Admissions to Nursery Classes 2006-2007

Guidance for Headteachers on the Arrangements for Admission to Nursery Schools and Nursery Classes for September 2006.

You will by now have almost completed your admissions process for the allocation of places in your nursery classes for 2005-2006. We are now planning the process for admission into nursery schools and nursery classes for the academic year 2006-2007.

We will 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 1.09.2002 and 31.08.2003 as soon as possible after Friday 24th March 2006. These will be passed on to the Early Years and Childcare Department for administration.

Where a school wishes to prioritise a child according to the first rule, "Children with independently verified evidence of additional need" the head teacher will be expected to keep the evidence on file, for future verification. The evidence may be requested later to support the offer of a place if challenged. At present it is not possible to collect this information electronically. Where schools have a child or children on their waiting lists with independently verified evidence of additional needs, they are asked to e-mail this information to Sue Brown in the Early Years Department, giving the following information in respect of each child:

Name

Date of Birth

Nature of Evidence Held on File

(E.g. SEN Statement, health visitor or speech therapy report, letter of support from a social worker etc.) It is not necessary to send the evidence to the early year's team.

The above information should be e-mailed to Sue Brown, Administrative Assistant: Sue.brown@norfolk.gov.uk (tel 01603 223462).

Where a nursery class is able to accommodate all of the children on the list, the school will be returned the list of children to whom places in the nursery class may be offered. Schools should inform parents of this offer by letter on Friday 5 May 2006.

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. Similarly a place at the nursery class does not guarantee a place in the school, neither is there an expectation that the child offered a place should apply for a place that 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 May 2006 and a prioritised list of applicants who may be offered places if any places subsequently become vacant. If required, 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 between Friday the 24th March and Friday 5th May, 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: Sue.brown@norfolk.gov.uk (tel 01603 223462).

Timetable and Example Letter