As many of you will know this Thursday (16th) parents will be notified of their child’s school allocation for September 2020. Whilst for some this will be an exciting time, for others this will mean their child may not be able to attend the school they may have hoped for and may have to leave established friends in Nursery.
Please read the following information received from Admissions at Staffordshire today:
Please refer parents to the school admissions web pages should they have any queries on how places have been allocated, available places, how to appeal, how to make a late application, or waiting list positions.
Please note: Due to the national emergency, we are receiving a high volume of calls from vulnerable members of the public who are struggling in self-isolation and in urgent need. To ensure we are available to answer their calls we need your help to protect this vital telephone service by not telephoning us (or advising parents to telephone us) and waiting on the phone line. Any queries should be emailed to admissions@staffordshire.gov.uk.
If any parents wish to query anything in relation to September 2020 Reception admissions, I would urge that they only email our new email, specific for admissions; admissions@birches.staffs.sch.uk . Please note, whilst we sympathise with parents of children who have not been allocated their preferred school, unless there has been an error in the admissions process (which is administrated for us by Staffordshire County Council), there is very little we are able to do. We are bound by the admissions criteria agreed and published by governors and can only offer places to children in accordance with this. This sadly means that some of our Nursery children can no longer remain with us. Where this is the case, once we know where these children will be moving on to, we always support their smooth transition through liaison with new teachers and schools.
I will be thinking of you all on Thursday, as I can remember all too well the anxious wait to hear where my own son would be allocated when he started school a few years ago. Please be mindful that there are lots of additional pressures upon both families and services at this time and try to keep calm if you are in any way concerned or dissatisfied with your allocation. Where you need support, email either or both of the above addresses.
For those children who are allocated a place in Reception at Birches, we will be in contact to arrange induction sessions when we are in a position to do so. This may be at short notice, given the ever changing situation we are presently in. If, for any reason, current measures remain for a longer period of time and we are unable to meet this side of September 2020, it may be that we need to offer a slower, staggered start to Reception in September. This will help us to support the transition for all children, ensuring they have the most positive start to full time education possible – for those with no previous educational experience and even for those who have been in school nursery or daycare but may need a little more time to get back into the swing of things after such an extended period of time at home with parents.