Gateshead Council Primary Schools Admission Policy 2024
Fellside Community Primary School has an admission limit of 30 pupils in Reception.
We allocate places at Community Primary, Infant and Junior Schools using the policy below and co-ordinate admissions to Gateshead schools using the co-ordinated admission scheme.
The policy is as follows:
Your child will start school at the beginning of the academic year in which they will reach the age of five. (An academic year lasts from 1 September in one year to 31 August the following year). Children are entitled to a full time place as soon as they start school, however in most schools, the first term will include an induction period, (a period for your child to get used to school life gradually, generally lasting from September to October). Although, you may request that your child attends school part-time until later in the school year, but not beyond the point that your child reaches compulsory school age.
In addition you may request that your child be admitted to school later in the school year following September 2024, 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 (i.e. April 2025).
We will accept pupils up to the schools agreed Planned Admission Number (PAN) for the year group unless we feel there are lawful grounds not to do so. At Fellside, our PAN for our Reception class is 30.
Admission of children outside their normal age group
Parents may request a place for their child outside their normal age group, for example gifted and talented children, children that have suffered ill health or parents of summer born children (children born from 1 April 2020 to 31 August 2020).
All cases of admission of children outside their normal age group must be discussed with the LA prior to the application being made.
Such requests must be made on the Common Application Form which is available from Gateshead Council. You must detail the circumstances of your case and include any supporting information from relevant professionals. The LA will consider each case individually and you will be notified of the outcome of your request on before 16 April 2024. (Please refer to the ‘Admission to Primary School booklet for further information regarding deferred entry and admission of children outside their normal age group)
Over-subscription Criteria
We will consider applications from parents who have named the school as any ranked preference on their application form; this is called the equal preference system. If there are more applications than number of places available at the school we will than allocate places by using the following
Order of priority:
Criteria 1
Children in Public Care (and as deemed under Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) including a child who was previously “looked after” but immediately after being “looked after” became subject to an adoption, residence, or special guardianship order (see definition*).
Criteria 2
Children who appear to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted.
Criteria 3
Children who live in the school’s catchment area and who will have a brother or sister at the school, or at the feeder junior school during the coming academic year. (see definition*).
Criteria 4
Other children who live in the school’s catchment area.
Criteria 5
Other children who will have a brother or sister at the school or at the feeder junior school during the coming academic year (see definition*).
Criteria 6
Other children who have exceptional medical or social grounds see point 1 below.
Criteria 7
All other children.
(*see definitions of our criteria in priority 1, 3 and 5 above in our parent’s information booklet and at www.gateshead.gov.uk)
Point 1
We can consider exceptional individual applications, particularly in cases involving medical or social needs. If you wish to apply on medical or social grounds you must provide written evidence from relevant registered health professionals i.e. a doctor or social worker. The evidence must demonstrate why the chosen school is more appropriate and what difficulties would be caused if they were to travel to and attend alternative schools. We will not consider such applications if the relevant professional evidence is not provided. The evidence will be presented to the Primary Fair Access Panel for consideration. No assumption should be made that submission of the relevant evidence will be, in itself, sufficient to allocate a place.
Address
For the purposes of deciding whether a child lives in the catchment area of a school we will use the parent or legal guardian’s address or the address of a relevant adult who has parental responsibility, as defined under the 1989 Children’s Act, for the child.
Tie breaker
If, within any of the above criteria, there are more applicants than places available priority will be given to those children based on the distance they live from the school, measured ‘as the crow flies’ i.e. in a straight line from the centre of the home residence to the school’s main entrance. Children living nearest to the school will have priority. We measure the distance using a geographical information system (GIS). Where two or more applicants share the exact same distance, a random allocation process will be used to determine the ranked order of the applications in question.
Waiting list
If places become available, we will consider all relevant applications based on a waiting list. The waiting list will be maintained by the council from the start of the academic year and be kept for the rest of the academic year. All applicants on the waiting list are placed according to the admission criteria and priorities set out above. However, children who are the subject of a direction to admit by the LA or who have been referred for admission and have been allocated a place through the Fair Access Protocol will take precedence over any child on the waiting list.
Application Dates
From 8 September 2023 Gateshead residents can apply online at: www.gateshead.gov.uk On-line applications must be submitted by 15 January 2024. Alternatively, parents can request a paper application from The School Admissions Team on 0191 433 2757. Paper applications must be returned to The School Admissions Team, Dryden Centre, Evistones Road, Gateshead, NE9 5UR
by 15 January 2024
If you live outside Gateshead and want to apply to a Gateshead school, you must obtain an application form from your home Council and return it to them by their closing date, even if the schools you want to apply to are in Gateshead. However, you must still consider the information in Gateshead Council’s ‘Admission to Secondary School’ booklet so that you know what the admission arrangements are to Gateshead schools. This information is available at www.gateshead.gov.uk . Your own Council will send us notification of your application and they will let you know the final allocation of a school place for your child.
Offer Date
A letter will be sent to parent’s resident in Gateshead on or around 16 April 2024 informing them of the school they have been offered for their child. Gateshead residents who apply on-line are also informed by e-mail on 16 April 2024.
General Information and definitions
For information on our admission arrangements and definitions of the terms used in this policy please refer to Gateshead Council’s “Admission to Primary School” booklet for 2024 available at www.gateshead.gov.uk. Gateshead’s co-ordinated admission scheme and catchment areas referred to in this policy can also be viewed online or at The Dryden Centre.
Please use the links/downloads provided for full information.
We will be holding a series of informal information events and school tours for parents interested in a Reception class place for their child from September 2024. To book a place, please contact our Administration Manager, Julia Knox (juliaknox@gateshead.gov.uk) or telephoning school on 0191 4887486. Tours are scheduled on the following dates/times:
Tuesday 21 November 2pm
Thursday 11 January 5pm
Nursery Admissions: September 2024 Entry
As an integral part of our school, we are particularly proud of our exceptional Nursery provision at Fellside.
We aim to provide a stimulating and supportive environment in which your child can thrive, while beginning to make sense of the world around them, develop a natural curiosity and a thirst for learning as well as taking steps towards establishing skills in early reading, writing and counting. Importantly, we also aim to provide an environment to foster the social and emotional skills your child will need to continue to develop in readiness for when they progress into their Reception Year and begin their more formal education in Year 1. Overwhelmingly, of course, we want your child to have fun and develop their sense of self and their learning through play.
Our Nursery currently caters for 52 children (part-time, 26 children full-time equivalent) aged between 3 and 4 years old. It is staffed by the Nursery teacher; Miss Hawley, supported by teaching assistant, Miss Bullock.
We offer the following patterns of provision:
• Mornings: Monday to Friday 8.30am-11.30am
• Afternoons: Monday to Friday 12.30pm-3.30pm
• Full days: Monday to Friday 8.30am-3.30pm*
• 2.5 days: Monday, Tuesday 8.30am-3.30pm and Wednesday morning 8.30am-11.30am
• 2.5 days: Wednesday afternoon 12.30pm-3.30pm and Thursday, Friday 8.30am-3.30pm
*Full time provision is offered subject to eligibility based on the government’s 30 hours free early education/childcare initiative for working parents. To check your eligibility, go to the Childcare Choices website: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Parents interested in applying for a place for admission to our Nursery from September 2023 are warmly invited to visit Fellside for a special Nursery open evening on Thursday 23rd November 2023 at 5pm. There will be an opportunity to meet with our professional staff, see the learning environment and ask questions about our provision. We encourage you to bring your child so they too can see all we have to offer.
To book a place at the open evening or find out more about applying to our Nursery, please call the school office on 0191 4887486 or contact our Administration Manager, Julia Knox: juliaknox@gateshead.gov.uk
Parents are invited to download and complete our application form (see downloads under ‘further information” below) for entry to Fellside Nursery from September 2024.
