria, in the order set down, in the selection of applicants:

(i) pupils with the highest academic achievement and commitment to their studies as indicated by their school reports and their results in any public examinations or education and library board assessments;

(ii) brothers or sisters of present or past pupils of the school or of pupils who have already been selected for admission to the school;

(iii) children of members of the permanent teaching, administrative, or support staff of the school or of staff who are due to take up such an appointment;

If, on applying sub-criteria (i) to (iii) above, it becomes necessary to differentiate between applicants in a particular group, then the final available place(s) will be allocated on the basis of age ranked by date of birth with the youngest child admitted first. If two or more children have been born on the same date a random order selection will be used as a tie breaker.

ADMISSIONS POLICY FOR SIXTH FORM

The following criteria will be applied to applicants who wish to study AS/A2/BTec in St Louis Grammar School.

As a Catholic Grammar School, St Louis aims to ensure that every individual pupil will realise his/her full potential in spiritual, moral, social and academic terms. While it is assumed that students who enrol in St Louis in Y8 – Y12 will remain to study A Levels, entry into Sixth Form for existing St Louis students is conditional on:

• A minimum of 3Bs and 4Cs at GCSE or equivalent including English and Mathematics for AS/A2 levels

• A minimum of 5 GCSEs A*-C or equivalent including English and Mathematics for BTec/Vocational studies

• A satisfactory report from the School Principal

• The applicant and his/ her parent(s)/guardian(s) accepting the rules and regulations of the School.

• A very good level of performance in the subjects or curriculum areas that he /she wishes to study in Sixth Form, normally a B grade or better.

• Availability of places in particular subjects.

• Attending a meeting on results day with a member of the SLT to confirm subject choices.

These conditions reflect that which would have been expected from a St Louis student throughout his/her education at the School. If a student’s achievements do not meet the conditions listed above but s/he wishes to apply to return to the School to study A Levels/BTec, s/he will have to attend an interview with the Principal and/or Vice-Principal for his/her individual case to be considered.

Progression from Year 13 to Year 14 studies is also conditional on a satisfactory level of achievement, normally 3+ C grades or equivalent, application, behaviour and attendance at AS Level.

Students applying to join Sixth Form from other Schools

The Department of Education may, on request, increase the number of pupils that the school can admit to its Year 13. Places that become available in this way shall be allocated only to pupils who meet the basic eligibility criteria for Sixth Form study (as below) and shall be allocated in the order determined by the criteria to be applied in the order set down.

1. Pupils who have most recently completed Year 12 in St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel.

2. Pupils from other schools where admission to an extra place at St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel has been agreed by the Department of Education*.

* Parents should note how the Department of Education (DE) will, in response to a school’s request, increase the school’s enrolment number in order to allow an extra post-16 pupil to enrol. DE will first check whether there is another school or schools of a type suitable for that pupil within an hour’s journey of where the pupil lives. If there is, DE will check whether this other school or schools may provide all of the post-16 courses that the pupil wishes to pursue. If these checks find that no other suitable school may provide all of the post-16 courses that the pupil wishes to pursue – then DE will agree a school’s request for a place.

What is a school of a type that is suitable for a pupil? To determine this, DE first considers all schools to be one of 4 types: (1) denominational (2) non-denominational (3) integrated and (4) Irish-medium. A School requesting an extra place for a post-16 pupil will belong to one of these 4 types and DE will consider any other school or schools from this same type as suitable for the pupil. DE will also consider as suitable for the pupil any school from the same type as the type of school that the child attended in Year 12.

Students applying to join Sixth form from other Schools will be required to meet the conditions set out above in the Admissions Criteria for Sixth Form. They must attend an interview with a member of the SLT. The interview process will establish if St Louis Grammar School Kilkeel is the most appropriate option for the individual candidate.

Applicants must bring a copy of their results slip and their two most recent school reports and a birth certificate with them to their interview.

In the event of there being more applicants than places available either in the year group or in an individual subject then the applicants shall be ranked according to a points score for GCSE subject(s) or equivalent according to the following scale, with the higher ranking student(s) being offered a place.

A*(9) = 4 points   A(8,7) = 3 points    B(6) = 2 points      C*(5) = 1.5 points     C(4) = 1 point