Admissions

1. Aims

This policy aims to:

  • Explain how to apply for a place at Falkland Islands Community School (FICS)
  • Set out the school’s arrangements for allocating places to the students who apply

2. How to apply (already in The Falkland Islands)

For applications in the normal admissions round – i.e. transferring from Year 6 at Infant Junior School and Camp Education (IJS&CE) to year 7 at FICS - you should use the application form provided by IJS&CE. This will take place during Term 3.2 of Year 6. IJS&CE will send a letter home from the FICS Principal inviting you to apply for a place and supply the relevant admissions form.  IJS&CE students with appropriate immigration status (FI Status, PRP or Work Permit) are automatically awarded a place at FICS on receipt of their application form.  The purposes of the application form are to:

  1. Indicate intent to apply for a place for planning purposes
  2. To ensure personal and medical details are up to date
  3. To obtain consents that are required for trips, the use of student images etc

3. How to apply (moving to The Falkland Islands)

Your movement to The Falkland Islands is managed through The Falkland Islands Government Customs & Immigration Department (reception@customs.gov.fk) who will liaise directly with the school; your child will be allocated a place as part of that process if you and your family are granted appropriate visas -please do not contact FICS directly.

Dependent children of overseas contract officers will be given automatic admission into Falkland Islands Schools (FICS and IJS&CE) if the Customs & Immigration Department approve the issuing of a work permit– there is therefore no requirement for you to contact FICS directly.

Students returning to The Falkland Islands with appropriate immigration status (FI Status or PRP) are automatically awarded a place at FICS on receipt of their application form – parents should contact secretary@secondary.ac.fk for an application form.

 

4. Requests for admission outside the normal age group

Occasionally students may be educated in a curriculum year that is different to their age. This is an exception rather than a rule or routine occurrence and is at the sole discretion of the Principal of FICS.  Parents should write to the Principal (secretary@secondary.ac.fk) to arrange to discuss this if they believe that their child should be educated in a different curriculum year.  Decisions on requests for admission outside the normal age group will be made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the student concerned. This will include taking account of:

 

  1. Parents’ views
  2. Information about the student’s academic, social and emotional development
  3. Where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional
  4. Whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group
  5. Information about the curriculum accessed at the student’s previous school(s), how that maps to the curriculum at FICS and the potential impact on students’ overall examination outcomes
  6. The Principal’s views

Wherever possible, requests for admission outside a child’s normal age group will be processed as part of the main admissions round. Applications will not be treated as a lower priority if parents have made a request for a child to be admitted outside the normal age group. Students attending IJS&CE who are already educated outside of their normal age group will remain in that academic year and encounter ‘no change’ unless a specific request is made in which event the case will be considered on its merits in line with the criteria above, considering any changes since the time of the original decision.

Parents will be informed of the reasons for any decision on the year group a child will be admitted to. Parents do not have a right to appeal if they are offered a place at the school but it is not in their preferred age group.

 

5. Arrangements for transition to FICS

In the normal admission round (i.e. Year 6 transfer from IJS&CE), FICS and IJS work together to provide a programme to support smooth transition to secondary school. For in-year admissions it is not possible to provide work for students prior to them starting at FICS – for example as a result of flight delays.