St John’s Primary School & Nursery Admissions

Admission Arrangements for St John’s Primary School 2024/25 Academic Year

We welcome all applications for children to join St John’s. We encourage prospective parents to visit the school before making an application, please contact the school office on 01483 476450 or admin@stjohnsknaphill.co.uk to join one of our tours for prospective Nursery and Reception parents.

Applications for 2024 admissions open on 30th October 2023. Please apply for your child’s place via the Surrey County Council website. Closing date will be 15 January 2024.

For In Year admissions contact the school for a school tour via the school office. Further information including the In Year Application Form is available from Surrey County Council In Years Admissions.

Joining Our School

Whether your child is joining St John’s Primary in Nursery or in any other year group, we want your child to settle in quickly and for both you and your child to feel part of the St John’s family.

Joining Nursery

We support you in preparing your child for Nursery, in the following ways:

• You are invited to a meeting to ensure that you have all the information you need to help your child prepare for Nursery.
• Your child will be invited to a “Stay and Play” session.
• Home visits are carried out by the nursery staff. This is an opportunity for you and your child to meet some of the Nursery team, and for us to learn more about your child.
• Phased entry in small groups to help your child settle happily.

Each half term you will receive a letter explaining what your child is experiencing in each area of learning. The school issues weekly newsletters and there is also a notice board outside the Nursery for up to date information.

The Nursery joins the school for many whole school events. This includes themed weeks, such as Book Week and Healthy Living Week.

The School manages nursery admissions itself, and you can apply directly to the school if you would like a place. Download the form form the documents section of this page.

Joining Reception

We support you in preparing your child for Reception in the following ways:

• Your child will be invited to spend part of a morning in the Reception class in the summer term before they start Reception.
• Parents are invited to attend a meeting with the class teacher and Headteacher. This gives us a chance to make you aware of the school routines and for your child to visit his or her new classroom. You will be able to ask questions and will receive our ‘welcome’ pack.
• There is a phased entry into Reception. Your child will start by attending for either the morning or afternoon session. After a few days they will then stay to lunch as well.  Full time attendance is usually achieved by the end of the second week.
• After a few weeks at school, our Reception teacher meets with all parents/carers on a one-to-one basis to discuss how they have settled in.
• We hold Parent Teacher meetings in the Autumn and Spring; this is an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress.

Click here for Surrey County Council Admissions

Joining us in other year groups

It may be that your child is joining the school at a different point to Nursery or Reception. All children new to the school are given a special buddy to help them through the early days. We do encourage children to visit the school before starting, so that they can visit their new class and meet their class teacher. Parents are given an information booklet, which includes key information about our school.

Contact Details

For general information on Surrey admissions, please see the Surrey County Council website or contact their Schools Team on 0300 200 1004.

For specific enquiries about St John’s admissions, please send an email to admin@stjohnsknaphill.co.uk.

Appeals

Current legislation only allows an Appeal Panel to uphold an appeal on one or both of the following grounds:

1. The child was wrongly refused a place in error as the admission rules were not followed properly or were contrary to mandatory provisions.
2. The decision not to admit the child was unreasonable in a legal sense.

If you live outside of the area that offers were made too, then appealing will not give you a place in the school. However, should you feel that we have not applied the correct process to your application and wish to appeal our decision, then please see the Surrey School Admission Appeals page for further details.  Please note that we follow the Surrey School admission appeals timetable.