Applying for a primary school place

Applying for a Reception place for September 2013

The closing date for online and paper applications was 15 January 2013.

Primary application form 2013

Alternatively, a paper application form can be requested from the School Admissions Service or from your child’s nursery or early years setting.

The booklet Starting Primary School 2013 contains all the information you need to know about the application process.

Late applications

Applications received after 15 January 2013 will be processed after all the application received on time have been processed, If you apply late you are very unlikely to be offered one of your preferred schools.

Additional Reception class at Stoneydown Park Primary School for September 2013

This school will be taking an additional Reception class for September 2013. This means that there will now be 60 Reception class places available for September 2013.

Places at the school in subsequent years will be determined by the outcome of the consultation and statutory processes. Details of the permanent expansion consultation can be viewed on the school's website using the link below.

Stoneydown Park permanent expansion consultation

If you are applying for a Reception class place for your child for September 2013, you should consider the information given above and ensure that you have applied for a Reception class place by the closing date of 15 January 2013. 

Supplementary Information Forms (SIFs)

Some schools need extra information, which we do not collect on our application form, to apply their admissions criteria.

The following will ask you to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF):

• Emmanuel Community School
• St Mary’s Catholic Primary School
• St Mary’s Church of England Primary School
• St Joseph’s Infant School
• Our Lady and St George’s Primary School
• St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School
• St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

SIFs are available from the relevant schools or by calling the School Admissions Service.

If you are applying for a school outside Waltham Forest you will need to check with the local authority where the school is located to find out if you need to complete a SIF.

If you do not complete a SIF this may result in your child not being offered a place at the school.

Determined Admission Arrangements 2013

The determined admission arrangements include the admission rules for community schools, Academies and Chingford Church of England Infants School and the procedures which will be followed for admission to school in 2013/14.

View the current admission arrangements

There are also admission arrangements for Academies, Foundation and Voluntary-Controlled schools which are not set by Waltham Forest Council.

• Buxton School (All-Through)
• Emmanuel Community School
• Our Lady and St George’s Primary School
• St Mary’s Catholic Primary School
• St Mary’s Church of England Primary School
• St Joseph’s Infant School
• St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School
• St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

In-Year admissions

Applications for school places received after 1 September in any school year are called In Year admissions. Waltham Forest residents need to apply to Waltham Forest School Admissions Service.

Waltham Forest School Admissions Service coordinates in-year admissions for all applicants who reside within Waltham Forest (existing and new to the borough) who require places in schools either in or outside Waltham Forest.

Voluntary Aided Schools are their own admission authorities and will continue to make decisions as to whether or not applicants meet their admissions criteria. The process will be coordinated by the School Admissions Service who will also send out the offer letters.

You can only complete Waltham Forest’s In-Year Common Application Form (iCAF) if you live in Waltham Forest. If you live in another borough but would like to apply for a place in a Waltham Forest School please make an application to the local authority in whose area you live.

In-Year application form

Application Forms must be returned to:

Primary School Admissions
1A Harvey Road
Leytonstone E11 3DB

How to complete the Waltham Forest In Year Common Application Form (iCAF)

To help us process your application as quickly as possible, please complete the form clearly in BLOCK CAPITALS, answering all questions. Not completing the form in full will delay your application. Any false or misleading information given on this form and/or in any supporting information may render this application invalid and could lead to the offer of a place being withdrawn.

Fair Access Protocol– Waltham Forest operates an ‘In Year Fair Access Protocol.’ This means that children who do not have a school place are prioritised over children waiting to transfer between schools, if and when a place becomes available. A copy of this protocol is available upon request by calling 0845 200 1551.

Section 1: Child’s details

The child’s name entered must be their legal name as it is shown on their birth certificate. The child’s address must be their permanent home address and cannot be a business or child minder’s address.

You must submit the following documents along with your application form:

1. If you are registered for Council Tax in Waltham Forest please supply your Council Tax Account Number under the address details on page 1.

2. If you are not the addressee (registered person responsible for paying the Council Tax), please provide a copy of the Council Tax Bill or Housing Benefit Letter of the person with whom you are living. This should be supported by a letter from the Council Tax payer stating that you and your family live with them and list all members of the household. In addition we require a recent bank statement, bill or benefits letter with your name as the addressee.

3. If you already have a child attending a preferred school or if you have shared parental responsibilities please provide a current Child Benefit Letter or Child Tax Credit Letter (the pages that show the current address and the children’s names only please). Only copies will be accepted.

4. Copy of your child’s short birth certificate.

If you change your address after you send this application to us, you must inform us immediately. Waltham Forest reserve the right to check the information you give. If a place is found to have been offered on the basis of an incorrect address, the place will be withdrawn.

Section 2: Parent’s/Carer’s details

Please enter the details of the person with parental responsibility for the child. All correspondence will be sent to the address submitted. Please note that where parents live separately, the application must be based on the address where the child normally lives (supported by a Child Benefit or Child Tax Credits letter at the address given on the application).

If both parents share custody, please advise us in writing and give both addresses. In this circumstance we will accept the address where the Child Benefit/Child Tax Credit is registered.

Section 3: School Preference

Please list up to three schools which you would like to apply for in the order that you would prefer them. You can apply to any state maintained school or Academy. Please do not include special, independent or private schools.

Please use the space provided if you wish to give reasons for your preference of school, including any medical/psychological grounds or any other exceptional circumstance to tell us why your child should be admitted to the schools you have listed.

Whenever and wherever possible, children are offered a school from the schools listed on their application. However when there are more applications than there are places, the Local Authority will apply the school’s over subscription (admissions) criteria. These criteria list children in order of priority. The following details the over subscription criteria for community schools in Waltham Forest Waltham Forest has 43 community primary and 12 community secondary schools with common over subscription criteria which rank applications in the following order:

1. Children in Public Care (Looked After Children)

2. Children whom the Authority accepts have an exceptional medical or social need for a place at the named school, rather than at any other school. There will have to be a clear link between the child’s medical or social need and the school in question. Parents/Carers will need to submit a case supported by an appropriate professional, such as a doctor. The evidence must support the link between the medical need and the school.

3. Children with a brother or sister at the same school who will still be on roll when they join. Sibling refers to brother or sister, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, step brother or sister, or the child of the parent/carer’s partner where the child for whom the place is sought is living in the same family unit at the same address as the sibling. A sibling relation does not apply when the older child will leave before the younger one starts. Please note a cousin, aunt or uncle does not count as a sibling.

4. Other children, with priority to those living closest to the school measured ‘as the crow flies’ from the home address to the centre of the school. The address given must be the one in which the child normally lives.

There are also 9 Voluntary Aided schools of which 7 are primary and 2 Secondary. Each of these schools has their own admissions criteria. These schools will require parents to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) to provide additional information. All SIFs can be obtained from the school in question.

The schools requiring SIFs are:

• Our Lady & St George’s Catholic Primary School
• St Joseph ’s Catholic Infants School
• St Joseph ’s Catholic Junior School
• St Mary’s Catholic Primary School
• St Mary’s C of E VA Primary School
• St Patricks Catholic School
• St Saviour’s C of E Primary School

Section 4: Additional questions

In this section you can indicate why you are applying for a school place and provide any additional information in support of your application. Under the ‘other circumstances’ part of this section you have the opportunity to let us know if there are any special circumstances concerning your application.

Section 5: Looked After Children

If you are a foster carer looking after a child who is in care you must indicate this. Looked after Children have the highest priority in admissions criteria for community schools. You must attach a letter from the child’s social worker confirming the child’s status and we will forward your application to the Looked After Children’s Team.

Section 6: Transfer request between schools

If your child currently attends a school, please give reasons for requesting a change of school, for example – house move, etc.

Section 7: Declaration and signature

You must sign and date the declaration and ensure the Head teacher or Year Head have also authorised the transfer between schools (Section 6) before submitting your application. Information supplied will be used for registered purposes under the Data Protection Act 1998.

What will happen once I have returned my application form?

If there are places, the School Admissions Service will write to you and ask you to contact the relevant school to make an appointment to discuss admission. If none of the schools that you have listed are able to offer a place and your child/children are out of school then we will try to offer you a place at the nearest school that has a vacancy.

Offers will be made on a regular basis and we will contact you as soon as we are able to make an offer or write to you with the outcome of your application. If we are unable to offer you a place at a preferred school we will place your child’s name on the waiting list. You should be aware that your child’s position on the waiting list can move up or down. Waiting lists are ranked in accordance with the schools over subscription criteria. For Voluntary Aided and Foundation Schools it is the Governors who still make the decision regarding applications. The local authority will send the offer letter on their behalf.

During the process if you want to talk to anyone about your application, please contact the School Admissions Service on 0845 200 1551.

If you do not receive an offer for a school that you have made an application for, you have the right of appeal which will be heard by an independent appeals panel. Accepting a place at one school while appealing for a place at another will have no bearing on the outcome of the appeals hearing.

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