Primary School Admissions
Children born between 1 September 2004 and 31 August 2005 will be admitted to school in September 2009.
Children attending infant schools transfer to junior schools in September 2009 if they were born between 1 September 2001 and 31 August 2002.
Parents who express a preference for a place at an Aided Church School should follow the same procedures as for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools. However, in Aided Schools, decisions on admissions are made by the Governing Body of the school. You will be notified of the decision about your application by Durham LA.
If your child cannot be offered a place at any of your preferred schools, County Durham LA will offer your child a place at the nearest school to your home address that has places available.
How do I apply for a Place?
What if my Child Qualifies for more than one School?
Does my Address affect where my child is Placed?
Class Sizes and Waiting Lists
Appeals
Learning at Home
Transfering your Child Between Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary Schools
Further Information
How do I Apply for a Place?
You can express up to three preferences for your child to be admitted to a maintained primary, infant and where appropriate junior school within the County Durham area, including Voluntary Aided (Church) schools.Parents will receive no more than one offer of a school place.
The official closing date for admission into Primary School in September 2009, is the 24 October 2008. You can apply through one of the following methods:
a) Complete a form through our online admission system.
b) Request a form from any one of the infant, junior or primary schools located in County Durham.
c) Request a form direct from School Admissions at:
School Admissions
Children & Young People's Services
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UJ
Tel: 0191 3834576
Email: Primary School Admissions
d) Print out and return the PDF below to the Schools Admissions team. Please note, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these document. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website.
Preference Form.pdf (4 pages, 79kb)
Late applications (after the 24 October 2008) for primary schools can still be made by a paper application.
What if my Child Qualifies for more than one School?
If you qualify for a place at more than one of your preferred schools, County Durham LA will offer you the one that you ranked the highest. Sometimes a school receives more applications than it has places available. Where this happens we offer places strictly in order of the following criteria.(i) Children in Public Care
(ii) Medical Reasons - Pupils with very exceptional medical factors directly related to school placement. Applications under this criterion should be supported by written evidence from a doctor.
(iii) Family Links - Pupils who have a brother or sister already attending the preferred school or associated school on the same site, and who is expected to be on roll at the school at the time of admission.
(iv) Distance - Pupils who live nearest the preferred school measured by the shortest walking route. This will be based on the parents’ address. We will, however, consider the overall availability of school places in an area to ensure that children do not have an unreasonable distance to walk. This may override distance to the preferred school.
Please note if a school is oversubscribed with children in criterion (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) places will be offered to those pupils who live nearest the preferred school (measured by the shortest walking route).
Does my Address affect where my child is Placed?
Parental Address
The parental address is used in applying the admission criteria. This means that when you state your school preference you should give the parental address at the time of application. You should not give the address of child minders or other family members who may share in the care of your child.For any parent who, for whatever reason has more than one property, they should only refer to the property in which they actually reside. In cases where parents are separated and the child lives for periods with both, then the parental address will be that property at which, during the school year, the child for the most part resides.
Also, if the main address has changed temporarily, for example, where a parent resides with extended family during a period of sickness or takes up temporary accommodation due to building works/renovation, then the parental address remains that at which the parent was resident before the period of temporary residence began.
Any permanent change of parental address should be notified to us immediately as this may affect the admission offer made to your child.
We reserve the right to withdraw any offer made on the basis of an inaccurate address.
Moving House
Once a child has begun attending a particular primary school it is usually in the child's interest to remain at that school until they are due to transfer to the next phase of education. However, families sometimes move house making it impractical for the child to continue to attend the same school. If this is the case, parents should approach a school in their new neighbourhood to see if there are places available.
Class Sizes and Waiting Lists
Class Size Legislation
The DCFS (formerly DfES) has made a commitment to ensure that all pupils of infant School age are taught in classes of no more than 30 pupils. Admission Authorities have made arrangements to ensure compliance with this legislation.Waiting Lists
If a school is full in the appropriate year group, parents may ask the LA to add their child's name to the waiting list. Names can be added to a waiting list at any time. When pupil numbers fall below the admission limit, children will be admitted from the list according to the priority order set out in the published criteria and not the length of time on the waiting list. Vacancies often arise at short notice and those on the waiting list should be prepared to take up a place as soon as it arises.Learning at Home
The 1996 Education Act states that it is the duty of parents to secure an appropriate education for their children. This can be done either by regular attendance at school, or otherwise, for most children this means that they will attend their local school, but for various reasons, a small number of parents decide to take on the responsibility to educate their children outside the school system. The LA must satisfy itself that parents are fulfilling their duties in such cases.For more information contact 0191 3834165.
Transferring your Child between Community and Voluntary Controlled Primary Schools
If a child is to transfer, it is generally better, if possible, for this to take place at the end of a term or school year so as to reduce the disruption to his/her education, although it can take place at any time during the school year. Parents should discuss the reason for the transfer with the head teacher of the pupil's present school. Parents are required to ensure that their children maintain attendance by staying at their current school until a transfer is settled.You should apply direct to your chosen Infant, Junior or Primary School.
Further Information
We produce a booklet about primary education. A Parents Guide to Education in Durham includes information regarding choosing your child's school in County Durham, how to apply for a school place and individual school information. If you require an alternative format contact: Admissions Section on 0191 3834576.
Please note, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these document. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website.
Primary Admissions Brochure.pdf (92 pages, 1107kb)
Further information on admission to Primary Schools is available from:
School Admissions
Children and Young People's Services
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UJ
Tel: 0191 3834576
Email: Primary School Admissions
