Admissions

Please phone the school to book a place at one of the open day below:

Wed 6th November 2019 9:30-10:15am

Timetable for starting Pre-school in September 2019 (co-ordinated with other school nursery/pre-school settings)

• Friday 26th April - open afternoon 1:30pm-2:15pm for prospective parents and carers to visit (please phone 020 8852 3151 and book) 
• Thu 2nd May Admissions committee meet to rank applications 
• Tue 7th May Offer letters sent out to parents /carers
• Fri 17th May Deadline for responses (please inform the school if you do or don't wish to accept the place)
• Tue 18th June 9:30-10:15am Welcome morning for parents / carers of children starting in September 2018

Pre-school - Key Information

• Our pre-school follows the ethos, values and policies of St Margaret's lee School. The children are taught by a fully qualified class teacher and nursery nurse.
• The school day begins at 8:55am and ends at 11:55am or 3:25pm (depending on whether the child is coming for 15 hours or 30 hours a week). Fridays end at 12:55am for all children.
• Pre-school follows the same calendar as the school, although some days are taken up for home visits and start dates in September are staggered. Full details of the nursery calendar is shared at the welcome meeting.
• Children who do not qualify for 30 hour provision can attend full time using our 'top up' option. (see below for details)
• Children attending full time bring a packed lunch 
• Parents/carers must commit to either 15 hour funding or 30 hour funding e.g. the school cannot share the funding with another provider
• Children attending for 15 hours do so 8:55am-11:55am Monday to Friday. 

If you are interested in a place at our Pre-school, please contact the school as we may have vacancies. Children can start attending in the term following their third birthday. We offer 15 hour places (with the option of paid 'top-up' so children can attend a full school day) and we also offer 30 hours for children who are eligible.

Please click on the link below for guidance on eligiblity for the 30 hour offer.  You can also read/download the 30 hour Frequently Asked Questions below.   

https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/par/app/applynow

 Use the table below as a guide to offered places in previous years.

Year	2016	2017	2018
Places	30	30	30
Applicants	210	218	193
Children in care (1)	0	0	0
Exceptional medical or social need (2)	0	0	1
Sibling (3)	17	10	12
Church attendance (4)	9	9	10
Distance from school (5)	4	11	7
Furthest distance gone	127m	275m	171m

 

St Margaret’s Lee Church of England School is a voluntary aided church school linked to our parish church, St Margaret’s, Lee. We welcome children from our local community into a caring Christian environment. The school has a single-form entry, which means that there is one class of 30 children for each year group. The school admits children to the reception class in the September of the school year in which they become five years old.

Parents of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs are required to apply for school places separately through the local authority, from which advice is available. If a child with a statement is placed in the school by the local authority before the normal admissions round, the number of places available to other applicants will be reduced.

When more than 30 applications are received, the places are allocated according to the criteria listed below in order of priority:

(1)          Children who are looked after or were previously looked after (see note 1).

(2)          Children with an exceptional medical or social need for this particular school (see note 2).

(3)          Children who have siblings in the school at the time of entry (see note 3).

If fewer than 20 places are allocated under criteria 1-3, the maximum available under criterion 4 is 10 places. This means that the remainder of places would be decided by criterion 5.

(4)          Parent’s attendance at a church service (see note 4). Under this criterion priority will be given in the following order:

a.            at St Margaret’s Church, Lee, wherever the applicant lives;

b.            at another Anglican church, the applicant living within the school’s wider area;

c.             at a Christian church which is a member of Churches Together in England, the Evangelical Alliance or Affinity Churches (see appendix), the applicant living within the inner area.

 (5)         Other children in order of nearness of the child’s home to the school (see note 5).

Tie-breaker

In the event of oversubscription within any of the above criteria (or within any of the three sub-criteria in criterion 4), priority will be given to children living nearest to the school (see note 5). If two or more applicants live the same distance from the school and there are insufficient places available, places will be allocated by drawing lots in the presence of an external monitor.

Only actual parents’ and carers’ addresses can be taken into account (or the address of the parent with parental responsibility and who is in receipt of child benefit and child tax credit), and documentary evidence may be required.

Explanatory notes

Note 1: Looked-after children and previously looked-after children

Looked after children are children who are in the care of a local authority, or being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions as defined by Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989 at the time of making an application to the school. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after immediately prior to being adopted, or who became subject to a residence order, (now termed child arrangement order under the Children & Families Act 2014), or special guardianship order. The Governors will require written confirmation that the child is looked after, or previously looked after, and will be so at the time of making an application to the school.

Note 2: Medical/social needs

This must be supported by written supporting evidence from a relevant professional, provided at the time of application: e.g. specialist health professional, social worker or educational psychologist. This evidence should include reasons why St Margaret’s is the most suitable school and the difficulties that would arise if the child were to attend another school.

Note 3: Siblings (brothers and sisters)

A sibling is defined as a blood or adoptive sibling, a half-sibling or a foster or step-sibling living at the same address as the child.

Note 4: Attendance at a church service

Attendance at a church service must be best described as at least fortnightly for at least two years to the last day of December in the year preceding the closing date for applications. So, for example, applications for the academic year 2019/20, which are submitted on 15 January 2019, are assessed on church attendance between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2018. This will be on the basis of clergy certification on the supplementary information form (SIF).

If church attendance has been for less than two years at the current church, e.g. if a family have recently moved to the area, the priest/minister from the previous church should write and sign a letter on church headed paper, confirming attendance, in line with the school’s policy. This letter should be submitted to the priest/minister of the current church for submission along with the SIF.

For clarification, church attendance will be on the basis of one parent - in other words, the commitment to at least fortnightly attendance for at least two years for one parent. This cannot be shared between two or more people.

If less than 20 places are allocated under Criteria 1–3, the maximum available under Criterion 4 is 10 places. This means that the remainder of places would be decided by Criterion 5.

A Christian Church is defined as an Anglican Church or a Christian Church that is a member of Churches Together in England, the Evangelical Alliance or Affinity Churches.

Note 5: Distance

Distance will be measured in a straight line, using digitised mapping software, from the home to a single nodal point in the premises. If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. flats) priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically.

Inner area (see map on website)

We define the inner area as comprising (to the north of Lee High Road) the parish of St Margaret’s Lee, whose boundaries are Lee High Road, the Lewisham to Blackheath railway line, and the west side of Lee Road; and (to the south of Lee High Road) an area bounded by Manor Park, Effingham Road and Burnt Ash Road. Meadowcourt Road is also included. It must be emphasised that residence within this area does not guarantee a child a place in the school.

Wider area (see map on website)

We define the wider area as being (to the north of Lee High Road) the parish of St Margaret’s Lee (as above), and (to the south of Lee High Road) the area bounded by Gilmore Road, Eastdown Park, Leahurst Road, Southbrook Road, Upwood Road, Horn Park Lane (north of the junction with Upwood Road), Horn Park Close, Eltham Road, Kidbrooke Park Road and Weigall Road including Hamlea Close and Ravens Way. Children will not normally gain a place if living beyond this area unless the application is under criteria 3 (siblings) or 4a (St Margaret’s Lee Church).

Pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs or Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan

Parents/carers of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs, or Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan are required to apply for school places separately through the local authority from whom advice is available. If a child with a statement, or EHC Plan, is placed in the school by the local authority before the normal admission round, the number of places available to other applicants will be reduced. The Governors will prioritise pupils whose statement or EHC Plan names the school.

Deferred entry to reception class

The School admits children to the Reception class in the September of the school year in which a child attains the age of 5 years. (The school year runs from 1 September to the 31st August.) All parents/carers are entitled to a full-time place for their child in the reception class from September, but may defer entry until the beginning of the term after their child is five years old (ie, when the child reaches compulsory school age) or until the beginning of the summer term whichever is earlier. Children may attend part-time until their child reaches compulsory school age. Parents/carers who have been offered a place at the School and wish to defer entry for their child and/or attend part-time must put this in writing to the headteacher at the earliest opportunity and before the start of the autumn term.

Out of the normal age group applications

In exceptional circumstances the governors of the school will consider a request for admission out of cohort for an older child, including those born in the summer term.

The application may be supported by the child’s nursery/primary headteacher and /or an educational psychologist/specialist confirming that the child has learning delay or difficulty or their social maturity is well below that of his or her peers.

In coming to a decision the governors will consider the grounds presented by the parent to support their request as well as the views of the headteacher and any evidence s/he provides.

Parents must consider the implications of a deferred transfer as primary/secondary schools are not required to continue to keep the child out of year group and may decide to later educate the child in the correct year.

Vacancies

Occasionally vacancies may arise. These vacancies will be filled according to the admissions criteria up to our standard class number of 30. If there are more applicants than places, the criteria set out in this admissions policy will apply.

Nursery

Nursery education is not statutory and children in the nursery class cannot be guaranteed a place in the reception class and a new application for a place in reception class must be made.

Dates by which applications must be received

The school is part of the locally agreed co-ordination scheme and the timescales for applications to be received and processed are those agreed with the local authority. Parents must apply online via their home local authority at www.eadmissions.org.uk; if applying for a place at this school, parents must name this school as one of the preferences. Parents who wish to apply for a place under the church criteria must also complete the supplementary information form and submit this to the priest/ minister (see note 4 above).

Where no supplementary information form is received, the church criteria (4a–4c) cannot be used to determine the application; in such cases the other criteria will be used to determine the application.

Applications for the academic year 2019/20 must be made at www.eadmissions.org.uk  issued by the applicant’s local authority (Lewisham Council for residents of Lewisham borough). This is available from September 2018. The closing date for online application to be received is 15 January 2019.

Fair access

The school is committed to taking its fair share of pupils who are hard to place in accordance with the locally agreed fair access protocol. Pupils admitted under the protocol will take priority over any children on the waiting list and this may include, on occasion, admitting above the planned admissions number.

Waiting list

The school operates a waiting list in accordance with the admissions criteria. The waiting list will be held for one year only. Parents must renew their request to remain on the waiting list each year in June.

Appeals

Parents have the right to appeal against the governors’ decision to refuse a place in the school to their child. Any parent wishing to do so should obtain an appeal form, which is available at school. Appeals should be sent to the clerk to the appeals, St Margaret’s Lee Church of England School, SE13 5SG within 20 school days. There is no right of appeal with respect to places in the nursery class. It should be noted that in accordance with the School Admissions Code the governing body is required to abide by the maximum limit for infant classes (i.e. 5, 6 and 7 year olds) of 30 pupils per class.

Help and advice

Do please ask the headteacher if you are unclear about the policy and would like any further clarification.

If you are applying for a school place within the school year, please visit https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/schools/school-admission/Pages/transferring-to-a-different-school.aspx for more information.