ADMISSIONS POLICY
We have two separate Admission Policies.
ADMISSIONS
Parents considering sending their child to the school are welcome to visit at any mutually convenient time. Arrangements may be made by telephone. It is still important to register your child with the school however, a common application form will be sent to you from Sefton Children’s Services.
You will receive the form twelve months prior to the start of the academic year in which your child would normally enter school. When the number of applications exceeds the places available (90 per year) the Local Authority will apply the following criteria.
Criteria 1
Children who are in public care when preferences are expressed and are expected to be still in public care when admitted to the school.
Criteria 2
Children who have a brother or sister living in the same house who are already attending Forefield Community Infant, Nursery or Junior Schools provided they will still be in attendance when the Reception place commences.
Criteria 3
Children in the order of proximity of their homes to the school.
(measured as per the Tie Breaker Clause)
Tie Breaker Clause
If it is not possible to offer places for all applications within any criteria above then priority will be given to those living closest to the school measured by the shortest walking distance from the child’s home. We will measure from the property’s address point, to the nearest school gate (using recognised routes known to the Authority at the time of measurement).
Please be aware that the number of places allocated in each criterion can change from year to year. All schools will meet their legal obligation to admit a pupil who has a statement of special educational need that names the school in his or her statement.
You will receive notification directly from the authority in April as to whether your child has been allocated a place for September.
Further information and advice can be obtained from The Admissions Section, Children’s Services, Town Hall, Oriel Road, Bootle, L20 7AE. (Telephone 0151 934 3131/ 3253/ 3254).
Parents who are refused admission to the school have a right to appeal. Details of the appeals procedure can be obtained from the Admission Section, Children’s Services Department.
In Year Admission to the Infant School
In Year Admission to the Infant School are coordinated through the Local Authority Admission Section who hold up to date information with regard to the availability of places throughout school. The Admissions Team can be contacted on Telephone: 0151 934 3131/3290.
Dates of admission to the Infant School
The Education Act 1994 states that by Law, children become of school age at the beginning of the term after their fifth birthday. In practice the great majority of children start school before that time. The agreed policy for Forefield is as follows:-
Children will be taught in classes that do not exceed 30 pupils.
Timetable for admission to Primary School in September 2011
September 2011 |
Booklets and Common Application Forms will be available from Primary Schools. |
31st October 2011 |
Sefton recommends that forms are submitted by this date. The final national closing date for all applications is 15th January. Completed Common Application Forms must be returned by parents/carers to the highest preferred school. (No applications will be considered after 15th January for inclusion in 23rd April allocation date.) |
By 23rd April 2012 |
Parents/carers will receive a letter form the Authority informing them of the allocated Primary School. |
Summer term 2012 |
Appeal hearings will take place. |
Pre-school liaison programme
All new entrants have the opportunity to visit the school during the term before the child is admitted. For children who have not attended Forefield Nursery we provide a lending scheme of boxes with an educational skills bias for parents to use with their children. They visit each week for approximately six weeks to borrow a box. This acclimatizes the child to walking down the long corridor with a known adult and gives them the opportunity to mix with some of the other new admissions and see their teacher and classroom. Towards the end of the term children will be invited into school to spend an afternoon session to familiarise themselves with their teacher, new classroom and the layout of the building.
A Parents Welcome Evening is held in the Summer term to advise new parents of the entrance programme and to meet the Governors and staff.
The School Day:
The first half-term in the Reception Class is dedicated to settling the children into school so that they feel confident and competent in the new environment. Their experience of the first years of Education will be fundamental to how they view school, how they learn and how they relate to the adults and children other than their families. The pattern set up here is very likely to last for the rest of their lives. Gradual induction of young children into school will build on the achievements of other pre-school providers and the home.
For the first week after admission all Reception children are part-time mornings only. Reception children do not stay over the dinner period or attend full time until their induction period is complete i.e. they are securely settled and show no undue signs of fatigue or stress.
The initial school day (Reception children only)
8.50 am to 11.45 am
The Reception teachers also hold informal workshops with parents normally in the second week of your child starting school to advise on literacy teaching and phonics, mathematics and general information with regard to Reception routines, the curriculum, Key Worker roles and assessment using the Early Years’ Profile.
THE SCHOOL DAY:
| Nursery | 8.50 am to 11.50 am Morning session |
| Reception – Year 2 | 8.50 am to 12.00 noon |
This includes a daily assembly, two fifteen minute breaks for year 1 and year 2 children and a lunch time of one hour and twenty minutes for children in the main school.
Reviewed October 2011
NURSERY ADMISSION POLICY
There are fifty two places available for Nursery admissions per year.
There will be two intakes. September and January (if places are available).
Children will be admitted to the Nursery in the term following their third birthday.
September intake: Children must be three by the 31st August
January intake: Children must be three by the 31st December
Parents are requested to complete an admission form to indicate a preference for a morning or afternoon place. For parents wishing their child to receive ‘wrap around care’ from All Saints Ventures, priority will be given to an afternoon placement at Forefield Community Infant School Nursery to accommodate this. Every effort will be made to accommodate choice but it cannot be guaranteed.
Morning placement 26 places available
Afternoon placement 26 places available
Nursery children who are admitted in January and are accessing over 12 months of Nursery Provision will automatically hold their place for the following Nursery September intake. If your child is receiving an afternoon placement when admitted in January you will have the option of requesting a morning placement for September if a place is available.Parents will be contacted at the end of the Spring Term to request this.
Nursery children are required to attend the full allocation of 5 sessions per week (1 session per day Monday – Friday)
Nursery times are as follows:
Morning session- 8.50 am – 11.50 am
Afternoon session- 12.30 pm – 3.30 pm
In the event of the Nursery being over subscribed a priority order will be operated as indicated.
First Priority
Children in public care when preferences are expressed and are expected to be still in public care when admitted to the school.
Second Priority
Children who have a brother or sister living in the same house who are already attending Forefield Community Infant School or Forefield Community Junior School provided they will still be in attendance when nursery placement commences.
Third Priority
Children in the order of proximity of their homes to the school.
The order of proximity is determined in every case by measuring the shortest route which can be walked from the child's home measured from the point on the boundary of the property at which access is normally gained from the front entrance to the highway, which is the property's address to the nearest school gate.
Fourth Priority
Children who are ex district but will attend the main school.
We will meet our legal obligation to admit a pupil who has a statement of educational need that names the school in his or her statement.
The Governors will take care to avoid the total number of children with SEN exceeding 10% per session, that being three.
The Governors reserve the right to delay or refuse entry to children where there is evidence that the child is not ready for such an environment.
Applications
Application forms can be obtained from the school office.
Closing date for applications: September intake:
|
Friday 24th February 2012 (12 noon) |
Parents will be notified of places by: January intake: |
Friday 4th November 2011 (12 noon)
|
Reviewed October 2011