What should be a time of excitement preparing for a new school year, seeing our children try on their new uniforms and getting excited about seeing their friends again has turned into a period of despair and anguish for our family. 

Our daughter, Indy, has been refused a Reception place at Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, despite her older brother, Jesse, already attending the school. Indy also currently attends Our Lady’s nursery, where she is firmly established within the school community. She has settled into this familiar educational environment and formed close relationships with her teachers, classmates and cousin. The decision therefore means separating Indy from her brother and removing her from the setting and support network in which she has already developed a strong sense of belonging.

Indy was baptised on 17 May 2026. However, because her baptism took place after the relevant admissions deadline, she was not considered within the school’s baptised Catholic categories. Instead, she was placed in Criterion 5: “Other children who have a sibling in the school at the time of admission.”

Our Lady’s received 84 applications for only 30 Reception places. After places had been allocated under the higher faith-based categories, only three remained for children in Criterion 5. These places were allocated according to distance, and Indy lived outside the final cut-off of 0.493 miles.

Had Indy’s baptism taken place before the admissions deadline, she would have been considered under Criterion 2: “Baptised Catholic children who have a sibling in the school.” Instead, the timing of the ceremony meant that her relationship with her brother carried substantially less priority.

We accept that the published criteria were applied as written. However, we believe the outcome exposes a serious weakness in the policy—one that allows siblings to be separated because of the date on which a baptism took place.

Our appeal was unsuccessful, leaving us facing the distressing reality of our children attending different schools. The timings and distance between the two schools make completing both journeys punctually physically impossible. This will have a significant detrimental impact on their education and their ability to settle into their new school years. The consequences extend far beyond inconvenience.

We are therefore asking the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Governing Body of Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School to:

1. Review Indy’s individual circumstances and explore every lawful means of enabling her to attend Our Lady’s with her brother, including admitting her should a place become available.
2. Review the admissions framework used by Catholic schools across the Archdiocese so that siblings of existing pupils receive meaningful priority and are not separated solely because a baptism occurred after an administrative cut-off date.
3. Introduce a fair mechanism for considering exceptional circumstances where there is clear evidence of an established Catholic family life, a sibling already attending the school and a baptism completed before the child starts school.
4. We are not asking Catholic schools to abandon their religious character or disregard baptism. We are asking for a more compassionate balance between faith-based admissions and the welfare, stability and unity of families.

Catholic education should reflect compassion, dignity, family life and care for children. An admissions policy should not create avoidable harm where a reasonable and fair solution can be found.

By signing this petition, you are asking the Archdiocese and Catholic school governors to keep siblings together wherever reasonably and lawfully possible, to reconsider Indy’s circumstances and to prevent other families from facing the same painful situation in future.

Please support our call for an admissions policy that protects both Catholic identity and family unity.

If you feel you would like to further express your concern or objections to this situation please email the school ourlady's.school@knowsley.gov.uk and the archdiocese aes@rcaol.org.uk