School Admission
Children commence their full-time education during the year that they reach the age of five. There is a one entry system in September and parents of the younger children born between January and August may prefer to select part-time education for the first term between September and December.
We encourage parents to visit our school prior to making their decision on the best school for their child. They will be offered a tour of the school and will have plenty of time to ask questions.
Once parents have received an offer of a place, a new parents' evening is held in the summer term and new children to our school (who have not attended our nursery) are invited to stay for two afternoons with their new class teacher. All of our new children (and their parents) can also enjoy a school dinner.
Please arrange to speak with Mrs Bonds, our Business Manager, if you have any questions about the admission's process.
Summer Lane Primary has a PAN of 40 (determined by the Local Authority) which means we accept 40 children per year group from F2 to Y6. If the number of applications exceeds this then the LA will determine which applicants receive places based on the admissions criteria.
Nursery is a mix of 15 hour and 35 hour places.
Oversubscription Criteria
Where the number of applications for a primary or secondary school received during the normal admissions round exceeds the admission number of the school, or an admission limit set higher than the admission number, then admission will be determined in accordance with the following priority of admission criteria:
Children who have a Statement of Special Educational Need which names
the school are required to be admitted.
Following that:
1. Looked After Children (LAC), previously Looked After Children (PLAC) and children who have been in state care outside of England (IPLAC);
2. Children with siblings attending the school on the proposed date of admission;
3. Children living nearest the school; the distance to be measured by a straight line between the center point of the child’s ordinary place of residence and the main entrance to the school building.
The child’s ordinary place of residence will be deemed to be a residential property at which the person or persons with parental responsibility for the child resides at the closing date for receiving applications for admission to school.
Where parental responsibility is held by more than one person and those persons reside in separate properties, the child’s ordinary place of residence will be deemed to be that property at which the child resides for the greater part of the week including weekends.
Where responsibility for a child is shared evenly, the person receiving Child Benefit is deemed to be the person responsible for completing application forms, and whose address will be used for admissions purposes.
For the sibling criterion to be applicable one of the following conditions must exist:
a) brother and/or sister to be permanently resident at the same address;
b) stepbrother and/or stepsister to be permanently resident at the same address (to include half brothers/sisters).
A ‘looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social care function s at the time of making an application to the school.
Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order).
Defered Entry to School.
1 Where the Authority offers a place at a primary or infant school, a parent who accepts that school place can defer entry to that school until the term after the child’s fifth birthday.
2 There may be Spring and Summer Term admissions as a result of parents who have deferred their child’s entry.
3 The deferred place at that school will be held for that child and will not be available to be offered to another child.
4 The deferred place must be taken up during the same school year for which the offer of the place was made and accepted.
5 Entry to a school cannot be deferred to:
a) the next academic year; or
b) beyond the beginning of the term following the child’s fifth birthday.
For admission to the Reception Year Group parents will be invited to express three preferences for those schools at which they wish their child to receive education.
Preferences will be made via the online admissions system or on the common application form.
The application will provide three spaces in which parents can state their preferences in rank order, and give reasons for those preferences.
For primary applications, the common application form for admission to school during the normal admissions round will be handed in to the school ranked first on the common application form. For secondary schools the completed form will be handed in to the child’s current primary school. Forms can also be submitted through the Council Website using the Online Admissions System, which is the preferred method of application recommended to parents.
Applications must submitted by mid January for primary schools. Please check admissions link for the 2025 date.
For parents requesting places in Y1-6, please contact the school office to see if we have spaces in that year groups and they will direct you to admissions.
Delaying and Deferring
A parent or carer of a primary-age child can request that a school delay or defer their child’s entry to reception, and the process for requesting admission outside the normal age group. If you feel this would be applicable to your child, please see further information about this in our Admission Arrangements policy below.