Joining our school in Reception September 2025
Once you have been allocated a place at our school we will then send you a Welcome Pack giving you lots of information and telling you about our induction process.
Your child will be invited to attend three induction sessions before the end of the summer term. Please ensure you do not book holidays which clash with these dates. It is important that your child is able to benefit from these transition opportunities.
We invite new parents to come along to our induction meeting on Wednesday 9th July at 9.45am-10.15am (during your child’s third induction session).
Mrs Whittaker, our Reception teacher, and Mrs Dolby, our Learning Support Assistant, will make an appointment to come and visit you and your child at home during the Summer Term (16th/17th June).
| Date | What will happen |
|
School Visits (Summer Term) |
Your child will have three opportunities to come and visit their new classroom and meet their teachers. Wednesday 25th June 9.45am-10.15am Wednesday 2nd July 9.45am-10.15am Wednesday 9th July 9.45am-10.15am |
|
Home visits Monday 16th June Tuesday 17th June (Summer Term) |
We will email you a time to come and visit you at home with your child. The visits will last no more than 20 minutes and please be reassured that we are not checking up on you. It is simply an opportunity to get to know you better and for your child to feel more comfortable knowing that trusted adults have come to visit them from school. |
| Wednesday 3rd September | Your child will spend their first day at school. They will arrive by 8.45am and stay until 11.30am. |
| Thursday 4th September | Your child will arrive by 8.45am and stay until 12pm and have lunch. |
| Friday 5th September onwards… | Your child will arrive by 8.45am and stay all day and be collected at 3.15pm. |
Admissions Information
The Schools Planning and Admissions Department at Essex County Council allocate our intake of children wishing to join Great Bardfield Primary School. In the first instance you will need to contact 0845 603 2200 to request a common application form or apply online at https://www.essex.gov.uk/apply-for-a-primary-school-place.
At Great Bardfield Primary School all children born between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2021 will be admitted in full time education in the Autumn term of 2025. Please note that the published number for the September 2025 intake is 20 children.
For mid-year applications to Great Bardfield Primary School please contact us so that we can let you know if we have space in your child’s year group and if not, we will add your child to the continued interest list which we hold. Please note that Mid-year applications also need to be sent to the Local Authority, Planning and Admissions in the normal way either by contacting 0845 6032200 or applying online at https://www.essex.gov.uk/Education- Schools/Schools/Admissions/Pages/Applying-mid-year-for-a-school-place.aspx
Children resident outside Essex should refer to the process for handling late applications published by their home local authority. All mid-year applications will be processed by Essex County Council.
There is no guarantee for a place for children living in the priority admission area. If applications for admissions exceed the number of places available, the following criteria will be applied, in the order set out below, to decide which children to admit.
1. Children Looked After *
2. Children with a sibling** attending the school
3. Children living in the catchment area***
4. Remaining Applications****
*Children Looked After or children who have previously been looked after by the Local Authority.
**Sibling is defined as a child living in the same family unit, in the same family household and address as a child who attends the preferred school or partner school in any year group excluding the final year. This, therefore, includes brothers and sisters, adopted brothers and sisters or stepbrothers and stepsisters living in the same family unit in the same family household. In addition, biological siblings, in any year group excluding the final year, will be treated as siblings irrespective of place of residence. Children residing in the same household as part of an extended family, such as cousins, will not be treated as siblings.
***A map showing the defined catchment area is available from the Local Authority upon request.
****In the event of over-subscription within any of the above criteria, priority will be determined by straight line distance from home to school, those living closest being given the highest priority. Essex County Council will supply straight line distances as defined in the Primary Education in Essex booklet
Applying for a mid-year admission to change your child’s school during the school year?
We welcome mid-year applications to our school. Before you apply we recommend that you:
– Contact our school office to find out if we have spaces in the year group you require.
– Book a tour to look around our school with our Headteacher.
Once you have done this, follow the link below to complete your application.