Does Your Child Turn Five between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009?

If so, you must apply for a reception class place now!

Where can I get a reception class application form?

• pick up an application form from any primary school in Hackney
• telephone the School Admissions Department on 020 8820 7150/7401
• download an application form here.

Deadline for application forms: 1 February 2008

Click here for Reception Class Admission Form

1. Applying to Voluntary Aided Schools in Hackney
If you wish to apply to a voluntary aided (religious) school in Hackney, you must complete The Learning Trust Common Application Form. You must also complete a separate form for confirmation of religious commitment (Supplementary Form) if you wish to be considered under the religious priorities. The supplementary form is available from the school direct and must be returned to the school and not The Learning Trust.

These schools will be responsible for applying their own admission arrangements, regardless of the parental ranking, and will let The Learning Trust have a list indicating the order in which all children have priority by reference to their oversubscription criteria. Full details of each VA schools’ admission arrangements including information relating to waiting lists is in section E of the ‘A Guide for Parents to Hackney’s Primary Schools 2008’ booklet.

2. Applying for Community Schools in Hackney
If there are more applications than places available, The Learning Trust will apply the oversubscription criteria below, regardless of the parental ranking, to determine which pupils are eligible to be offered places.

Children who have a school named in their statement of Special Educational Needs are required to be admitted to the school and will also be counted against the admission number.

• Children looked after by a local authority
• Children whose acute medical or social need justifies the allocation of a place at a particular school, and not at any other.*
• Children with brothers and sisters** at the school at the time of the proposed admission
• Children living nearest*** to the main entrance of the school as measured in a straight line on a map using a GIS computerised mapping system. Distance as measured in 4 above will be used in any tie-break decisions for priority 1 and 3.

* The Head of Admissions will make decisions on such cases and will seek, if necessary, advice from the Health Service. A parents’ medical need can not justify a place at a particular school, but a child could have a social need arising from a parent medical need.

These cases will always require supporting professionals evidence, which has to demonstrate sufficiently why the child should be given a place at a particular school, and not at another school. It is the responsibility of the parent to produce the evidence, this includes cases made on social grounds on the basis of the parent’s medical need or disability.

** Brothers and sisters must live permanently at the same address as the child for whom the application is being made. This includes half brothers and sisters, step brothers and sisters and foster brother and sisters who live permanently as a family unit at the same address. This criteria does not apply to brothers and sisters in Year 6 at the time of the Reception Application.

*** Where a child lives with a parent with shared parental responsibilities, the address where the child spends most of their time will be used. In the case of children who spend equal time of the week with each parent, the parent must elect one address for all preferences.

3. Notification of an Offer of a School Place
Parents will be sent a letter on 1 May 2008 by The Learning Trust to notify them of the offer of a school place regardless of whether the preference is a Community or Voluntary Aided School.

4. Dealing with Late Applications
Parents who submit a late application will normally be considered for schools in Hackney after parents who have submitted their applications on time unless there is a good reason why the form has been submitted late.

5. Application Lists for Community Schools
Any parent of a child who is refused a place at a higher ranked community school is automatically placed on an application list. Pupils will be ranked on the list in accordance with the oversubscription criteria described above and not by the length of time the pupil has been on the list.

6. Appeal Arrangements
The letter making the offer of a school place will advise parents of their right of appeal against the refusal of places at other schools applied for and who to contact to make their appeals. Appeal forms are available from the school or from the Learning Trust and should be submitted by 22 May 2008.

7. Preference Ranking
You must indicate on the application form your preferred schools and then say whether it is your 1st, 2nd or 3rd preference. If you are eligible for an offer at more than one school, you will only receive a place at the highest ranked school you have listed on the Part 3 of the application form.

8. You will need to provide Proof of your child’s Date of Birth and your Address
Your address must be your main residential home, where you and your child live. If we establish that you have more than one property, we will require further evidence that the address on the form is your main residential address.