Bryan Slater Director of Education	Distribution
	All schools with nursery classes including nursery schools.

This document needs your action as detailed below:

ACTION	Title	Admission to nursery classes – April 2004
	Summary of contents	Information regarding the administration of nursery class admissions for April 2004
	Associated documents	Guidance for Headteachers on arrangements for admissions to nursery classes for April 2004 Phoenix Software – Admissions to nursery classes 2003-2004
	Date	23.01.04
	Summary of action required	Follow phoenix software guidance to send nursery class admission information to LEA or inform Early Years and Childcare team if nursery class is full.
	To be completed by	13.02.04
	LEA Contact	Sue Brown	(	01603 223462
	E-mail address	Sue.brown.edu@norfolk.gov.uk
	Norfolk Self Review reference	5. How well does the school care for its pupils? 6. How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 7. How well is the school led and managed? 8. How well does the school use its resources?
	Document reference	MI 27/04

Admissions to Nursery Classes 2003-2004

Guidance for headteachers on the arrangements for admission to nursery classes for April 2004.

You will by now have an idea of the number of vacant places remaining in your nursery class, which may be filled in April 2004, although we anticipate that most nursery classes will now be full following the January intake. For the allocation of any remaining nursery class places, we intend to follow a similar procedure to the arrangements for admissions into the nursery class for January 2004.

We are proposing again to collect the required data electronically and guidance on how to do this is included with this letter. You are requested to provide a waiting list of children whose birthdates fall between 1.09.1999 and 31.03.2001 immediately after Friday 6^th February 2003. These will be passed on to the Early Years and Childcare Department for administration.

Where a nursery class is already full you are asked to inform the Early Years and Childcare Team by telephone or e-mail and no further correspondence will be required.

Where a nursery class is able to accommodate all of the children on the list, the school will be instructed to offer places to all of the children on the waiting list, by letter on Friday 5^th March.

When children are offered places in a nursery class, it would be helpful to point out to parents in the letter that transport to and from early education provision is not available and a place at the nursery class does not guarantee a place in the school. An example of a letter is attached.

Where a nursery class is oversubscribed, the Early Years and Childcare department will prioritise the applicants according to the admissions criteria. The school will be sent a list of the children who may be offered a place in the nursery class, by letter on Friday 5^th March, and a prioritised list of applicants who may be offered places if any places become vacant. If the school wishes, the Early Years and Childcare department will send letters to unsuccessful applicants suggesting alternative options.

Where a school receives a request for a place in the nursery class after Friday the 6^th February, the information should be kept on file at the school and sent to the Early Years Department for allocation.

If there are any further queries please contact:

Sue Brown Administrative Assistant 01603 223462

Sue.brown.edu@norfolk.gov.uk

Timetable for the admission to Nursery Classes

Date	Action
Ongoing	Headteachers of all schools with nursery classes to maintain a list of children, whose parents are requesting a place at the nursery class on a waiting list within the Phoenix Database. This should include: school name name of child names of parents date of birth full address postcode whether the child is in nursery class whether child has statement whether sibling at school whether sibling at adjoining junior/middle school
January/February	Headteachers may find it helpful to contact parents to confirm their interest in a place for their child in the nursery class for January. No promise of place should be made at this time.
Immediately after 6^th February 2004	Headteachers submit a full list of all children seeking a place in the nursery class for April 2004 to include: school name name of child names of parents date of birth full address postcode whether the child is in the nursery class whether child has statement whether sibling at school whether sibling at adjoining junior/middle school
February/March	Schools will be sent a list of children to whom places in the nursery class may be offered. Where nursery classes have been over-subscribed, schools will be sent a prioritised list of names of children who may be offered a place should a vacancy occur.
Friday 5^th March	Schools send out letters offering places to all children allocated places. Early Years department sends out letters to all unsuccessful applicants.
Ongoing	Unfilled places allocated by the school to children on prioritised list