Nursery

We have provision for 26 part time places for 3 hours in the morning from 8.50-11.50am. Every child will be given a place where possible. Applications for our Nursery class should be made directly to school. Please contact the school office on 0208 854 4785 or email info@rockliffemanor.greenwich.sch.uk for more information.

Children will usually be admitted into Nursery in the term after their third birthday subject to availability of place, and places will be offered in the term before the children are due to start. Documentation will be required to support applications including children’s birth certificate or passport and proof of address. This will consist of Council Tax statement, Council Tax Benefit letter, or Council Tax exemption certificate.

We have provision for 26-part time places totalling 15 hours per week.

 

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Nursery Admissions Process

Applications to nursery schools or classes are made direct to the school.

Children will not be admitted to a nursery class or nursery school before their third birthday.

If it is not possible to offer a child a place, a request can be made for the child’s name to be placed on the waiting list. However, there is no formal appeals process.

All places are allocated according to the admissions criteria below and distance (Category 5) is measured in a straight line from the applicant’s home address to the main school gate located on Bassant Road.

Supplementary Information Form (SIF)

This school does not require a Supplementary Information form to be completed.

If you wish to apply for a Nursery place you should contact the school to make an appointment to meet the Headteacher and visit the Nursery.

During this visit you may collect an application form and the Admissions procedure will be fully explained. The Headteacher and nursery staff will answer any questions parents may have. You and your child are welcome to stay and play in the Nursery for a part – or if they wish a whole Nursery session. Parents who wish to apply for a Nursery place must then fill in the application form and return it to school no later than their child’s third birthday. We admit children to our Nursery after their third birthday.

All applicants will be notified when or if they have been successful in their application. If an applicant is not successful, their application form will be held in school and will be reconsidered, if a place becomes available.

 

 DETERMINED ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS

FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2024 -2025

 

ROCKLIFFE MANOR PRIMARY SCHOOL 

BASSANT ROAD 

PLUMSTEAD

LONDON SE18 2NP

 

THE PRIMARY ADMISSIONS INDICATIVE TIMETABLE 

 

Monday 4th September 2023 at 9am	Application window opens
Sunday 14th January 2024 at 5pm	Closing date for applications
Wednesday 17th  April 2024	National offer day
Friday 10th May 2024	Deadline for appeals (indicative date)

 

The Inspire Partnership Academy Trust board, which is the admissions authority for Rockliffe Manor Primary School, has set the number of children to be admitted to the Reception year in the school year which begins in September 2024 as 30. 

The trust participates in the Local Authority co-ordinated arrangements.  This means that all applications for places in Reception in September 2024 must be made to the Local Authority in which the child lives. School preferences are passed to the Local Authority where the school is sited who are responsible for the allocation of places. Where there are more applications than there are places available, the Local Authority will allocate places according to the rank order of oversubscription criteria detailed in this document.  

Pupils with an Education Health and Care Plan:  The admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan is dealt with by a completely separate procedure. Children with an Education, Health and Care Plan that names the school must be admitted. Where this takes place before the allocation of places under these arrangements, this will reduce the number of places available to other children.

OVERSUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA

1. Looked after children and previously looked after children, including those who appear to the trust to have been in state care outside England.

A looked after child is a child who is in the care of an English or Welsh Local Authority in accordance with section 22 (a) of the Children Act 1989.

Those children who have been adopted or become subject to child arrangements or a special guardianship order immediately after having been looked after.

A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.

2.  Children with a chronic medical or social care need for a particular school.

This may also apply to an immediate family member. The application must be supported by a letter written by a professional such as a qualified medical practitioner, setting out the reasons why the school is the only one that can meet the child's needs and the implications for the child if they are not offered a place at the school.

NB. Work commitments and childcare arrangements are not considered as being a chronic medical or social care need.

3.  Children with a sibling living at the same address who is already attending the school at the time of the child's admission.

Sibling means a full, half, step, adopted or foster brother or sister. This does not include siblings who attend a school's nursery provision.

4. Distance

Priority will be given to pupils living nearest to the school as measured in a straight line from the centre of the home address to the centre point of the school.  Where a child lives in a shared property, for example, a block of flats the centre will be taken from the centre of the building.  

Tiebreaker 

Distance will be used as a tiebreaker for each oversubscription criterion. Where distance is the same for two or more applicants, random allocation will be used, which will be independently verified. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

All applications for places must be made on the Common Application Form (CAF) to the Local Authority in which the child lives by Sunday 14 January 2024.  The form is available on the relevant Local Authority website

Schools within the Inspire Partnership Academy Trust do not require a supplementary information form

LATE APPLICATIONS 

Parents and carers are encouraged to ensure that their application is received on time.  Any late applications will be dealt with in accordance with the Local Authority’s Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme for late applications 

ADMISSION OF CHILDREN ATTENDING THE SCHOOL’S NURSERY PROVISION

There is no automatic admission into Reception year for children attending any school’s nursery provision. Parents and carers must apply separately for a place in Reception year. 

ADMISSION OF CHILDREN BELOW COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE AND DEFERRED ENTRY 

Schools are required to provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. Parents/carers have the following options where a place has been offered to a child at the school. 

The parent/carer can decide either: 

a) That the child starts school full-time in the September following their fourth birthday with their natural academic cohort; or 

b) To defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year; or 

c) That the child starts school on a part-time basis until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age. 

ADMISSION OF CHILDREN OUTSIDE THEIR NORMAL AGE GROUP INCLUDING REQUESTING A DELAYED RECEPTION YEAR START FOR SUMMER BORN CHILDREN 

Parents may request that their child is exceptionally admitted outside their normal age group. The school’s headteacher will decide whether or not the individual child’s circumstances make this appropriate on educational grounds.

All requests to educate a child outside their normal year group should include written explanation of why this is necessary and, where applicable, evidence of the child’s circumstances from a relevant professional, detailing the child’s educational need which makes education outside the normal age group necessary. Decisions, made in the best interest of the child, will take account of the following:

• Parent/carer views

• Information relating to the child’s academic, social and emotional development, where relevant.

• Medical history and the views of a medical professional.

• Any previous history of being educated outside their normal age group.

• If a child may have naturally fallen into a lower age if the child has not been born prematurely.

• Views of the head teacher.

Applications for admittance outside the age range should be made in the year in which children of that age would normally start in the Reception year.

Parents/carers are encouraged to speak to the school about their request prior to submitting a formal application for a place. Application should then be made in the usual way via the home Local Authority with the request for out of age group admission included.

Parents/carers have a right to an independent appeal if they are refused a place at the school but do not have that right of appeal if the place is not in their preferred year group. Parents/carers may, however appeal through the school’s complaint procedure if they so wish.

WAITING LISTS 

If a place is not offered because the school is oversubscribed, the child’s name will be placed on a waiting list. The list will be in the descending hierarchical order of the categories in the oversubscription criteria. The list for the year group will be held until 31st December.

If a place is offered and declined, the child’s name will be removed from the waiting list. Parents/carers who wish their child’s name to remain on a waiting list beyond this time are requested to contact the school in writing by the end of December.

It should be noted that no matter how long a child’s name has been on the waiting list, his or her position on the list may change if the school adds a child’s name to the list, which has a higher priority according to the oversubscription criteria. The school is also under a duty to admit children who are presented for admission under the Local Authority’s ‘Fair Access Protocol’. These children must take precedence over any children already on the waiting list. 

MULTIPLE BIRTHS 

The statutory maximum number of pupils in a class in Reception Year to Year 2 is 30. However, regulations set out categories of children who will be regarded as “excepted pupils”, not counting towards the class size, and can therefore be admitted. Twins and siblings of a higher multiple birth will be “excepted pupils” where one or more of them achieves a place under the oversubscription criteria set out above, but their twin or sibling(s) of a higher multiple birth does not. In these cases, the twin, or sibling(s) of a higher multiple birth, will be admitted over the PAN.

IN YEAR ADMISSIONS 

In- year applications are those applications made at any point other than the normal September point of entry to Reception Year, for example, because a child is new to the area, has not previously been in school, or a transfer from another school is sought.

Changing schools can be disruptive and may not be in a child's best interests. We would always recommend that before requesting a transfer, parents/carers discuss their reasons with senior staff at their child's current school. They will usually be happy to discuss any concerns and help to resolve any issues.

All applications for in year admission should be made to Greenwich Local authority, who will coordinate in-year admissions on the school’s behalf.

FAIR ACCESS PROTOCOL 

The School is committed to taking a fair and reasonable proportion of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as identified in the locally agreed Fair Access Protocol. Accordingly, outside the normal admissions round, the Trust Board will admit a child for whom a place is requested under the Fair Access Protocol agreed for that school year, even where this will result in the PAN being exceeded. It should be noted that these children take precedence over any children already or the waiting list or with pending appeals.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Other than where a place has been offered at the school but not in the preferred year group, parents have a statutory right of appeal against the refusal of a place for which they have applied.  Any appeal must be made in writing stating the reason for the appeal.  Firm information about the deadline for appeals will be published on the school website no later than 28th February 2024.

Changing schools can be disruptive and may not be in your child's best interests. We recommend that before requesting a transfer, you discuss your reasons with senior staff at your child's current school. They will be happy to discuss any concerns and help to resolve any issues. 

If, after this, if you still want your child to transfer to Rockliffe Manor Primary School, you will need to apply using the process described below.

The Royal Greenwich in-year admissions process and applications portal

If you have recently been informed by Royal Greenwich admissions that your child has been allocated a place at Rockliffe Manor, Sarah White from our Admin team will contact you and invite you and your child into school to complete the necessary forms.  You will also have the opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, their class, and to familiarise yourself with our building. Once all relevant documentation has been completed and received, your child will usually join us within the following two weeks.

Please click to view Royal Borough of Greenwich's Primary School Admissions Policy.

A fair access protocol exists to ensure that children without a school place, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at an appropriate school as quickly as possible.

The fair access panel meets fortnightly and it includes representatives from Royal Greenwich schools, the local authority and other agencies.

The panel considers all the information available and the child's individual circumstances to make a decision about what school would best meet the child's needs.

Children admitted through the fair access panel get priority over children who wish to transfer to another school and those who are waiting for an appeal.

Please click here to view the Royal Borough of Greenwich Fair Access Protocol.