Admissions

Admission Arrangements 2023/24

We have organised open days every week until Christmas. Everyone is welcome to attend, please see our Open Days page for details.

Selsdon Primary School is a foundation school based in South Croydon. We aim to create an engaging, productive and safe environment that challenges stereotypes and promotes independent learners through a wide range of opportunities and an innovative learning environment.

Nursery Admissions

Our school has a nursery class for 3-4 year olds, providing for 52 part-time places, of fifteen hours per week. If you would like to apply for a place for your child in our nursery class, please contact the school for further information, a copy of the application form, and the timescales for applying. If we receive more applications than there are places available at that time in our nursery class, we use the same admissions criteria as we use for reception admissions to prioritise applications.

Applications for places must be made on a ‘Selsdon Primary Admission to Fox Cubs Nursery’ form to be received at the school office by 31 January 2024.

Parents should be aware that attending the nursery class does not mean your child will automatically transfer to the reception class at this school. You will still need to apply at the appropriate time for a place for your child through the local authority, as described below.

If you would like to apply for a place please telephone the school office 020 8657 4038 or email admin@selsdonprimary.org.uk and we will send you an application form.

Reception and Year 1 to Year 6 In-Year Admissions

In-Year Admissions

Admission Numbers

The school has an admission number of 90 for entry in reception. The school will accordingly admit this number of pupils if there are sufficient applications. Where fewer applicants than the published admission number(s) for the relevant year group are received, the school will offer places at the school to all those who have applied.

Application Process

Applications for Reception should be made directly to the local authority where the child resides, using the Common Application Form. Selsdon Primary School does not require a Supplementary Information Form (SIF).

Oversubscription Criteria

The criteria in this section apply to entry at all phases of the school.

When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in priority order:

1. Looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. (Note 1)
2. Children who have a sibling currently attending the school. (Note 2)
3. Where there are medical grounds (supported by documentation from a registered medical practitioner) for admitting the child to this school. (Note 3)
4. Proximity of the child’s home to the school, with those living nearer being accorded the higher priority. (Notes 4 & 5)

Tie Break

Distance will be used as a tiebreaker for each oversubscription criterion. Where distance is the same for pupils, the authority will use random allocation. This will be independently verified.

Late Applications

All applications received by the local authority after the deadline will be considered to be late applications. Late applications will be considered after those received on time. If, following consideration of all applicants the school is oversubscribed, parents may request that their child is placed on the school’s waiting list.

Deferred Entry

Parents offered a place in reception for their child have a right to defer the date their child is admitted, or to take the place up part-time, until the child reaches compulsory school age. Places cannot be deferred beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the offer was made.

Children reach compulsory school age on the prescribed day following their 5th birthday (or on their fifth birthday if it falls on a prescribed day). The prescribed days are 31 August, 31 December and 31 March.

Waiting Lists

If you have not been offered a place at our school, and would like to be added to the waiting list, you may request for your child to be added to the waiting list by completing the ‘waiting list request’ form available on the Croydon website.

Waiting lists are held for the first term of the reception year and thereafter, applicants are required to complete the local authority’s in-year common application form (ICAF) if they wish to remain on the waiting list.

In-year waiting lists are maintained for one academic year and applicants who have been unsuccessful for their preferred school(s) and who wish to remain on the waiting list are required to re-apply the following academic year.

In Year Admissions

Applications for a place in our school, outside the normal admissions round, are treated as ‘in-year’ admissions. To make an ‘in-year’ application you will need to complete an in-year Common Application Form (iCAF) available from Croydon Council www.croydon.gov.uk

Appeals

All applicants refused a place have a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel constituted and operated in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.

Appellants should contact the local authority for information on how to appeal.

CHILDREN OF MULTIPLE BIRTHS

Selsdon Primary will admit all the children of a multiple birth, even if this exceeds the infant class size limit.

Admission of children Below Compulsory School Age Deferred Entry to School

Parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the application was made. Parents can also take up a part-time place until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

A child reaches compulsory school age the term after their fifth birthday.  Therefore, if you are offered a reception class place at our school, you can opt to defer your child’s start date, but they MUST start full time school following their fifth birthday by the dates given below:

• Children born on or between 1 September and the end of December must start full time school by the beginning of the spring term in January
• Children born from 1 January to the end of March must start full time school on 1 April
• Children born from 1 April to the end of August must start school at the beginning of the autumn term in September

Our expectation is that a child born between 1 April and 31 August should start the reception class at the beginning of the summer term at the latest.  However, parents may choose that their child does not start school until the September (beginning of the autumn term) following their fifth birthday.  Parents must note the place cannot be held open beyond the summer term, this will mean that as their child will be a year one pupil when they join, parents will need to apply for a year one school place, using the in-year application form.

Admission of Children Outside Their Normal Age Group

Parents may request that their child is exceptionally admitted outside their normal age group.  The admission authority will decide whether or not the individual child’s circumstances make this appropriate on educational grounds. 

It is the expectation of our school that a child is educated alongside his/her age equivalent peers, in almost all cases.  We would strongly advise that all children enter into their normal year group.  The responsibility for addressing individual educational needs lies with the school through an appropriately differentiated and enriched curriculum.

All requests to educate a child outside their normal year group must include written explanation of why this is necessary and where applicable, evidence of the child’s circumstances from a relevant professional detailing the child’s educational need which makes education outside the normal age group necessary.

Decisions are made on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interest of the child.  This includes taking account of the following:

• Parents’ views
• Information relating to the child’s academic, social and emotional development, where relevant medical history and the views of a medical professional
• Any previous history of being educated outside of their normal age group
• If a child may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely
• Views of the Headteacher

Notes for clarification 

Note 1: Looked After Children

Looked-after children are defined as ‘children in public care at the date on which the application is made’.

All references to previously looked after children in the Code mean children who were adopted (or subject to child arrangements orders or special guardianship orders) immediately following having been looked after as well as those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

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 orders, immediately following having been looked after as well as those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.

If an application is made under the ‘looked-after’ criterion, it must be supported by a letter from the relevant local authority children’s services department and/or relevant documents.

The 2021 School Admissions Code (the Code) requires children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted to be given equal first priority in admission arrangements, alongside looked after children (LAC) and children who were previously looked after by English local authorities (PLAC). This advice refers to these children as internationally adopted previously looked after children – “IAPLAC”.

Note 2: Sibling

‘Sibling’ means a natural brother or sister, a half brother or sister, a legally adopted brother or sister or half-brother or sister, a step brother or sister or other child living in the same household as part of the same family who, in any of these cases, will be living at the same address at the date of their application for a place. an offer. 

This criteria does not include siblings on the roll of the our nursery.

Note 3: Medical Need

All schools have experience in dealing with children with a range of medical needs and all schools are required to make reasonable adjustments in order to do this. In a very few exceptional cases, however, there may be reasons why a child needs to attend a specific school.

If you feel there are exceptional reasons for your child to be considered for a priority placement at our school, you must indicate this in the section provided in your application, and complete the medical form which is available here.

All requests for priority consideration on medical grounds must be supported in writing by a doctor or consultant, and this must make clear that it is our school you are making a special case for, the reason why it is necessary for your child to attend our school in particular, and the difficulties it will cause for your child to attend another school.

It is for you to decide how to support your case and what documents to provide, but these must be submitted, together with the completed medical form and supporting statement by the GP/consultant, by the closing date of 15 January 2023. The school is not responsible for chasing you to submit medical evidence or for contacting professionals for information about your case. Any decision will be based on documents you submit by the closing date.

The school will decide whether an application for our school is to be prioritised on medical grounds, in light of the medical evidence submitted by the parent for their child to attend our school.  Claims for priority of admission on medical grounds submitted after a decision on the original application has been made will only be considered if the documents submitted were not readily available at the time of application or if they relate to a new medical condition. Any submission made after the initial application must be supported by details of how the circumstances have changed since the original application and by further professional evidence.

Applicants who submit supporting information on medical grounds will not be advised whether their application is likely to be successful prior to the offer of places on 16 April 2022. If evidence is received after the closing date of 15 January 2022, it will not be taken into account until after places have been offered on the 16 April 2022.

Note 4: Home address

‘Home’ is defined as the address where the child normally resides Monday to Friday as their only or principal residence.

Addresses involving child-minding (professional or relatives) are excluded. There have been occasions when parents/carers have tried to use false addresses to obtain a place at a school. To prevent this happening, Croydon Council undertakes checks using an address verification tool called Datatank. If after these checks have taken place, we cannot be satisfied that the address is the parent and child’s normal place of residence, the parent/carer will be asked to provide further proof of their home address.  In this instance two forms of address verification will be required: a solicitor’s letter confirming completion of contract or a tenancy agreement along with a recent utility bill in the applicant’s name.

If the parent/carer is found to have used a false address or deliberately provided misleading information to obtain a school place, the offer will be withdrawn.

Should there be doubts about the address to be used, parents/carers may be asked to provide evidence concerning the child’s normal place of residence. This could include a court order stating where the child should live during the course of the week. The local authority would expect that the parent/carer with whom the child is normally resident receives the child benefit for the child. This may be used to determine the normal place of residence for the purpose of measuring the home to school distance.

If parents/carers have more than one property they may be required to provide proof of the normal place of residence for the child.

Note 5: Distance

Distance will be measured in a straight line from the child’s home address to the designated entrance(s) of the school using a computerised measuring system (GIS) and geographical reference points as provided by the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG).  Those living closer to the school will receive higher priority.  If a child lives in a shared property such as flats, the geographical references will determine the start point within the property boundaries to be used for distance calculation purposes.

Distance measurements can be obtained using various internet sources however these do not replicate the system used by Croydon Council.  Additionally, the distance measurement which can be obtained from the Croydon website using the ‘Find It’ link on the home page will not always be identical to that of the measurement obtained using the Croydon school admissions measuring tool (known as GIS) as the ‘Find It’ link is set up to measure to a range of council facilities, and is not set up to measure for school admission purposes, that is from the centre of a house/building to the designated main entrance of a school.  It also does not give measurements to three decimal points.

Note 6: Education, Health and Care Plan

An Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) is an integrated support plan for children and young people with complex special needs and disabilities. The plan gives a detailed description of the range of difficulties a child is facing and the level and type of provision required to help the child make progress and achieve positive outcomes

Note 7: Child-minding

Child-minding cannot be taken into account when allocating places.

Note 8: Nursery to Reception

Parents of children attending our nursery class must apply for a reception class place in the usual way. These children are not guaranteed a reception place at our school.

All applications are considered strictly in accordance with a our admission criteria.  Unless otherwise stated, children on the roll of our nursery class are not given priority admission into a reception class.

Note 9 – Twins/triplets or other multiple births for admission into an infant class

If you are applying for twins, or children from a multiple birth, and there is only one place available at our school, legislation allows us to admit them all i.e. all siblings from a multiple birth.

The government school admissions code does state that infant classes must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher, but the code considers multiple birth to be an ‘exceptional circumstance’ and they can be admitted in excess of the published admission number.