Admissions

• Date of Admission : September following child’s third birthday
• Planned Admission Number : 26
• Admissions Authority : The School
• Main Admissions Contact : School Office
• Deadline for Applications : First Monday in March
• Parents Notified : Mid-March

The school offers up to 26 nursery places each year. We admit children to our nursery class in the September following their third birthday. We do not admit children before they are three years of age. For example, a child who is three years of age in November, would not be admitted to our nursery until the following September. There are schools and other settings which do offer places at an earlier age if they have places available or have provision for children aged 2 years or older.

Part-Time and Full-Time Places

Manchester City Council currently funds schools to provide part-time nursery places of 15 hours provision each week. Every child in Manchester is entitled to this provision. We offer our 15 hours provision as morning sessions (8.45am – 11.45am) only. Other local settings offer 15 hours on a different basis (e.g. 2.5 days, Monday morning – Wednesday lunchtime) and some offer free full-time places.

30-Hours Government Childcare Funding

Funding for 30 hours (effectively the school day) nursery provision is available to those families where both parents (or the one parent in a single-parent household) work more than 16 hours per week. If you are eligible, 30 hours is available for 38 weeks of the year (just like the existing 15 hours scheme). Some providers will allow you to ‘stretch’ your 30 hours entitlement over 52 weeks, using fewer hours per week. You, and any partner, must each expect to earn (on average) the equivalent of working 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage (£120 at the National Living Wage, less if you are on the National Minimum Wage). If you, or your partner, are on maternity, paternity or adoption leave, or you’re unable to work because you are disabled or have caring responsibilities, you could still be eligible. You cannot get 30 hours free childcare if you, or your partner, expect to earn £100,000 or more.

More information is available from the website www.childchoices.gov.uk

School Top-Up to Full-Time

For parents who cannot access the Government’s 30-Hours funding scheme, the school offers the option of paying the school directly for additional hours. There is charge of £16.00 per afternoon (charge as of September 2020) for this provision. This extends the session from 11.45am, through lunchtime until 3.00pm. This is a reasonable charge of less than £4.00 per hour. The charge includes lunchtime supervision but does not include the lunchtime meal itself; this must be paid for separately. Parents can choose to ‘top-up’ for a limited number of afternoons (minimum of 2 afternoons) and have the option to increase this during their year.

Applying for a Nursery Place

If you would like to apply for a nursery place, we ask you to contact us to register your child’s name 12-18 months prior to their admission (the September following their third birthday). It is not necessary to register your interest earlier than that because we do not prioritise places for those who register their child’s name earlier than others. There is no need, for example, to register your child at our school a few days after they are born or indeed before they are born. Registering your child’s name with us does not guarantee your child a place. It simply lets us know that you are interested in a place for your at our school so that we can contact you with an application form nearer the time. Once we have your child’s details, we keep them ‘on file’ until it is time for us to send you an application form in the January/February before admission in September. Given that we cannot guarantee you a place, you are advised to apply to other nurseries in the area.

Admission Dates / Registration

We accept registrations for nursery places 12 – 18 months before the date of admission. If your child was born in an academic year for which registration is not yet open, please do not register at this time. Please remember that early register does not influence your chances of getting a place. We usually close registrations in mid-February unless there are still places available. Application forms will be sent to you for confirmation of interest in early February following the close of registration for that year. Places are allocated according to our admissions criteria (see below) and offered in April.

Date of Birth / Age Nursery Admission Date

Date of Birth Range
01/09/2019 – 31/08/2020
Child will be 4 years of age between 01/09/2023 and 31/08/2024

Admission to Nursery : September 2023
Registration opens : September 2022
Application forms sent to parents : January/February 2022
We still have some places available for the academic year 2023 – 2024. If you wish to apply for a place, please contact the school on 0161 998 4825.

Date of Birth Range
01/09/2020 – 31/08/2021
Child will be 4 years of age between 01/09/2024 and 31/08/2025

• Admission to Nursery : September 2024
• Registration opens : September 2023
• Application forms sent to parents January/February 2024
• Application Deadline : Monday 4th March 2024
• Parents Notified : Friday 15th March 2024

You can register your interest in a nursery place via our online form.

Please note that there is no need for you to register a place until the year before your child is due to start in our nursery. Places are allocated according to our admissions criteria rather than on the basis of early registration. Completion of this registration form is not an application – it is simply a way of you letting the school know that you are interested in a nursery place and for the school to have your details on record to send you an application form when the application process opens.

Application Form

Assuming you have registered, in the February before your child is due to start nursery in September, we will write to you to ask you to complete an application form and confirm that you still want a place for your child. On this form, you will need to include:

• your child’s full name
• your child’s date of birth
• the address at which your child is living
• the names and addresses of all parents and carers
• contact telephone numbers for parents and carers
• the category under you are applying (see below)
• additional information about your child (SEN, Medical Needs, Social Care)

The deadline for you to return your application form is usually the Friday nearest to 15th March. If we do not receive your application by this date, we will will assume that you no longer wish to apply for a place for your child, remove your child’s name from our admission lists and potentially offer that place to another child.

Nursery Over-subscription Criteria

As much as we would like to, we cannot offer a place to everyone who applies. If we have more than 26 applications, we then have to decide who and who does not get a place. In doing so, we use the following rules or over subscription criteria. We give priority to children in the following categories:

• Category 1
  Children who are, or who have been, looked after by a council.
• Category 2
• Children with a brother or sister at the school (at the time of the child’s admission)
• Category 3
  All other children based on distance between home address and the school

Once we have given places to children with specific needs (Category 1) or those with brothers or sisters already in school (Category 2), we then consider all the remaining applications (Category 3) by ranking them by the distance of the applicants’ addresses from the school. This is done by ‘straight line distance’ from school to home using an approved system. The number of places available to new families is therefore dependent each year on the number of applicants we receive from families who already have children at the school. The more children there are with older brothers and sisters in the school, the fewer places there are for children who do not. This can, of course, change every year.

Over-subscription for Places

We are a small and popular school and as such we often receive more applications for places than are available. We only offer 26 places per year, giving priority to those children who meet the above criteria. We do maintain a waiting list for places and offer places as they become available.

Appeal

Parents do not have the right to appeal for a nursery place.

Offering you a Place

We intend to make our offers for nursery places following the national offer date for reception places. We do this because we have to know who has been offered a place in our reception class before we can offer our nursery places. You should therefore hear from us by the end of April. If we are able to offer you a place, we will write to you and ask you to confirm in writing that you wish to accept the place. The offer letter will include details of the induction process for your child and how we will work with you between this stage and when your child joins us in September. During this time, you will be asked to provide original documents to prove that you and your child live at the address you have given. Where this cannot be proven, the offer of a place may be withdrawn. If we are unable to offer you a place, we will write to you explaining why we were unable to offer you a place. This is likely to be because you live too far away. All of the children who are not offered a place are placed on our waiting list in ranked order of distance. If some of those who have been offered places decline them, we will then offer available places to those on our waiting list.

No Guarantee of Reception Place (Very Important)

It is very important that you understand that if your child is offered a place in our nursery class, that there is no guarantee that your child will be offered a place in our reception class. Reception places are allocated by Manchester City Council and having a nursery place at the school is not one of the criteria used by the City Council to allocate a child a place in the reception class. Every year, therefore, there are children in our nursery class who are not offered places in our reception class. This is often because the City Council receive applications from families who are not yet known to our school but live close to the school. A child attending another nursery (or none at all) who lives close to the school will have priority over a child who does attend our nursery but lives further away. Every year, we know that there are parents and children in our nursery class who are disappointed when they hear that their applications for a reception place have been unsuccessful. We have to say goodbye to these children as they move to another school. Parents have the right to appeal against the Council’s decision not to give them a reception place but parents must submit a very strong case in order for the appeal to be upheld. Parents are asked to submit a written appeal and attend an appeal hearing at which they should present their case to an independent appeals panel. The school cannot support parents in the appeals process.

 

• Date of Admission : September after child’s fourth birthday
• Planned Admission Number : 30
• Admissions Authority : Manchester City Council (see below)
• Main Admissions Contact : Manchester City Council
• Deadline for Applicants : Mid-January prior to September admission
• Notification Date : Mid-April

The school is able to offer 30 full-time places (our Planned Admissions Number or PAN) each September to children for our reception class. Children join the reception class (and have a secure place for the rest of the school) in the September following their fourth birthday. Children do not have to attend school until the term after their fifth birthday (statutory school age). However, the vast majority of parents choose to send their child to school from September.

Applying for a place in our Reception Class

Parents of all children have to apply for a place for their child to join a reception class in a school. Even if your child is already in a nursery class in a primary school (including this school), you must still apply for a place in that school’s reception class or the reception class of another school. Please do not assume that your child will automatically be offered a place in the reception class simply because they are in the nursery. All applications for reception places are managed by Manchester City Council or the local authority in which you live. You will need to complete an application form (which can be completed online) by mid-January in readiness for the following September. If your child attends our nursery class, your child’s name will be sent to Manchester City Council and you will automatically be sent an application pack for your child. If your child does not attend our nursery class, you can register your child’s name with Manchester City Council (details below).

Reception Admissions Criteria

In deciding who gets a reception place and who does not, the City Council use the following rules or admissions criteria. Priority is given to children in the following categories:

• Category 1
  Children who are, or who have been, looked after by a council.
• Category 2
  Children with exceptional medical or social needs, or a disabled parent. See more about Category 2
• Category 3
  Children with a brother or sister at the school. See more about Category 3
• Category 4
  All other children, with those living closest getting priority.

Note that there is no priority given to children simply because they already attend our nursery class.

Allocation of Places

Once places have been given to children with specific needs (Categories 1 and 2) or those with brothers or sisters already in school (Category 3), all other applicants (Category 4) are then ranked according to an accurate straight-line distance between school and the home address. Those living closest to the school will be given the remaining places. Once 30 places are allocated, no further places are allocated. Children who cannot be offered a place at this school may be offered a place at another school. Only when a child can be offered a place at two or more schools (given they meet the criteria and are ranked within the Planned Admissions Number for the school), is the parents’ preference taken into account.

Parent Preference

When you apply for a reception place, you can select a number of schools and state an order of preference for each school (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc.). However, please note that this does not mean that you will be offered a place at your preferred school above all others. The preference is only taken into account if your child can be offered a place at more than one school. For example, if you apply for a place at three schools, School A (1st choice), School B (2nd choice) and School C (3rd choice), you may meet the criteria for one, two, three or NONE of the schools. If you can be offered a place at more than one school (because your child is listed within the planned admissions number for more than one school), you will be offered the school for which you stated the highest preference. Parents need to appreciate that it is the school’s admissions (over-subscription) criteria that determine whether or not a child will be offered a place, not the fact that parents have named a school as their first choice.

Application Form

When you apply for a reception place, you do so via the local authority in which you live. If you are a Manchester resident you will apply to Manchester City Council. If you live in Stockport or Trafford, you will apply to Stockport MBC or Trafford MBC, even if you want your child to attend a Manchester school or they attend a Manchester nursery. You can apply online for a reception place anytime between September and the application deadline which is usually in January.

Offer of a Place

All local authorities offer places for reception classes on the same day. This is usually in mid-April. You will receive a letter from your local authority letting you know which school you have been offered. If you have applied online, you can also access this information via your online account. If you wish to accept the place offered to you, you will need to do so within a short timescale. If you wish to reject the place offered to you, you may be not be offered another place at a school of your choice.

Appeals

If your child is not offered a place at this school, you have the right to submit an appeal. In doing so, you must present a very strong case as to why your child should attend this school rather than the one which has been allocated for them. Once you have submitted your appeal application, you will be invited to attend an Appeals Hearing and present your case to an independent appeals panel. It is the Panel’s role to listen to your case and to decide whether or not it is strong enough for your appeal to be upheld (usually on the basis that the offer they have made is unreasonable) and the Local Authority obliged to offer you a place at the school.

Please note that the school cannot get involved in supporting parents’ appeals for places. Parents cannot, therefore, expect the school to support an appeal or provide an argument that a child should attend this school rather than another school. The fact that a child has attended our nursery (and has, we appreciate, established friendships and routines) is not usually a strong enough argument to uphold an appeal for a place in nursery. In the interest of all pupils, the school is committed to maintaining class sizes at the planned admission number. It strongly argues against admitting additional children beyond that number. The school is asked to provide to the Appeals Panel a general statement with reasons why the school cannot accept admissions beyond the planned admissions number. We believe that admitting any additional pupils would be detrimental to the quality of education we aim to provide at Northenden and may lead to over-crowding in our very small school. Schools are invited to attend the Appeals Hearings as observers and to answer any questions the Panel may have for the school.

Infant Class Size Regulations

Infant Class Size Regulations 2012 limit infant aged classes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) to 30 pupils per qualified class teacher. The majority of primary schools in Manchester have admission limits (Published Admissions Numbers) that are compatible with this law i.e multiples of 30 per qualified class teacher. Should you be refused a school place and choose to appeal the decision, you should be aware that the threshold the law sets for infant classes is extremely high meaning very few appeals are successful.

Local Authority Admissions Teams

Manchester City Council (Manchester residents)

www.manchester.gov.uk/admissions

Integrated Admissions
Children’s Services
Town Hall PO Box 532
Manchester M60 2LA
Tel : 0161 245 7166

Trafford MBC (Trafford residents)

www.trafford.gov.uk/admissions

School Admissions
Children’s and Young People’s Service
4^th Floor, Waterside House
Sale M33 7ZF
Tel : 0161 912 5007

Stockport MBC (Stockport residents)

www.stockport.gov.uk/school admissions

Admissions Team
Services to People
3^rd Floor Stopford House
Stockport SK1 3XE
Tel : 0161 217 6028

• Applying for a place during the school year
• Transferring from another school

Our Planned Admissions Numbers (PAN) is 30 for every year group. We therefore do not admit more than 30 children in any year group unless there are exceptional circumstances why we should do so. This is so that we can offer all of our children quality provision and a level of safety that is not affected by larger class sizes or overcrowding.

If you would like to apply for a place in our Reception class (after the start of the year) or in Years 1 – 6 because you would like your child to transfer from another school, you can contact the school directly to see if there are any places available. If we can offer you a place, you will be asked to contact Manchester City Council to complete your application or transfer papers. If we have a place available, you may be offered a place immediately.

If you have a number of children and would like them all to join the school, we may not be able to offer a place to all of your children at the same time. We may be able to offer some places immediately whilst your other children may have to be placed on the waiting list. Accepting a place for one child in one year group does not guarantee you places for the other children as other year groups may be full. There is no automatic right, including via appeal, for another sibling to be offered a place because one or more children from the same family have been offered places. In this case, parents must consider how practical it is for your family to have children attending different primary schools.

If we do not have a place available, you can ask to be placed on a waiting list administered by Manchester City Council. Children on the waiting list are prioritised according to the distance they live from the school. When a place does become available, the school or Manchester City Council will contact you.

Appeals

If your child is not offered a place at this school, you have the right to submit an appeal. In doing so, you must present a very strong case as to why your child should attend this school rather than the one which has been allocated for them. Once you have submitted your appeal application, you will be invited to attend an Appeals Hearing and present your case to an independent appeals panel. It is the Panel’s role to listen to your case and to decide whether or not it is strong enough for your appeal to be upheld (usually on the basis that the offer they have made is unreasonable) and the Local Authority obliged to offer you a place at the school.

Please note that the school cannot get involved in supporting parents’ appeals for places. Parents cannot, therefore, expect the school to support an appeal or provide an argument that a child should attend this school rather than another school. The fact that a child has attended our nursery (and has, we appreciate, established friendships and routines) is not usually a strong enough argument to uphold an appeal for a place in nursery. In the interest of all pupils, the school is committed to maintaining class sizes at the planned admission number. It strongly argues against admitting additional children beyond that number. The school is asked to provide to the Appeals Panel a general statement with reasons why the school cannot accept admissions beyond the planned admissions number. We believe that admitting any additional pupils would be detrimental to the quality of education we aim to provide at Northenden and may lead to over-crowding in our very small school. Schools are invited to attend the Appeals Hearings as observers and to answer any questions the Panel may have for the school.

Infant Class Size Regulations

Infant Class Size Regulations 2012 limit infant aged classes (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) to 30 pupils per qualified class teacher. The majority of primary schools in Manchester have admission limits (Published Admissions Numbers) that are compatible with this law i.e multiples of 30 per qualified class teacher. Should you be refused a school place and choose to appeal the decision, you should be aware that the threshold the law sets for infant classes is extremely high meaning very few appeals are successful.

Please contact the school for further information.

Local Authority Admissions Teams

Manchester City Council (Manchester residents)

www.manchester.gov.uk/admissions

Integrated Admissions
Children’s Services
Town Hall PO Box 532
Manchester M60 2LA
Tel : 0161 245 7166

Trafford MBC (Trafford residents)

www.trafford.gov.uk/admissions

School Admissions
Children’s and Young People’s Service
4^th Floor, Waterside House
Sale M33 7ZF
Tel : 0161 912 5007

Stockport MBC (Stockport residents)

www.stockport.gov.uk/schooladmissions

Admissions Team
Services to People
3^rd Floor Stopford House
Stockport SK1 3XE
Tel : 0161 217 6028