About Winstanley
The Winstanley School is a small school of 600 students at the heart of the Braunstone community. Nearly all of our students live close enough to walk or cycle to school. Our school is a big family where everyone is known personally. We see ourselves as a ‘gateway of hope’ where every member of our school community can achieve, develop and excel irrespective of their starting point. Students at Winstanley experience inspirational teaching, dedicated personalised support, learn clear values
and become fantastic citizens who will make a positive difference in the world. Our school is growing into a beacon of inclusion, aspiration and social justice. Student leadership is at the heart of our work and students have the opportunity to lead in a wide variety of ways as Prefects, House Leaders, Well Being ambassadors, Stephen Lawrence Ambassadors, Leicestershire Citizens and many more. Our house system means that everyone knows that they belong, is rewarded for their achievements and has the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. The whole community makes sure that we challenge each other to be the best that we can and support each other to make sure everyone is included. This is summarised by our vision: ‘SHINE brighter than you thought you could.’ The school’s SHINE values are at the heart of everything we are and do – S – supporting others, H – hard work, I – independence, N – never giving up and E – excellence.
Book a Tour
To book a tour prior to the Admissions deadline (31st October 2025) follow this link – EVENTBRITE
Prospectus
You can view our latest Prospectus below, or alternatively, we can post one to you, please email – office@winstanleyschool.org.uk leaving your full address.
Admissions Process Introduction
LiFE is a Multi Academy Trust and we are the Admission Authority for our schools, which means we are responsible for setting and applying the admission arrangements. We are committed to ensuring that our admissions process is fair, clear, and objective. Our policies comply with the School Admissions Code and the School Admission Appeals Code, as well as other relevant legislation like the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.
a. The Schools within the Trust are –
i. Secondary
Ashby, Nottingham Road, Ashby-De-La-Zouch, LE65 1DT
Bosworth, Leicester Lane, Desford, Leicester, LE9 9JL
Countesthorpe, Winchester Road, Countesthorpe, LE8 5PR
Ibstock, Central Avenue, Ibstock, LE67 6NE
Ivanhoe, North Street, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, LE65 1HX
The Winstanley, Kingsway North, Braunstone Town, Leicester, LE3 3BD
ii. Primary
Braunstone Frith, Cuffling Drive, Leicester, LE3 6NF
Desford, Kirkby Road, Desford, Leicester, LE9 9JH
Dove Bank, Bagworth Road, Nailstone, Warwickshire, Nuneaton, CV13 0QJ
Kingsway, Kingsway North, Braunstone Town, Leicester, LE3 3BD
b. Information on our Trust & School Websites – as a Multi Academy Trust we must publish information on our school’s website by the 31st August each year detailing how in-year applications will be handled for further information please go to Section 2 below.
c. Review our Admission Arrangements/Policy – as the admission authority, we must set and publish our Admission Policy annually. This policy outlines how children will be admitted, including our oversubscription criteria if we receive more applications than available places a copy of the policy is available HERE The arrangements within the policy must be fair, clear, and objective and comply with all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation. The key priorities in our oversubscription
criteria are –
I. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names our school must be admitted.
II. Looked after children and previously looked after children in line with the Children Act 1989
definitions are given the highest priority.
III. Our policy includes an effective, clear, and fair tie-breaker, distance from school, to decide
between applications that cannot otherwise be separated.
IV. We do not use prohibited criteria, such as placing conditions on applications, giving extra priority based on ranking preferences (‘first preference first’), or interviewing children or parents (with limited exceptions for sixth form).
V. Proof of Address/Birth Date – we may request proof of address if it is unclear whether your child meets our oversubscription criteria. Once a place has been offered, we may ask for proof of birth date. Our Published Admission Number (PAN) and are available here and are part of the local authority.
BELOW IS A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR PARENTS WISHING TO APPLY FOR A SCHOOL PLACE AT OUR ACADEMY.
1. Applying for a School Place at the Main Point of Transfer (e.g., Reception, Year 7). For the main points of transfer (e.g., starting Reception or Year 7), there is a nationally coordinated approach to applications that all state-funded schools, including academies, participate in.
a. Apply to Your Home Local Authority (LA):
– Parents must apply for a school place through their own local authority (LA), where you actually live, regardless of whether our academy school is in that geographical area.
– The home LA provides a Common Application Form (CAF) that enables parents to express a preference for a place at any state-funded school. You can express a preference for at least three schools*in rank order, giving reasons for your preferences.
For our schools (with the exception of Braunstone Frith) the Local Authority is – Leicestershire County Council this is the link to their school admissions page.
For Braunstone Frith the Local Authority is Leicester City Council this is the link to their school admissions page.
b. Adherence to Deadlines:
– The national closing date for secondary school applications is the 31st October or the next working day.
– The national closing date for primary school applications is the 15th January or the next working day.
c. National Offer Day:
– Your home local authority will make the offer of a place on National Offer Day: 1 March for secondary schools and 16 April for primary schools.
– If our school is undersubscribed, any parent who applies will be offered a place unless a child has been twice permanently excluded or whose behaviour may be classed as challenging at a mid-year application point.
d. Right to Appeal:
– If your child is refused a place at our academy, you have an absolute right to appeal once each academic year.
– As the admission authority, our Academy Trust is responsible for arranging an Independent Appeal Panel to hear the appeal.
– The refusal notification will include the reason for refusal, information about the right to appeal, the deadline for lodging an appeal, and contact details.
2. Applying for an In-Year Admission (Directly to the Academy Trust)
An in-year admission is when a child needs to move schools outside the standard main points of transfer (e.g., during the school year). Local Authorities are not required to coordinate in-year applications for their own admission authority schools like academies. Therefore, our Academy Trust, as the Admission Authority, manages its own in-year admissions, to contact the admissions team within the Trust and its schools please email – admissions@lifemultiacademytrust.org.uk.
a. Direct Application to Academy Trust:
– A parent can apply for a place at any school at any time (outside of the main point of transfer window), however only one application will be processed each academic year unless there is a significant change in circumstances. A copy of the application form is available HERE
3. Application Processing
– Upon receipt of an in-year application, we aim to notify parents of the outcome in writing or email within 10 school days but must do so within 15 school days.
– If a place is offered and accepted, we will make arrangements for your child to start school as soon as possible, especially if they are currently out of school.
– We also notify the Local Authority of every in-year application and its outcome as soon as reasonably practicable, to help them maintain up-to-date figures on place availability.
4. Admission Criteria for In-Year
– If our academy has places available, we must offer a place to every child who has applied, except a child who is twice permanently excluded or fits within the criteria of displaying challenging behaviour as set out in the School Admission Code.
– If we are dealing with multiple in-year admissions and do not have sufficient places for every child, we must allocate places based on our published oversubscription criteria.
5. Waiting Lists
– We must maintain a clear, fair, and objective waiting list for at least the first term of the academic year of admission (until at least 31 December).
– Any child added to the list will require the list to be ranked again in line with our published oversubscription criteria. Looked after children and previously looked after children take precedence on waiting lists.
– No Waiting list is maintained beyond 31 December for any school in the Trust.
6. Right to Appeal:
– If your in-year application is refused, we must set out the reason for refusal and provide information about your right to appeal.
– Our Academy Trust is responsible for arranging this appeal via an Independent Appeal Panel. For further details regarding the appeals process, including information on independent appeal panels and relevant legislation, please refer to the School Admission Appeals Code guidance,which governs how appeals are heard. If you wish to appeal against the decision not to offer your child a place please complete the Appeals application HERE and return it to admissions@lifemultiacademytrust.org.uk.
Before the all-important “first day”, visits are arranged for the parents to meet the staff and spend a little time in school. Once children begin school a phased entry programme comes into operation. All arrangements are made with full consultation between parents and staff in the child’s best interests.
Our induction programme includes; close links with local pre-school group, pre-school visits for
children and parents, meetings with parents to explain our procedures, phased introduction over the first two or three weeks.
For pupils joining us at times other than the usual start in the 4+ Reception classes we always offer a pre-start tour of the school and agree an actual starting day, subject to local authority approval. We find new entrants two ‘buddies’ from the older pupils who will look after the newcomer for the first couple of weeks until they feel settled in school.
Parents wishing to send their children to Kingsway School should call in or ring to make an appointment, we will be happy to show you around the school and provide information about our philosophy, organisation and day-to-day routines.
