Admissions Nursery

KESSINGLAND COFE PRIMARY ACADEMY NURSERY ADMISSIONS

Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy is responsible for coordinating and managing admissions to the Nursery. The Nursery has 26 spaces in the morning during the 2021-22 academic year. The session will run from 8:40am-11:40am. Parents wishing to send their child to the Nursery will need to complete an application form (available on the school website or by contacting the school office). This form must be completed and submitted by 31st January prior to the September in which the child would start Nursery (that is the September after their third birthday).

Applications for Nursery received after 31st January will be deemed “late applications” and will be processed after spaces have been allocated to those applications received by 31st January. Late applications will be ordered separately using the same criteria (below) as on-time applications. Parents will be advised if and when a space becomes available.

If the Nursery class is not at full capacity in September, the school may consider offering a second intake in January for those children that are turning three in the previous term (i.e. 1st September to 31st December). These children could be offered a place to start in the January before the September in which they would be due to start. For this reason, parents may wish to submit an early application. If the school decide to offer a January intake, applications for eligible children (i.e. those turning three in the autumn term) will be ordered according to the criteria below and available places will be offered in that order. As early years funding to schools is based on the number of sessions attended, the school will allocate places first to children wanting 5 sessions per week; either every morning or every afternoon

Preference for a morning or afternoon space will follow the oversubscription criteria below.  When the number of applications for admission exceeds the number of places available, the following criteria will apply in order:

  1. Children living in the school’s catchment area: We will offer places to children in the school’s catchment area according to the following priorities:
  2. a) Children who are the subject of a recognised child protection plan (under current legislation) where a specific school nursery placement is identified.
  3. a) Looked after children (children in care) and previously looked after children (previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order, immediately following having been looked after)

b)Children who are the subject of a recognised Child Protection Plan which names the school Nursery

  1. c) Children with an Education, Health and Care plan which names the school Nursery.
  2. Siblings of children already at the school living in the catchment area [for the definition of sibling and catchment area refer to items 2 and 3 in the definitions section of the Appendix 1]
  3. Residence within the catchment area of the school [for explanation of resident refer to item 2 in the clarifications section of Appendix 1. For explanation of catchment area refer to item 3 in the definitions section of Appendix 1].
  4. Siblings of children already at the school living out of catchment [for definition of sibling and catchment area refer to items 2 and 3 in definitions section of Appendix 1].
  5. Children living out of the catchment area who have a faith and / or whose parents are committed Church members and wish them to receive an education in a school with a Church of England foundation [for explanation of committed Church member refer to item 3 in clarifications section of Appendix 1]. They should support this application by completing the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) in Appendix 2. Within this criteria the following hierarchy will be applied:
  6. Anglican
  7. Other Christian denomination
  • Other organised religions

For further information and advice on this criteria refer to items 5 and 6 in the clarifications section of Appendix 1.

  1. Resident out of the catchment area of the school [for explanation of resident and catchment area refer to items 2 and 3 in the clarifications section of Appendix 1]

Tie-Breaker: In any case where two or more children rank equally under any of the above criteria and there is only one place available, the tie-breaker will be the oldest child by date of birth.  If two children have identical dates of birth, the child closest to the school (‘as the crow flies’) will be offered the place.

Once all children wanting five sessions or more have been allocated a place, the school will use the same procedures to allocate any remaining places to children wanting fewer than five sessions. Priority will be given to those wanting most sessions. The school will write to parents by the end of the first week in February to advise whether or not their application has been successful. Parents will need to confirm their acceptance of the place, in writing, within 14 days; this can be done by returning the reply form attached to the letter.

Where it is not possible to offer a child a place they can remain on the waiting list and places will be allocated from the list as they become available. The waiting list will be ranked according to the oversubscription criteria and may change if late applications are added. If a space becomes available, parents will need to confirm their acceptance of that place within 14 days.

A place in the Nursery does not guarantee a place in the Reception year of the school. At the appropriate time, parents will need to complete a Suffolk County Council application form and school places will be allocated according to the Local Authority’s published admission arrangements.

Definitions:

  1. Parent is defined as all people with parental responsibility for the child, including legal guardians
  2. Sibling is defined as brothers or sisters living at the same address including adopted children, step-brothers, step-sisters and children in foster care within a family
  3. Catchment area: All DNEAT academies prioritise children living in the local area and within the Admissions Policy this is described as the school catchment area. Detailed information regarding catchment areas is available at whereIlive.norfolk.gov.uk or www.suffolk.gov.uk/admissions.

Childcare Provider Guidance for completing Parent Authorisation Form (PAF) for claiming Early Education funding for 3 & 4-year-olds and eligible 2-year-olds

Parent Authorisation Form (PAF) for claiming Early Education funding for 3 & 4-year-olds and eligible 2-year-olds