Christ Church (Church of England) Infant and Nursery School

When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Reception), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.

1. 1Children and Young People in Care and previous Children and Young People in Care — Children and young people in care are children who are in (a)in the care of the local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of the social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time the application is made to school. Previously looked after children are children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order) immediately following having been looked after and those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Supporting evidence: If the child is in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by that authority this must be indicated on the common application form and evidence (e.g. evidence of child in care from the placement authority) to support this claim must be submitted with the common application form. If the child has previously been in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by them and has subsequently been adopted, or is subject to a child arrangements order or special guardianship order this must be indicated on the common application form and evidence (e.g. adoption certificate/copy of court order) to support this claim must be submitted with the common application form. For children in state care outside of England who ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted the relevant legal document(s)must be supplied.
2. 2Children attending the corresponding feeder Infant School (Infant to Junior transfers only) — Children attending the corresponding feeder Infant School (Infant to Junior transfers only).
3. 3Medical/social — Whether there are specific medical or social circumstances that can be met only by the child’s attendance at the preferred school. Supporting evidence: If parents believe there are specific reasons, medical or social, for claiming priority for their child to attend a particular school these special factors must be indicated on the form and evidence (e.g. a letter from a registered health professional such as a doctor or a social worker) to support this claim must be submitted with the common application form. The information submitted must state clearly the effects of the condition/illness and why the preferred school is the only school that can meet their child’s needs. This is necessary because parents would be asking the Authority to assess their child as having a stronger case than many other children, even some who live closer to the school in question than they do. The information provided will be used to prioritise the request for a particular school. Please note that only in exceptional cases are places prioritised in respect of a child’s/parent’s medical/social grounds.
4. 4Siblings — Whether siblings attend the school and will be attending the school in September 2027. See definition of a sibling on page 21.
5. 5Religious reasons for voluntary controlled schools (PRIMARY ONLY) — To a child and family who has religious reasons for attending the preferred voluntary controlled school and for whom it can be demonstrated by the faith leader that s/he has current strong religious connections. This reason will only be taken into consideration if the preferred school is the nearest Church of England (voluntary controlled or voluntary aided)school to the child’s home address (measured by a straight line from the home address to the school using the Local Authority’s software). Supporting evidence: A Supplementary Information form will be provided for parents and your faith leader to complete, to enable them to demonstrate your child and family’s current strong religious connections.
6. 6Children whose parent/carer is a member of staff employed at the school — This applies where the parent/carer has been employed by the school for two or more years at the time at which the application of admission to the school is made, and/or where the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post at the school for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage. This criterion applies to all permanent staff members, and excludes staff employed on a casual/temporary contract.
7. 7Distance — How close the child lives to the school requested with those living closest to the school getting the highest priority. The distance from the applicant’s home address is taken in a straight line between the mid-point of the respective school’s address and the child’s home address. The distance is measured using the Local Authority’s software. If there are a limited number of spaces available and we cannot distinguish between applicants using the above criteria, children who live in the same block of flats will be offered the available spaces randomly selected by drawing lots. Where multiple births (twins and triplets etc.) from the same family are tied for the final place for Reception we will admit them all, as permitted by infant class size legislation, in accordance with the School Admissions Code (2021).

The Published Admission Number (PAN) for community and voluntary controlled schools can be found at Appendix A. A child with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the school will be admitted. Remaining places are allocated as detailed below. Where there are less applicants than the PAN, all children will be admitted. In the event the school is oversubscribed, the admission authority will apply the following over subscription criteria in order of priority. Tie breakers for over-subscribed schools: If there are an insufficient number of places to accommodate all the children of a particular criterion, the next criterion will be used to assess the applications concerned in order to prioritise applications. Sibling (definition): For admission purposes, a sibling is a child who resides permanently at the same address as the child for whom a place is being requested, and is one of the following:- brother/sister; half-brother/sister (i.e. share one common parent); or stepbrother/sister (i.e. related by a parent’s marriage); any other child for whom it can be demonstrated that they are residing permanently at the same address (e.g. under the terms of a Child Arrangement Order). The sibling connection only applies where the child concerned has a sibling attending the school at the time of the application as well as at the time of admission, (i.e. for normal year of entry applications siblings are expected to be attending the same school in September 2027). A sibling connection will not be accepted if the original place was obtained by using fraudulent or false information.

Published by the admission authority. Meeting a criterion never guarantees a place — it sets the order places are offered in. Full detail, other entry points and previous years are on the Admissions tab.