NORFOLK COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL
ADMISSIONS POLICY
Aims
- To provide clear, objective criteria for admissions, to comply with Sheffield Children and Young People’s Directorate guidelines, and to seek to ensure that parents and the school liaise together for the benefit of the children.
- To ensure that if there are not enough places at the school inparticular year groups, that the school is consistent in dealing with parents who express a preference for Norfolk Community Primary School.
- To establish best practice for admission into Nursery to enable a maximum number of children to access their free early learning place and through the delivery of flexible options and additional paid hours, support parents to access employment or training
Criteria
Norfolk Community Primary School has an admission number of 60 per year from Reception to Year 6. It is designated as a two form entry school.
The Nursery is registered to take 39 FEL (Free Early Learning) children during the morning and afternoon session. In addition to this, there are Wrap places available, for parents to pay for their child to stay for additional hours, this can include the lunchtime hour and full day provision. A separate charging policy details the breakdown of costs for this service.
‘Little Norfolk Nursery’is registered to take 16 two-year-old FEL children during the morning and the afternoon session. Parents are also offered the option to pay for sessions if they are not entitled to the FEL hours due to not meeting the criteria (see below). Sessions are only offered for 3 hours and lunchtime sessions and full days are not available for 2 year olds. A separate charging policy details the breakdown of costs for this service.
All children (regardless of race, gender, religious belief or affiliation, intellectual or physical ability, social or cultural background) have equal access to places in our nursery. Where oversubscription occurs, places will be allocated in accordance with the oversubscription criteria (see below)
It should be made clear to Parents/Carers that attendance at Nursery, does not guarantee a place at our primary school.
Oversubscription Criteria
The following is the order of priority in which applications should be considered if we are oversubscribed:
1)Children in Care or previously in care
2)Catchment area& sibling
3)Catchment area
4)Siblings
5)Other
Foundation 1 – Little Norfolk Nursery
For a 2 year old child to be eligible they must meet both the age and circumstance eligibility criteria.
Children meet the age eligibility criteria for 2 year FEL from the term after their second birthday. See the table below:
Children born between: / Can begin to access from:1st January – 31st March / 1st April following the child’s second birthday
1st April – 31st August / 1st September following the child’s second birthday
1st September – 31st December / 1st January following the child’s second birthday
Circumstance eligibility can be determined on the basis of whether:
- The child is cared for by the local authority
- The child comes within the earning and benefits criteria used to determine eligibility for Free School Meals
Eligibility needs to be confirmed via the Sheffield City Council website. For further guidance on how to check eligibility see the guidance from Sheffield City Council’s ‘Early Learning’ page.
Every eligible child is entitled to 570 hours over a year, over 38 weeks of the year. At our setting this is offered as 15 hours a week through a morning or afternoon sessions. The sessions are 8.30-11.30 and 12.15-3.15 from Monday – Friday.
If a child does not meet the circumstance eligibility for the 2-year-old FEL, we offer paid 2-year-old places at £12 for a 3-hour session, subject to availability. Children can access a paid 2-year-old place from their second birthday rather than the term after their second birthday.
Foundation 1 – Nursery
Children become eligible for 3 and 4 year old FEL from the term after their third birthday.
See the table below:
Children born between: / Can begin to access from:1st January – 31st March / 1st April following the child’s third birthday
1st April – 31st August / 1st September following the child’s third birthday
1st September – 31st December / 1st January following the child’s third birthday
Every eligible child is entitled to 570 hours over a year, over 38 weeks of the year. At our setting this is offered as 15 hours a week through a morning or afternoon session.
Morning sessions run from 8.30-11.30, afternoon sessions run from 12.15-3.15 and full days run from 8.30-3.15.
Additional hours can be purchased on top of a child’s free 15 hours. There is a limit to how many places we can offer, depending on the number of fulltime children we have each term.
Subject to availability, children can access a paid 3-year-old place from their third birthday rather than the term after their third birthday. Charging for these places are in line with the Nursery charging policy.
From September 2017, some families may be eligible for 30 hours Extended Free Entitlement (EFE). At Norfolk we will offer these hours from 8.30am till 2.30pm Monday to Friday. An additional £2.70 can be paid for children to stay until the end of the Nursery day at 3.15pm. For more information and to find out if you may be eligible, please see the Sheffield City Council’s ‘Free Early Learning’ page. We will offer 5 full-time places each term during the academic year.
Foundation 2 – Reception
Places will be prioritised in school reception based on existing Sheffield City Council Policy. See ‘Entrance into Reception’ - available online at
As of September 2011, parents now have the opportunity to choose when their child enters Reception. (See the table below) Parents\Carers also now have the option for their child to start in Reception part time (less than 25 hours per week).
Parents\Carers need to be aware that application for a Reception place is not affected by the term they wish their child to start.However, if they choose to delay entry and the child would enter straight into Y1 instead of Reception they would need to re-apply for their place.
Reception Parents must note:
- A part-time place is a morning session from 8.40-12.00. However, we will listen to any exceptional circumstances that require greater flexibility.
- A full-time school place cannot be split between a school and an early years provider.
- A part-time school place cannot be split between two or more schools.
- Where a parent wishes to transfer from an early years place to a school it will normally take effect from the beginning of the term, e.g. January or April.
All foundation applications have to go through pupil admissions at Howden House. If more than 60 applications are received priority will be as follows:
- First priority will be for children living within the defined catchment area of the school. This area is defined by the local authority.
- Second priority will be children with brothers or sisters attending the school.
- Third priority will be for any children outside the catchment area up to the admissions limit of 60. If parents receive a letter to say that they have not been successful in gaining a place they have a right of appeal to the Children and Young People’s Directorate (CYPD).
- The Governors do not wish any class in the school to have more than 30 pupils, as they believe large classes are likely to result in less effective education for the children.
- If a child is cared for by the local authority (LAC) then they will be given priority over all other children on the waiting list.
Procedures for Admission
All new children to our Foundation Stage will be offered a home visit to enable staff to meet the child and the family and to ensure that the appropriate paperwork is completed.
Parents/Carers will have the opportunity during this home visit to discuss their child’s needs, to ask any questions about our school and to receive information about our Foundation Stage through our child and parent information booklets.
Parents considering enrolling their child in our Foundation Stage are invited to visit the school at a mutually convenient time. Appointments may be made by telephone, emailand letter or by calling into school.
Parents are asked to complete an admissions form for Foundation Stage 1, where their child’s details and contact information will be stored on our waiting list until their child becomes eligible for their free entitlement.
Parents who wish to apply for a Reception place are directed to the pupil admissions page on the Sheffield City Council website:
Transfer between schools
Parents are entitled to transfer their children to alternative schools during the year. They should ensure that this is in the child’s best interests. Sheffield uses a common transfer form which can be obtained from the office. If a child transfers from Norfolk we are not in a position to hold their place open and there is no guarantee of re-admission should circumstances change.
Next review Summer 2018
R Walker Reviewed May 2017