The primary school application process for places in September 2016 opened today – Monday 2nd November – for parents in Stone and across Staffordshire.
Parents can apply online now for next year’s primary admissions and have until January 15th 2016 to get their preferences in. And Staffordshire County Council has released some tips to make the process as easy as possible, and give parents the best chance of being allocated one of their primary school choices:
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Understand the admission criteria for the school that is being applied for, as this will give an idea of the likely outcome of a preference[/box]
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Parents should visit their preferred school – talk to the headteacher and other teachers so they can be sure it is the right one for their child[/box]
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/doyourhomework for the latest performance data on schools in the local area[/box]
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Parents must make an actual formal application between now and 15th January, even if they have an elder child in attendance at their preferred school[/box]
[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” ]Attendance at a nursery class does not give any priority in the Reception Class admissions process. The most important thing is for parents to make sure they apply for at least three schools. Just putting down one school in the hope it will be allocated doesn’t always work, and parents may end up getting a school they would not normally have chosen[/box]
Ben Adams, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for learning and skills, said: “Year on year, the majority of parents are allocated their first choice school, and we are constantly above the national average for allocating parents one of their top three preferred schools. We know this is important to parents, and we do our very best to accommodate them as much as possible.
“Because of this, we need all applications in by 15th January 2016 as a lot of work goes into organising the process. We understand the pressures we are facing on primary school places, and are putting in a lot of work to ensure we have enough to accommodate the increase in population in some areas of the county. This work means we can still have a consistently high percentage of parents allocated one of their top three primary schools, and help give every child in Staffordshire the best possible start in life.”
There’s lots more information in the Primary Information For Parents booklet.
