Admissions and Registration

Registering your child

Admissions Policy and Procedure

Each academic year St Joseph's Pre-school operates two intakes; a September intake for children with birthdays September - February, and a January intake for children with birthdays from March - August. Children may start from 2 ½ years old.

The pre-school endeavours to notify parents of a successful application 5-6 months prior to the child starting at the pre-school.

Oversubscription Criteria

When we have more applications for an intake than the places available, the admissions criteria below will be applied.

If there are more applications in a particular criterion than places available then we will use the following priorities:

Those applicants who have had a brother or sister attend St Joseph's Pre-school Playgroup in the past.
If there still remain more applicants than available places then priority is given to the applicants living closest to the pre-school. Distance from the pre-school to the Residence of the applicant is to be measured by a straight line (that is as the crow flies).

Admissions Criteria

Applications for St Joseph's Pre-School Playgroup will be considered in the following order of priority:

Baptised Catholic children who the Admissions Committee of the Pre-School consider at their discretion to have exceptional social or medical needs. This is considered on the basis of written documentation submitted with the registration form.
Baptised Catholic children who live within the Catholic Parish of The Nativity of the Lord (Redhill, Reigate and Merstham).
Baptised Catholic children who live within the Catholic Parishes surrounding The Nativity of the Lord (Redhill, Reigate and Merstham) parish.
Baptised Christian children who the Admissions Committee of the Pre-School consider at their discretion to have exceptional social or medical needs. This is considered on the basis of written documentation submitted with the registration form.
Other baptised Christian children who live within the Catholic Parishes of Redhill, Reigate and Merstham.
Other baptised Christian children who live within the Catholic Parishes surrounding Redhill, Reigate and Merstham parishes.
Other children whose parents wish them to attend the playgroup.

Definitions:
Baptised Catholic - Those applicants producing a valid Baptism Certificate denoting entry into a Roman Catholic 'Parish Baptism Register.' Those applicants producing a valid Baptism Certificate of Reception into Full Communion with the Roman Catholic Church denoting entry in a Roman Catholic 'Register of Reception into full Communion'. Those applicants producing a valid Baptism Certificate denoting an entry in a 'Parish Baptism Register' of a Church which is in Full Communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
In certain circumstances written support of their Parish Priest may be sufficient. The admissions secretary will undertake reasonable means to check any information.
Catholic parish of The Nativity of the Lord (Redhill, Reigate and Merstham) – this means the former parishes of St Joseph's Redhill, Holy Family Reigate and St Teresa's Merstham. And is taken to mean within the parish boundaries which are determined by reference to the map approved by the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
Catholic parishes surrounding Redhill, Reigate and Merstham – the boundaries of these parishes are determined by reference to maps approved by the appropriate Dioceses.
Live within – this means where the applicant lives for the majority of each week.
Brothers and sisters – includes a step-brother or step-sister, or another close relative residing in the same household on a permanent basis and cared for by the same adult(s), as well as a biological or adoptive brother or sister.
Exceptional social or medical needs – this may include eg children in care, special family circumstances etc. Each case will be considered separately. These children may live within the parishes or surrounding parishes of Redhill, Reigate and Merstham.
** the following uniate churches are presently in Full Communion with the Roman Catholic Church:
ALEXANDRIA: Coptic, Ethiopian ANTIOCH: Malankrese (Sri Lanka), Maronite, Syrian ARMENIAN: Armenian CHALDEAN (Syro-Oriental): Chaldean, Malabar CONSTANTINOPLE (BYZANTINE): Albanian, Byelorussian, Bulgarian, Greek, Melchite, Italo-Albanian, Romanian, Russian, Ruthenian, Slovakian, Ukrainian, Hungarian.
Source: Annuario Pontificio 2009 Riti nella chiesa pp 1167-1170, 1878-1881 Reference should be made to the Annuario Pontificio published by the Holy See each year for additions/subtractions from the list.

Admissions Procedure

If you would like your child to attend Playgroup, please contact the admissions secretary, who will register your child's name on the waiting list once you have filled in a registration form and paid a £30 registration fee, or download and print the registration Pack where you will find all the information needed.

Nearer the time when places are being allocated for the coming year, the admissions secretary will contact you to confirm that you still require a place for your child. You will then be sent a letter offering a place for your child, setting out the sessions allocated and asking for your written confirmation and payment for half term fees (within 14 days) to secure the place.

If there are more applications than places for a given term, places will be allocated on the basis of the priorities set out in the admissions policy (see previous page). Alternatively you may be asked if you wish to wait until a place becomes available. (If we are unable to offer your child a place with our Playgroup the registration fee will be refunded).

Within the offer letter you will also be given a booklet “Information for Parents” and details of any forthcoming information evenings where you will have the opportunity to meet staff and the committee and where our aims, activities and the opportunities for parental involvement will be explained.

Should any parents wish to visit the Playgroup please contact us to make an appointment.

Settling In

For the first two weeks all new children attend Playgroup fifteen minutes after the start of the session in order to allow the staff to settle the existing children and then they will have time to welcome your child. Please aim to stay for a few sessions, if necessary, until the supervisor is satisfied that your child has settled in happily.

A child who is tense or unhappy will not be able to play or learn properly, so it is important for parents and Playgroup staff to work together to help the child to feel confident and secure in the group. This takes longer for some children than for others and parents should not feel worried if their child takes a while to settle.

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