Admissions
Information can be found below on the following:
The Admissions Policies in place for the current and upcoming school years can be found below
- Admissions Policy - 2023/24 Academic Year
- Admissions Policy - 2024/25 Academic Year
- Admissions Policy - 2025/26 Academic Year
For any queries or support relating to admissions then please contact our Admissions Officer, by phone on 01564 826709, or via e-mail to [email protected]
Nursery Admissions
Children become eligible for our Nursery in the September after their third birthday.
Coppice Nursery sessions must be one of the three options below:-
- All day every day 8:45am to 2:45pm (30 hours per week) or
- Monday 8:45am to 2:45pm, Tuesday 8:45am to 2:45pm and Wednesday mornings 8:30am to 11:30am (15 hours per week) or
- Wednesday afternoons 12:15pm to 3:15pm, Thursday 8:45am to 2:45pm and Friday 8:45am to 2:45pm (15 hours per week)
Funding
All three and four year olds are entitled to fifteen hours of Nursery education. However, there are two ways to fund extra hours enabling your child to attend for up to another fifteen hours :-
1) Parents can apply directly to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk and, if they are eligible, will be issued with a voucher code to give to school – if you are eligible it will be necessary to renew your voucher code every three months otherwise the funding will be withdrawn, meaning you would have to pay privately for any additional hours over the universal fifteen hours.
You will be eligible if both parents are working (or sole parent in a lone parent family) and each parent/carer earns between, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage and less than £100,000 per year.
2) Parents can pay privately to make-up the extra 15 hours. Payments in this case will be made directly to school, half-termly, at a cost of £71.25 per week.
2024/25 Academic Year
The Application Window is open and closes for the first round of admissions on Friday 9th February 2024.
If applications are received after this date, they may still be accepted if spaces are available.
All families who wish to apply for a place in our Nursery must apply direct to The Coppice Primary School, completing this Nursery Application Form.
Parents will be informed if a place has been allocated for their child in March 2024. Letters will include a specified date by which to accept or decline the place.
They will then be invited to various drop-in sessions, induction evenings and ‘Stay and Play' sessions from May to July 2024.
When there are more applications than places, pupils are admitted based on the school’s admissions criteria, a copy of which can be found in our Admissions Policy at the top of the page.
Waiting lists will be held by the school office and parents contacted if and when a place becomes available. Please note that the length of time that a child’s application form has been with the school is not a criterion for admission.
Reception Admissions
The law states that children who have reached their fourth birthday are entitled to attend school full-time in a reception class from the September after their fourth birthday.
The Coppice Primary School can take up to 90 children in Reception, with 30 being the maximum in each class.
2024/25 Academic Year
Children born between 1st September 2019 - 31st August 2020
Applications are now open for September 2024. You MUST apply through the county in which you live. Please see links to Local Authorities below.
Application Deadline is 15th January 2024
School offer notification date is 16th April 2024
If you miss the deadline and/or move house after the deadline please contact your home Local Authority School Admissions Team as soon as possible as you may be eligible to fill in a late application.
Admissions Process
1. As an academy The Coppice Primary School is it’s own Admissions Authority but if you are applying for your child to start in Reception, you should apply to your “home” local authority (LA). The "home" LA is defined as the local authority relevant to the child's home address. The "home" LA will ensure that the application details are passed onto Worcestershire LA for consideration in the allocation of school places. Please see links to Local Authorities below.
This should be done by the closing date in January each year; indicating three school preferences. (Late applications up to 28th February are always considered; though it may not be possible to allocate a place in the school you prefer, if it is oversubscribed, even if the school is the catchment area school for your child’s home address.)
2. Worcestershire Local Authority then send us details of all children wishing to start at our school.
3. Based on the school’s admission criteria we rank the children and return this list to the Worcestershire LA. A copy of our Admissions Policy is at the top of this page.
4. The LAs are then responsible for making any offers or refusing any places on the school’s behalf. Notification of a successful application will be sent directly to parents by the LA on 16th April 2024. (For pupils not resident in Worcestershire, the offer or refusal will be sent directly to parents by the “home” LA, even if it is for a school in Worcestershire). In the few cases where it may not be possible to offer a place at any of the preferences nominated on the application form, a place will be offered at the nearest school with available places. Any offer email or letter will include a specified date by which you must accept or decline the place.
The LA will also offer parents the right of appeal in all refusals. The deadline for appellants to prepare and lodge their written appeal is 20 school days from the date of notification. Appellants will receive at least ten school days notice of their appeal hearing date and wherever possible, decisions letters will be sent within five school days of the hearing.
5. Following this the school will contact parents with information about a parents meeting, usually held in June, together with induction details for the children.
Links to Local Authorities
Transferring to the School
If you would like to move schools within a school year, or you have just moved to the Worcestershire area, you will need to apply for a school place. This is called an In-Year application. A parent can make an In-Year application to The Coppice Primary School at any time.
All parents wishing to apply to The Coppice Primary School will need to complete an In-Year application online. As a Worcestershire School, you must complete and submit your application online, via the Worcestershire County Council website. Please click on this link which will direct you to the relevant page.
You will be required to complete two documents online for your school application:
1. Online School Application form (CA1)
2. Educational History Form - this is to be completed by your child's current school. This is a word document that can be uploaded with your school application or emailed separately to Worcestershire County Council
Upon receipt of the application, the Worcestershire School Admissions Team will consult with The Coppice Primary School and let parents know if an offer can be made, normally within ten school days of receiving the application.
Each application will be assessed in accordance with the school's admissions criteria, a copy of which can be found in our Admissions Policy at the top of this page. Places can only be allocated in infants up to the limit of 30 pupils, as set by the Infant Class Size Legislation. In Juniors, a place is only offered where admitting the child does not prejudice the efficient provision of education or use of resources. We must advise that there is no guarantee of a school place until an application has been received in full, and reviewed by our Headteacher and Admissions Officer.
More information on In-Year applications can be found in the existing year groups booklet for parents, which can be found on the Worcestershire County Council website.
Appeals & Waiting Lists
If an offer cannot be made, parents have the right to appeal. All appeals must be made in writing to the Governing Body of The Coppice Primary School within 14 days of receipt of notification. Appellants will receive at least ten school days notice of their appeal hearing date and wherever possible, decisions letters will be sent within five school days of the hearing.
The Coppice Primary School operates a waiting list for any oversubscribed year group following the same admissions criteria as mentioned above and it would be at this point that parents can ask their child to be added.
As places arise, the school will contact parents, according to the priority on the list, to allocate the place. Should the place no longer be required, the place will be allocated to the next name on the priority list.
Please note places on the waiting list can change as new people join and others leave thus changing the priority of a child.