Admissions
Hello Children,
At Southmead we welcome you and your mummies and daddies and / or carers to school so you can see our children learning. If you haven't had a chance to do this, we feel it is important that you see and experience the fun that our children have each day at school so ... We have made a quick video to show you. We hope you enjoy it.
If you have any questions, please get your adult to give us a call on 01271 812448 or email us at admin@southmead.devon.sch.uk.
We would be only too happy to help. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Mr Plumb and ALL at Southmead.
Applying for a Reception place
Please contact the school office to make an appointment, to come and look around the school.
As soon as you step into Southmead Primary School we hope you feel we are a 'family' and we will always work in partnership with you. Your child will feel valued as an individual. We celebrate the talents they bring with them and we strive to help them to develop skills which will equip them for a global, diverse community in the 21st Century. We want them to be happy, to try hard and to develop resilience and a 'can do' attitude to life. Our curriculum is interesting, broad, balanced and includes a range of visits, visitors, input from our children and parents / carers. Our staff enjoy learning, challenge themselves and train regularly to meet the needs of your children. We welcome help from you so let us know if you would like to come into school.
The governing board is the admissions authority, responsible for the admissions policies and decisions on applications for admission. We have an admissions policy for each academic year. They are written to comply with the School Admissions Code and School Admissions Appeals Code. We take part in the co-ordinated admissions schemes of Devon County Council.
Applying to come here
Once you decide you would like a place in Reception or at any other time after this, you must make a formal application. You can do this by applying to the Local Authority (via the link below) and not direct to the school.
For the 'normal round' intake into school, children are offered places to start in Reception at the beginning of the September term after their fourth birthday. Children who are admitted to a vacancy at any time after this point are called 'In-Year' Admissions.
The Local Authority
Devon County Council publishes information about admissions and its own policies to support the admissions application and appeals process. This is at www.devon.gov.uk/admissions
Applications can be made online via the link below or by using the forms here.
The appeals process is detailed via this link below.
For questions about your child joining the school or just about the admissions process in general, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office direct or contact Devon School Admissions Service on 0345 155 1019 or by email to admissions@devon.gov.uk.
Our Admissions Policies
You can find our admissions policies below. We review the school policy annually and may make changes if we feel this would be in the best interests of the school and our community.
Each academic year has its own policy document, which details how to apply for a place in school from the start of Reception through to Year 6.
Admission to Primary School 2024 for children born between 01/09/2019 and 31/08/2020
Information went out in mid-November to all EY settings, with details of the application process and closing dates relevant for parents of children due to start school next year.
The application facility has been open for 4 weeks now, with many applications made online at www.devon.gov.uk/admissionsonline . We are now wanting to do another push on encouraging those parents who may have put it to the back of their mind, to make sure that they do not forget to complete the process.
Please find attached a flyer, and this time also a hard copy application form. We would be very grateful if you are able to print the flyer and display it somewhere for parents, as well as make parents of children of the relevant age aware that they need to complete an application form by the 15th of January 2024 to be considered as on time.
If you can communicate with your families and remind them that they need to apply before the 15th of January 2024 it will be most appreciated. Please note the Local Authority no longer send out letters to families inviting them to apply and all families should be signposted to www.devon.gov.uk/admissionsonline for all information and to access the online application form.
If you think you have a family who may be more likely to complete a paper form, or perhaps may need support filling out the form, then please print the attached document and use this, as necessary. It can be scanned (photographed) and emailed back to us at admissions@devon.gov.uk
The Education Helpline Advisers are on hand to manage queries and will help parents navigate the system, if necessary, telephone 0345 155 1019.
Thank you very much for assistance with this.
Regards
School Admissions Team