Admissions
BackTours for reception places September 2025
If you would like to look round the school for a reception place, we'd be delighted to show you round. Tour dates are listed below - please call 01992 416220 to book a place. They all start at 9:15, except for Fridays which are 9:30 (the headteacher needs to finish her Hot Chocolate with children first!). All tours are with the headteacher and take about an hour.
Please don't bring children with you if at all possible. It's a long tour and not very exciting for them! We can't take buggies round the school.
If you book a tour and then can't make it, please call and let us know as we often have waiting lists for dates, and numbers are limited.
We look forward to seeing you!
September
Tuesday 24th
October
Monday 7th - FULL
Tuesday 15th - FULL
Wednesday 23rd - FULL
November
Tuesday 5th - FULL
Monday 11th - FULL
Tuesday 19th - FULL
Friday 22nd (9:30) - FULL
Tuesday 26th - FULL
December
Tuesday 3rd - FULL
Monday 9th - FULL
Wednesday 11th - FULL
Monday 16th
Wednesday 18th
January
Wednesday 8th - FULL
Joining Cranbourne mid-year
If you would like your child to join Cranbourne please call us on 01992 416220. You will need to make an in-year admission application via the link below:
Hertfordshire in-year applications
Admissions policy 2024/25
The school will admit up to the published admission number (PAN) of 60.
If there are more applications than places available at the school, the criteria below will be used to prioritise applications.
The Cranbourne Primary School is required by its funding agreement to admit children with an EHC (Education, Health and Care) Plan that names the school. Therefore, children with an EHC that names the school will be admitted outside of the usual system.
Rule 1
Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those who appear ( to the admission authority) to have ben in state care outside of England, and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted or became subject to child arrangements order or a special guardianship order. (see explanatory notes)
Rule 2
Children of staff (see explanatory notes below for eligible staff)
Rule 3
Sibling: Children who have a sibling on the role of the school at the time of application. This applies for reception through to year 5.
In year admissions: the sibling may be in the school's final year as long as they will still be in attendance at the time of admission.
Rule 4
Nearest School: Children for whom it is their nearest school or academy. This includes all schools, except those that allocate spaces on the basis of faith membership or practice, before allocating on the basis of distance/location.
Rule 5
Distance - children who live nearest to the school: Children not considered under Rule 4 will be considered under Rule 5.
The primary application form is available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions. The closing date is 15th January 2024.
In Year Admissions
The school will remain part of the county council’s coordinated In Year admissions scheme. Parents can make an online in year application via the Hertfordshire County Council website www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions or contact the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 for a paper application form. Parents should return the application form direct to the County Council.
Fair Access
The school will admit children under the Fair Access Protocol before those on continuing interest, and over the Published Admission Number (PAN) if required.
Appeals
Reception: Parents wishing to appeal who applied through Hertfordshire’s online system should log in to their online application and click on the link “register an appeal”. Out of county residents and paper applicants should call the Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4043 to request their registration details and log into www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals and click on the link “log into the appeals system”.
In year: The county council will write to you with the outcome of your application and, if you have been unsuccessful, will include registration details to enable you to log in and appeal online at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolappeals
Continuing Interest (Waiting lists)
After places have been offered, Hertfordshire County Council will maintain a continuing interest (waiting) list for all community and voluntary controlled schools. A child’s position on a CI list will be determined by the admission criteria outlined above and a child’s place on the list can change as other children join or leave it. The county council will contact parents/carers if a vacancy becomes available and it can be offered to a child. Continuing interest lists will be maintained for every year group until the summer term (date to be specified and confirmed to parents at the time of allocation). To remain on the CI (waiting) list after this time, parents must confirm they are still interested in a place by completing an In Year application form.
Explanatory notes and definitions for the admission arrangements for The Cranbourne Primary School for 2024/25
The following definitions apply to terms used in the admissions criteria:
Rule 1: Children looked after and children who were previously looked after, including those 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 or became subject to a child arrangements order¹ or a special guardianship order².
Places are allocated to children in public care according to Chapter 7, Section 2 of the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012.
These children will be prioritised under rule 1.
Highest priority will also be given to children who were previously looked after, including those looked after outside England, but ceased to be so because they were adopted, or became subject to a child arrangement order or a special guardianship order.
A “child looked after” is a child who is: a) in the care of a local authority, or b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (section 22(1) of The Children Act 1989)
All children adopted from care who are of compulsory school age are eligible for admission under rule 1.
Children in the process of being placed for adoption are classified by law as children looked after providing there is a Placement Order and the application would be prioritised under Rule 1.
Children who were not “looked after” immediately before being adopted or made the subject of a child arrangement order or special guardianship order, will not be prioritised under rule 1.
¹ Child arrangements order Under the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014, which amended section 8 of the Children Act 1989, residence orders have now been replaced by child arrangements orders which settle the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live.
² Special guardianship order Under 14A of The Children Act 1989, an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian or guardians.
Children previously looked after abroad and subsequently adopted will be prioritised under Rule 1 if the child’s previously looked after status and adoption is confirmed by Hertfordshire’s “Virtual School”.
The child’s previously looked after status will be decided in accordance with the definition outlined in The Children & Social Work Act 2017:
- to have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately, and
- to have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted.
A child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by –
(a) a public authority,
(b) a religious organisation, or
(c) any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society
Rule 2: Children of Staff
Where the member of staff has been employed under contract of employment with the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made or the member of staff is recruited under a contract of employment to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage. Staff included are as follows:
• All full time teaching staff
• All full time support staff, defined as those on a 38 week and above contract
• All part time teaching staff with a 50% and above timetable
• All part time support staff who work at least 16 hours per week for 38 weeks or more
The above definition does not include contract staff. If a service has been ‘in house’ and is subsequently ‘contracted out’ children of staff will no longer be eligible for priority admission under this criterion. The definition does not include peripatetic staff.
Rule 3: Sibling Definition
For applications to The Cranbourne Primary School, a sibling is defined as: the sister, brother, half brother or sister, adopted brother or sister, child of the parent/carer or partner or a child looked after or previously looked after¹ and in every case living permanently² in a placement within the home as part of the family household from Monday to Friday at the time of this application.
A sibling must be on the roll of the named school at the time the younger child starts.
If a place is obtained for an older child using fraudulent information, there will be no sibling connection available to subsequent children from that family.
¹ Children previously looked after are those children adopted or with a special guardianship order or child arrangements order. This definition was amended following a determination by the OSA in August 2014.
² A sibling link will not be recognised for children living temporarily in the same house, for example a child who usually lives with one parent but has temporarily moved or a looked after child in a respite placement or very short term or bridging foster placement.
Multiple Births
The Cranbourne Primary School will admit over the school’s published admission number when a single twin/multiple birth child is allocated the last place at a school.
Home Address
The address provided must be the child’s current permanent address at the time of application
- At the time of application” means the closing date for applications
- “Permanent” means that the child has lived at that address for at least a year
Where a family has not lived at an address for a year, they must be able to demonstrate that they own the property or have a tenancy agreement for a minimum of 12* months and the child must be resident in the property at the time of application.
The application can only be processed using one address. If a child lives at more than one address (for example due to a separation) the address used will be the one where the child lives for the majority of the time. If a child lives at two addresses equally, parents/carers should make a single joint application naming one address.
If a child’s permanent residence is disputed, parents/carers should provide court documentation to evidence the address that should be used for admission allocation purposes. If two applications are received, with different addresses and/or different preferences, neither will be processed until the address issue is reconciled.
It is for a child’s home Local Authority to determine address. If two applications, with different addresses are received from the same Local Authority, it will be for that Local Authority to determine permanent address. If two applications are received from two different Local Authorities, the above process will be used.
If two different applications are received for the same child from the same address, e.g., containing different preferences, parents/carers will be invited to submit a joint application or provide court documentation to evidence the preferences that should be used for the admission process. Until the preference issue is reconciled neither application will be processed.
For the transfer application rounds, if the initial differing applications (one or both) were received “on-time”, an amended joint application will also be considered “on-time” if received before the “late deadline”. If the amended joint application is received after the late date, it will be treated as “late”. The late deadlines for the 2024/25 transfer application process are 2nd December 2023 for secondary and upper applications and 1st February 2024 for reception, junior and middle applications. If these dates change, amendments will be published on the admissions web pages at the start of the 2024/25 application process in September 2023.
* If , because of the nature of the agreement, it is not possible to provide a 12-month tenancy agreement, alternative proof of address will be requested and verified as necessary with the Shared Anti-Fraud Service.
Fraudulent Applications
The Cranbourne Primary School will do as much as possible to prevent applications being made from fraudulent addresses.
Address evidence is frequently requested, monitored and checked and school places will be withdrawn when false information is deliberately provided. The Cranbourne Primary School will take action in the following circumstances:
- When a child’s application address does not match the address of that child at any current school or pre-school setting;
- When a child lives at a different address to the applicant;
- When the applicant does not have parental responsibility;
- When a family move shortly after the closing date of applications when one or more of the following applies:
- The family has moved to a property from which their application was less likely to be successful;
- The family has returned to an existing property;
- The family lived in rented accommodation for a short period of time (anything less than a year) over the application period;
- Council tax information shows a different residence at the time of application.
- When a child starts at the allocated school and their address is different from the address used at the time of application.
Home to School Distance Measurement for Purposes of Admissions
A ‘straight line’ distance measurement is used in all home to school distance measurements. Distances are measured using a computerised mapping system to two decimal places. The measurement is taken from the AddressBase Premium address point of your child’s house to the address point of the school. AddressBase Premium data is a nationally recognised method of identifying the location of schools and individual residences.
The nearest school for any address can be found using this link which is also available on the Admissions page of the school website.:
Applications from Children* from Overseas
All children of compulsory school age (5 to 16 years) in England have a right of access to education. However, where a child is in England for a short period only, for example less than half a term, it may be reasonable to refuse admission to a school.
An application for a school place will only be accepted for such children currently overseas if, for In Year applications, proof is provided that the child will be resident in Hertfordshire within two weeks. In Year allocations are made on the assumption that the child will accept the school place and be on roll within that timescale.
For the Primary application processes, applications will not normally be accepted from, nor places allocated to, an overseas address. The exception to this (for both In Year and transfer processes) is for children of UK service personnel and crown servants (and from military families who are residents of countries with a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK). In these cases The Cranbourne Primary School will allocate a place in advance of the family arriving in the area provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date and a HCC Unit postal address or quartering area address, for consideration of the application against oversubscription criteria. If the family already has an established alternative private address, that address will be used for admission purposes.
The Cranbourne Primary School will also consider accepting applications from children* whose family can evidence intent to return to and/or permanently reside in Hertfordshire prior to the start of the new academic year. These applications, if accepted, will be processed from the overseas address until sufficient evidence is received to show the child is permanently resident in Hertfordshire. Evidence must be submitted at the time of application.
Evidence submitted after the date for late applications cannot be taken into account before National Allocation Day. Decisions on these applications will be made by a panel of governors and communicated with parents within 6 weeks of the closing date for applications.
If an applicant owns a property in Hertfordshire but is not living in it, perhaps because they are working abroad at the time of application, the Hertfordshire address will not be accepted for the purposes of admission until the child is resident at that address.
Children other than those mentioned above, from overseas do not generally have automatic right of entry to the UK. An application for a school place will not therefore be accepted until they are permanently resident in Hertfordshire. Proof of residency such as an endorsed passport or entry visa will be required with the application, in addition to proof of Hertfordshire address, for example a council tax bill or 12 month rental agreement.
*Children who hold full British Citizen passports (not British Dependent Territories or British Overseas passports), or have a UK passport describing them as a British citizen or British subject with the right of abode or are European Economic Area nationals normally have unrestricted entry to the UK.
Age of Admission and Deferral of Places
The Cranbourne Primary School’s policy is that children born on and between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020* would normally commence primary school in Reception in the academic year beginning in September 2024. We provide for the full-time admission of all children offered a place in the Reception year group from the September following their fourth birthday. If a parent wants a full-time place for their child from September (at the school at which a place has been offered) then they are entitled to that full-time place.
Parents can defer the date their child is admitted to school until later in the same academic year or until the term in which the child reaches compulsory school age. Summer born children are only able to “defer” entry to Reception class until the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the offer was made.
Where parents wish, children can attend part-time until they reach compulsory school age. Any parents wishing to take up a part-time place or deferred entry should contact us to discuss their child’s requirements.
*Summer born children (1st April – 31st August) – Entry to Reception
Legally, a child does not have to start school until the start of the term following their fifth birthday. Following guidance issued by the Department for Education on 8 September 2015, The Cranbourne Primary School has amended its policy for summer born children. Children born between 1 April 20120 and 31 August 2020 are categorised as “summer born” and if parents/carers do not believe that their summer born child is ready to join Reception in 2024 they may delay their application until 2025.
These applications will be processed in exactly the same way as all other reception applications received at that time; there is no guarantee that a place will be offered.
If parents wish to delay their application for a Reception place they are advised to discuss their child’s needs/development with their current early years or nursery provider. If parents wish their child to remain in their existing nursery school or class for a further year (rather than moving into the Reception year group) they must let their current school/setting (including The Cranbourne School Nursery) know before the end of the Spring term in 2024 (before the Easter break).
Children Out of Year Group (except applications for reception from summer born)
The Cranbourne Primary School’s policy is for children to be educated within their correct chronological year group, with the curriculum differentiated as necessary to meet the needs of individual children. This is in line with DfE guidance which states that “in general, children should be educated in their normal age group”.
If parents/carers believe their child(ren) should be educated in a different year group they should, at the time of application, submit supporting evidence from relevant professionals working with the child and family stating why the child must be placed outside their normal age appropriate cohort. DfE guidance makes clear that “it is reasonable for admission authorities to expect parents to provide them with information in support of their request – since without it they are unlikely to be able to make a decision on the basis of the circumstances of the case”.
A panel of governors will decide whether the application will be accepted on the basis of the information submitted. The panel make decisions based upon the circumstances of each case including the view of parents, the Headteacher, the child's social, academic and emotional development and whether the child has been previously educated out of year group. There is no guarantee that an application will be accepted on this basis. If the application is not accepted this does not constitute a refusal of a place and there is no right to an independent statutory appeal. Similarly, there is no right of a place for a space in a specific year group. The internal management and organisation of the school, including the placement of pupils in classes, is a matter for the Headteacher and Senior Leadership.
The governing body is ultimately responsible for making this decision for applications made to their school.
Admission to the Nursery
Sadly, because of the low numbers of children in the area, our nursery closed its doors for the last time at the end of the summer term 2023.
