Applying for infant school place

[Laylasmum]

Can anyone help with this? DD has just started nursery and is due to go into reception next september. I read in a school mag that applications for school have to be by december 2005 and parents won't know the decision until april 2006. I just assumed that as she was in nursery she would automatically go into the school. I have asked one of the teachers but she was a bit vague, other parents are giving me different stories!!...

most places it's not an automatic transfer and many schools are over-subscribed. ask the school for the criteria they use to select children. siblings normally have priority and there may be preferential treatment for children with special needs, as well as the obvious catchment area.

check with your Local Education Authority. Different areas have different policies.

You have to apply for a place as the nursery isn't really counted as part of the main school. I'd imagine that it would be very unusual for a Nursery child to be refused a reception place, I don't know of anyone who's had that problem.

Not necessarily, the criteria are more open at Reception as not all eligible children would already attend to their nursery for many reasons. In practice probably most would go onto the school, unless it gets very oversubscribed in which case those with siblings attending the school already, living within catchment, plus other criteria such as SN, might take precedence, but you still need to apply separately for the intake. Speak to the school secretary and/or the LEA admissions offices.

Also I would get on with it - everywhere is different but in our area the deadling is mid October!

deadline not deadling!

DSs school is not an automatic transfer and a place at nursery does not guarantee you a place at the school.

(I do know of at least one nursery child who did not gain a place in reception until about a fortnight before term started!)