Applications for Nursery classes at Hackbridge Primary School

Hackbridge Primary School Nursery Admission Arrangements for Entry in 2023/2024

In accordance with the Sutton Community Schools Admissions Arrangements for Entry in 2023/2024:

Entry to Nursery

Please read the following information about our available Nursery classes:

All of our Nursery classes are based on our Hackbridge Corner (Hackbridge Road, SM6 7AX) site.

a) 15 HOURS UNIVERSAL FREE EDUCATION ONLY

Allocated placements are either for a MORNING (8.30am–11.30am) place or an AFTERNOON (12.30pm–3.30pm) place, Monday – Friday during term time.

26 part-time (15 hour) places are available in each session.

b) 30 HOURS UNIVERSAL PLUS EXTENDED ENTITLEMENT PROVISION ONLY

Placements are 9.00am–3.00pm, Monday–Friday during term time.

(Please note that a meal charge will be payable if a school dinner is taken).

26 full-time (30 hour) places are available.

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Parents of children applying to join the 30-hour Nursery class can apply separately for a place in the school's Breakfast Club - please note that places are limited and cannot be guaranteed. Further details can be found here.

We are not able to offer any after school wraparound care facility for Nursery pupils.

Attendance in one of our Nursery classes does not give priority for a place in Reception at the school and a separate application for a starting school/Reception place must be made directly to the London Borough of Sutton.

Children will be eligible for consideration for entry to Nursery from the term after their third birthday.

Applications

Applications for Nursery places at Hackbridge Primary School must be made directly to the school using the school’s Nursery application form which can be download here or a paper copy can be collected from the School Office at either site.

Parents/Carers should ensure that they indicate on their application form which type of provision they are applying for by ticking in the box next to provision type that they wish their child to be considered for a place at.

Applications to start Nursery in 2023/24 must be made between 14th September 2022 and 15th January 2023. Any applications received after this date will be considered ‘late’.

There may be some in-year vacancies for children to start Nursery if there are unfilled places and where their age makes them eligible. Please check availability with the School Office.

30-HOUR PLACES FOR 2023/2024 - PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ALL PLACES IN OUR 30-HOUR CLASS FOR SEPTEMBER 2023 HAVE ALREADY BEEN OFFERED OUT AND, DUE TO OVER-SUBSCRIPTION, THERE IS ALREADY A WAITING LIST FOR PUPILS ELIGIBLE TO START IN SEPTEMBER 2023. WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY FURTHER VACANCIES TO OFFER IN-YEAR UNLESS AN OLDER ELIGIBLE CHILD DECLINES THEIR OFFER OF A PLACE OR A CHILD LATER LEAVES IN-YEAR (WHICH CANNOT BE KNOWN OR GUARANTEED). AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS THEREFORE MEANS THAT THERE WILL BE NO INTAKE IN JANUARY 2024 OR APRIL 2024 FOR THE 30-HOUR CLASS UNLESS THERE IS SIGNIFICANT MOVEMENT OUT OF THE CLASS.

THERE ARE CURRENTLY ALSO A LIMITED NUMBER OF VACANCIES FOR 2023/2024 IN BOTH THE 15-HOUR MORNING AND AFTERNOON NURSERY CLASSES.

Admissions and Oversubscription Criteria for Nursery

For 2023/2024:

When our nursery is over-subscribed, applications for admission in 2023/2024 will be ranked against the following factors:

i) Children who have reached the age of 3 years before 1 September 2023

ii) Children who have reached the age of 3 years before 1 January 2024

iii) Children who have reached the age of 3 years before 1 April 2024

Please note only category (i) places will be filled at the initial allocation stage – offers for these places will be made in May each year.

We will only offer places for any available vacancies for category (ii) or (iii) applicants in November and February each year, if places remain vacant at those points.

Within each of these bands, applications will be ranked as below:

a) Looked after children or previously looked after children (see notes at 1).

b) Where there are professionally supported medical reasons or exceptional social reasons why a child should attend a particular nursery (see notes at 2).

c) Oldest eligible children at the point of offer for the category (see notes 3).

Where oversubscription occurs in categories (a)-(c) above, the following criterion (d) will be applied as a tie-breaker.

d) Straight Line distance between the child’s home address and the mid-point between the Hackbridge Corner school site and the London Road school site. The mid-point is defined as the point that is equidistant between each site’s main school entrance (see notes at 4).

If oversubscription occurs in category (d), and home to school distance is equal, rank order will be randomly generated.

Notes

1) Looked After Children or Previously Looked After Children

A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see definition in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989). A previously looked after child is a child who was adopted, or subject to a residence order, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order, immediately following having been looked after.

2) Professionally Supported Medical Reasons or Exceptional Social Reasons

Applicants wishing to be considered under this criterion must supply professional evidence supporting their case at the time of application. Providing evidence does not guarantee priority under this criterion; the school will consider if the evidence provided demonstrates that the child must attend a particular school and cannot reasonably attend an alternative school.

Applicants will not be individually advised if their application has been prioritised under this criterion.

3) Oldest eligible children at the point of offer for the category

At the point of offer for each category (which is May for children eligible to start in the September; November for children eligible to start in January and February for children eligible to start in April), children on the waiting list will be ranked according to their date of birth and available places offered to the oldest children first, until no further vacancies remain.

If oversubscription occurs in category (c) where children on the waiting list have the same date of birth, but only one vacancy remains, category (d) will then also be applied.

If oversubscription occurs in category (d), and home to school distance is equal, rank order will be randomly generated.

Please be aware that as all children are ranked by their date of birth on the waiting list, with oldest children first, a child's position on the waiting list can change at any time.

4) Straight Line Distance

Distances will be measured in a straight line from the child's home address, with those living closer to the school receiving the higher priority. The point within the school to be used in any distance calculation will be the mid-point that is equidistant between each site’s main school entrance. All distances will be measured by distances calculated using Distance.to and what3words.

The child’s home address excludes any business, relative’s or childminder’s address and must be the applicant’s normal place of residence. If there is a genuine equal share custody arrangement between the two parents, the address that will be used will normally be the address of the parent who is claiming Child Benefit for the child, however all available evidence will be considered.

The address to be used for the initial allocation of places will be the child’s address at the closing date for application. Changes of address after that may be considered if there are exceptional reasons behind the change, such as if a family has just moved to the area, or has returned from abroad. The address to be used for waiting lists, after the initial allocation, and for mid-term admissions will be the child’s current address. Any offer is conditional upon the child living at the appropriate address on the relevant date. Parents have a responsibility to notify the school of any change of address.

Please note:

Applicants in short term rented accommodation may be asked to provide evidence of their current and former housing arrangements.
Where an applicant has ownership of a property, that should be used for the purposes of school admission and the applicant must provide evidence and reasons for the use of any other address.
Where an applicant rents a property and has ownership of an alternative property, the rented property will only be used for admission purposes if the child has been resident away from the owned property for a period of 18 months or more at the closing date for applications.
Any applicant who moves from a rented or temporary address in advance of their child taking up their school place may have their place withdrawn if it is found the family have returned to an address already in their ownership.
The school will investigate whether the place should be withdrawn if the pupil is not resident at the application address at the time of their entry point.
The school will always investigate a case where the application address has previously been used to gain a place fraudulently.
Where it is found an address has been used for the purposes of admission where the child is not ordinarily resident, the application and any place offered will be withdrawn.
An offer found to have been gained fraudulently will be withdrawn. This may also be the case where the child has started the school.
In some cases, places may not be withdrawn once a child has been attending the school for a term or more. In these circumstances future sibling applications will not be given sibling priority for places and will be considered under the next appropriate criterion.

Waiting lists

Where there are more applicants than places available, waiting lists will operate according to the oversubscription criteria shown above and without regard to the date the application was received or when a child’s name was added to the waiting list.

Children with education, health and care plans will take priority over children on the waiting list where the school considers that they are able to meet the needs set out in the plan.

Children applying for Nursery who are not offered a place for the term in which they are first eligible will be automatically added to the school’s waiting list for that year. Nursery waiting lists will be reviewed at any point when a vacancy in any of the classes arises, before being carried forward to the next academic year to confirm which autumn and spring born children may still wish to be considered for a place in the next academic year.