Our admission limit for September 2024 is 60 children for Reception. Following LA policy, we operate a single entry into our school each September. Children are eligible to be admitted into Reception provided they are 4 years old on or before September 1st.
Oversubscription Criteria:
If more children want a place than there are places available, we will offer places according to the following criteria, strictly in order of priority:
1. Children who are ‘looked after’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, residence/child arrangement, or special guardianship order*.
A looked after child is a child who is, at the time of making an application to a school, (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 the definition in section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989).
2. Medical Reasons
Children with very exceptional medical factors directly related to school placement.
3. Sibling Links
Children who have a sibling** already attending the school and who is expected to be on roll at the school at the time of admission.
4. Distance
Children who live nearest the preferred school measured by the shortest walking route***. This will be based on the child's address. Where the last place to be allocated would mean that a multiple birth sibling group i.e. twins, triplets or other multiple birth sibling groups, would be split, the sibling group will be given priority over other children. Otherwise if only one final place can be offered and two applicants live equidistant from the school, the LA’s system of random allocation will apply.
* An adoption order is an order under section 12 of the Adoption Act 1976 or section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. A ‘residence order’ is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. A child arrangement order is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under section 14 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardians).
** Sibling is defined as children who live as brother or sister in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, half brothers or sisters, adopted brothers or sisters, step brothers or sisters and children of the parent/carer’s partner. Some schools give priority to siblings of pupils attending another community and voluntary controlled school with which they have close links (for example, schools on the same site). Where this is the case, details will be published in the Local Authority’s Admissions Brochure.
*** In assessing home to school distance the LA uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify and measure the shortest route utilising only the Ordnance Survey Integrated Transport Network (ITN) and Urban Paths Network (UPN) which are national recognised datasets. The LA will not include any other routes or any other method of measurement. Routes are measured from the centre point**** of the child’s house, or in the case of a flat from the centre point**** of the building, to the nearest school site entrance. In all cases the GIS identifies the route to be measured by connecting in a straight line the centre point**** of the child’s house to the closest point on the nearest route on the ITN/UPN.
****In accordance with the co-ordinates of the Basic Land and Property Unit on the National Land and Property Gazetteer.
Visit the Durham County Council website for information regarding the school admission process and primary school admissions.
To appeal against an admission decision visit: School admissions-appeals