Admissions
Hertfordshire County Council School Admissions
Maple Cross Whole School Open Day.pdf
Nursery Admissions
Hertfordshire Schools are responsible for their own Nursery admissions. Parents apply direct to the school/s of their choice.
For general information on Nursery Places and Childcare in Hertfordshire, please see the section at the end of this Nursery Admissions page.
Our Provision
Maple Cross JMI & Nursery School offers the statutory 15 hours of free Early Years education for 3 & 4 year olds to 26 children each year.
Our Nursery class is open 38 weeks a year, school term time only, 8:45am – 11:45pm.
Additional Hours Provision
We work in conjunction with Footsteps Pre-School who offer the additional free 15 hours for working parents who are entitled to a total of 30 hours childcare. The Pre-School also offers afternoon care and breakfast and after school clubs to paying parents/guardians.
Footsteps is located within our grounds.
Please see the section “Government Funding” at the end of this Nursery Admissions page for links to help and what funding is available.
Age range for our Nursery pupils
All parents/guardians will be eligible to apply for a place in our Nursery to start in the September of the academic year in which their child becomes four. i.e. All children born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020 will be eligible for a place in our nursery to start in September 2023.
Where a parent/guardian wishes to hold back a summer-born child to the following year before applying for a Reception place, they may, if they wish, apply for a Nursery place. This applies to children born between 1 April 2019 and 31 August 2019.
Where a summer-born child already attends our Nursery but the parent/guardian now wishes to delay their Reception application for a year, they may apply for their child to repeat their Nursery year. Following discussions with their child’s teacher, the parent must write to the school requesting a place; for the child to receive an automatic place, this letter must be received by the Nursery application closing date. Any request received after this deadline will be treated as a late application.
Our Nursery Admission Criteria
Section 324 of the Education Act 1996 requires the governing boards of all maintained schools to admit a child with a statement of special educational needs that names their school. Maple Cross JMI & Nursery School will therefore admit children with an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) that names the school, if we are able to cater for their specific needs.
Oversubscription
If there are not enough places available, places will be allocated in the following order of priority:
Rule 1 – children looked after
Rule 2 – medical or social needs
Rule 3 – sibling in our school, excluding year 6 pupils
Rule 4 – children who live closest to the nursery.
The full details of each rule, including what supporting documentation is required, is given in our Nursery Admissions Policy (a link is given below).
Our Nursery Application Process
Please start by visiting our school.
Parents will receive a warm welcome from our Headteacher who will be delighted to give a tour of the whole school and tell you about our school’s aims and ethos.
Please contact the office on 01923 770909 or email admin@maplecross.herts.sch.uk to book a time.
Key Dates - Nursery Admissions - Children born between 01/09/2019 - 31/08/2020
| Applications open | Monday 30th January 2023 |
| Deadline for applications | Friday 3rd March 2023 |
| Offers made | Monday 13th March 2023 |
| Deadline for parents to accept place | Friday 24th March 2023 |
To apply:
- Download and read our Nursery Admissions Policy
- Complete our online form
- Take supporting documents to the school office by the application deadline.
There is no right of appeal for Nursery admissions.
All offers will be dependent on the school receiving the associated funding from Hertfordshire. Once a place has been offered, you will be asked to complete a separate funding form.
General information on Nursery Places and Childcare in Hertfordshire
Information is available on the Hertfordshire County Council Website. You may also wish to sign up to Hertfordshire’s ‘Update Me’ e-mail newsletter.
To check that your child is the right age for free early education, childcare and for up to date information on eligibility, go to hertfordshire.gov.uk/parents.
Government Funding
All 3 & 4 year olds are eligible for 15 hours free Early Years education (if used during the 38 weeks of school term time).
Working parents may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of care. These two entitlements together make up 30 hours free childcare.
The additional hours depends, in general terms, on:
- if you are working
- your income (and your partner’s income, if you have one)
- your child’s age and circumstances
- your immigration status
Information can be found at hertfordshire.gov.uk./nurseryadmissions and full details and to find out whether you are eligible for 30 hours go to gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare and use their childcare calculator.
General childcare information can be found at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/parents and www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
Reception Admissions
Reception Applications 2023 - 2024
Children born between 1st September 2018 and 31st August 2019 must apply for a place in Reception class to commence 1st September 2023. Do not assume if your child is in a nursery class they will automatically move to Reception class, an application must be made through the Hertfordshire County Council admissions process at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk.
Key Dates Primary Admissions - Children born 01/09/2018 - 31/08/2019
| Applications open | Tuesday 1st November 2022 |
| Deadline for applications | Sunday 15th January 2023 |
| Offers made | Monday 17th April 2023 |
| Deadline for parents to accept place | Sunday 30th April 2023 |
Please contact the office to arrange a tour of the school - 01923 770909
Moving On - Secondary Transfer
Children born between 1st September 2011 and 31st August 2012 will move to secondary education in September 2023.
Important Information
Children born between 1st September 2011 and 31st August 2012 will move to secondary education in September 2021.
The parents of any child currently in Year 5, who might apply for a place in Y7 in 2023 at any of the Consortium schools under test criteria, will need to register with the Consortium. The best way to do this is via the SW Herts Admissions Consortium website.
Registration to take the tests will be confirmed. The period in which parents can register this year is set over seven weeks and parents should be reminded that no late registrations will be accepted.
Prior to registering for the tests, we advocate that parents ensure that their child is eligible for a place at a preferred school under that school’s admissions criteria. Admission arrangements are published on each school’s website and if the child is not eligible, there is no point in that child taking any of the tests. This averts confusion and disappointment at a later stage.
Parents of children with special needs that will require their allocated test centre to make
particular support arrangements will be required to send written evidence after test
registration, quoting their child’s full name, date of birth and South West Herts Reference
number. Please either email the documents to the Test Co-Ordinator at
swhsconsortium@gmail.com or by post to The Test Co-Ordinator, South West Herts Schools Tests, P.O. Box 2439, Watford, WD18 1UZ.
Parents will require written support from the primary school Headteacher, stating the
arrangements usually made at school. Parents should be reminded that it is not the
responsibility of the Primary School to ensure the Consortium have received their written evidence.
The test centre will be allocated, based on primary school postcode. This
has absolutely no bearing on parents’ eventual secondary school preferences.
Secondary Transfer -School Admission Tests
Information for Parents of Children in Year 5
The SW Herts Admissions Consortium comprises seven local secondary schools (listed below) which operate admission tests for a proportion of their intake:
Parmiter’s, Queens’, Rickmansworth, St Clement Danes, Watford Grammar School for Boys and Watford Grammar School for Girls.
Please visit https://www.swhertsschools.org.uk/faq/ for further information
Secondary Admissions – Children born – 01/09/2011-31/08/2012
September/October – Secondary and upper schools hold their open events, see: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory for school details and application process.
Thursday 1st September 2022 – Application process opens
Monday 31st October 2022- Closing date for applications
Friday 2nd December 2022 – Last date to:
- Submit reasons for making a late application and for that application to be considered ‘ontime’.
- Notify us of a change of address and for that address to be taken into account for allocation day.
Monday 30th January 2023- Last date to make a late application to be considered for allocation day.
Wednesday 1st March 2023 – School places are offered
Secondary Transfer – September 2023
Secondary Transfer Applications 2021 - 2022
The deadline for Secondary applications to be submitted is 31st October 2022