Transfer to secondary school - act soon!

The process for filling in the common application form which is handled by the local authority and coordinates the transfer from primary to secondary schools is about to begin. This seems to have been an earlier and earlier feature of life for year 6 pupils and their families and is certainly something not to be overlooked.

How can I find out about secondary school selection procedures?

Your school should be able to provide you with a booklet outlining the options open to you as your child nears the end of their Primary School. This is produced by the local authority and is, in many authorities, already available. Additionally, many schools will run an information evening for parents, often attended by the admissions department of the local authority. Often this will be available to Year 5 parents during the summer term.

Children starting school - not a level playing field!

Entering Reception – January or September?

There is disparity nationally, and sometimes locally, in terms of admissions arrangements. Some schools and authorities admit all children in September, some have September and January and a few still have a 3^rd entry point after the Spring holidays. There are a couple of important things to remember here;

1. Children do not have to statutorily attend school until they are 5 years old, even though most schools admit them before this time.
2. Your school’s admissions policy will have been set by the local authority if it is a community school, meaning that it will have very little flexibility to admit your child at any other time than their published admissions criteria. Even if it is the Governing Body that sets these criteria (as is the case with foundation status schools, it takes time to change these admissions criteria so it is unlikely that any specific requests will be able to be accommodated to take into account your own preferences.