Admissions Information

King's Leadership Academy Phoenix Referral Arrangements for 2024/25

King's Leadership Academy Phoenix is part of the Great Schools Trust and is an Alternative Provision (AP) Free School provider based in Wavertree, Liverpool.

The aim of King's Leadership Academy Phoenix is to re-engage students with their education and help them to successfully progress to further education, employment, or training.  Student admission to King's Leadership Academy Phoenix is done using the referral process outlined in this document.  Referrals can be made at any time during the year.

Number of places available

The School will provide education for 72 students commissioned by local secondary schools in years 7-11 between the ages of 11 and 16.  These places are full time interventions.

Registration arrangements

Kings Phoenix does not accept independent applications for admissions. They only consider the admission of students by way of referral from a Commissioning school where issues are occurring in mainstream education.

The majority of current children and all future children that attend the Kings Phoenix are dual registered with another school or provider.    

Kings Phoenix endeavours to seek an arrangement which best suits the needs of each student and therefore we work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the best outcomes for individual students. Transition arrangements will be put in place to encourage the incoming student to settle in confidently and quickly and to ensure their needs are identified and comprehensively met from the outset

Students supported by the school

Kings Leadership Academy will specialise in providing places for:             

Referral arrangements

Kings Leadership Phoenix Academy does not accept independent applications for admissions. They only consider the admission of students by way of referral from a Commissioning school where issues are occurring in mainstream education. 

Commissioning process - Point of contact

Point of contact

The point of contact for commissioners is the school Principal.

 

Once a school contacts Kings Phoenix, the Principal arranges for a discussion to take place with the prospective student, an appropriate representative from the home school and a parent/carer. A referral form will be completed at this stage by the home school and where it is considered if Kings Phoenix can take on the student.    

The admission of students with special educational needs

Students with a statement of special educational needs or education health and care plan naming the academy will be admitted in consultation with both parties.

Criteria to be applied in respect of other students when oversubscribed

The following oversubscription criteria will apply when there are more referrals than places available, in order of priority:

  1. Students who are or were previously looked after by a Local Authority (as defined by the Children Act 1989)
  2. Students who live closest to the school in a straight line. Distance will be measured from the front door of a student’s home to the front gate/door of the school.  If students live exactly the same distance away from the school, random allocation will be used to determine who will be admitted, with the process undertaken by someone independent of the school.

Offers

If we can accept a referral we will write to the commissioner accepting the referral, including financial requirements, the support to be offered, a start date, the date by which the offer should be accepted and the address to which to respond.

Procedure following an offer

All referrals accepted from local schools lead to a daily contract with the home school. The cost of the is £60 - £70 per day plus the cost of transport to and from school.

For students which are dual registered, Kings Phoenix will take responsibility for the progress of each student referred, including entry to formal examinations where appropriate, in consultation with the home school. 

When offer letters are sent, if the commissioner fails to accept the place by the date set out in the letter, it will be assumed that commissioner no longer wants the place, and the offer will be withdrawn.

Appeals against any refusal to accept a referral

The principal has discretion when deciding whether or not to admit a student to King’s Phoenix following the relevant admission process. We will consider recommendations made on behalf of a child by, for example, a commissioner. Typically, where a referral has been made by a commissioner, an admission will be made with mutual agreement between the head of school and the Commissioner following the referral process.   

In exceptional cases where the principal considers Kings Phoenix not to be appropriate for an individual child the place will be offered to another, more suitable student.