Heathbrook Primary School and Children’s Centre

Reception Admissions

School Tours

We encourage parents and carers to take up one of the many opportunities to visit the school prior to applying for a place. Our headteacher will welcome you, provide an extensive tour and answer any questions you may have. Please contact a member of our Office Team on call or email to arrange this and see upcoming dates below.

Due to national government restrictions during November, we created this short video of our headteacher providing a virtual tour. He is also available to answer questions and talk about your specific circumstances over the phone.

Catchment Area

We have a much wider catchment area than most inner London schools. A lot of our families chose to travel considerable distances to benefit from our learning environment and curriculum focus on the arts, music, outdoor learning and sport. The limited amount of housing immediately around the school means we can serve a wider community of parents and children who are attracted to our school ethos and values. Here is a map showing the distance families are travelling for their children to attend Heathbrook’s Reception classes in September:

Parents and carers frequently ask us about the (national) admissions preference system. Please read helpful admissions guidance explaining this ‘preference’ system more clearly.

Transition into Reception

We provide a range of activities to ensure that children have a smooth transition into school. These include home visits and in-school sessions during the summer term before the long break to develop strong bonds with staff and the learning environment. Children and parents even have a chance to try the school meals!

New reception children and parents attend one of our transition sessions in the summer term and meet teaching staff and senior staff.

Selection Criteria

Our selection criteria is the same as all other Lambeth Community schools, which is as follows:

• Looked after children. A ‘looked after child’ is a child who is in the care of a local authority or provided with accommodation by that authority – according to section 20 of the Children Act.
• Children with a brother or sister who already attends the school, and would not have left the school at the time of admission. A sibling is defined as a full/half/step brother or sister, living at the same address, a child who is living as part of the family by reason of a court order, or a child who has been placed with foster carers at that address as a result of being looked after by the Local Authority.
• Children with a professionally supported medical or social need that the school is especially able to meet. Admissions decisions will be taken by Lambeth’s Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS) MEDSOC panel. Letters from an appropriate professional must support these applications although these will not always be conclusive.
• Priority will be given on the basis of distance, between the child’s home and the school, measured by a straight-line.

For further information on Lambeth’s criteria for community schools, please read Lambeth’s next year primary admissions information.

Nursery Admissions

In recent years our large Nursery has been oversubscribed, so make sure you apply for a place in plenty of time. Children love our Nursery because we offer

• a positive start to a child’s life, with experienced teachers to deliver the Early Years Framework with your child at the centre
• our celebrated outdoor curriculum
• weekly music and sports lessons with our full-time music teacher and full-time sports coach
• ‘high academic standards’ (Ofsted 2020)
• a huge range of after school activities plus an extended day from 7.30am until just before 6pm

“It’s such a warm and creative space, our kids love it!” Parent of child already attending. Wow – the children really are so happy!” Visiting prospective parent

Have a look at all the recent photos of what our Nursery children have been getting up to on their class update webpage. Admissions for nursery places is controlled by the school, please read or ask for a copy of our Nursery Admissions Policy. Please email admissions@heathbrook.org for a soft (electronic) copy of our Nursery application form; alternatively a hard copy can be obtained from the school office. All applications need to be returned to a member of office staff or emailed to admissions@heathbrook.org to put your child on our waiting list.

In September the government introduced alternative childcare funding options. 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds in our Nursery for ‘working families’. Tax-free childcare (20% off) will also be available for all pupils who attend our high quality Breakfast Club (from 7.30am) and Heath Kidz After School Club

In-Year Transfers

Parents and carers choose the school their child attends and can decide to move them to a different school if they believe it will help them. We are increasingly welcoming families from local schools, including several ‘outstanding’ ones, for a variety of reasons. Here are a couple of recent comments from parents following taster sessions:

If you are interested in discussing an In-Year Transfer, please contact a member of our Office Team in the first instance on 020 7622 4101 or email admissions@heathbrook.org.

Secondary Admissions

Staff are available to support your application for secondary school. We hold information meetings every summer term for parents and carers of children in Years 3, 4 and 5. Individual meetings with staff are available on request and we support the completion of application forms too.

For information about local secondary schools, please visit Lambeth’s secondary admissions, Wandsworth’s secondary admissions or other local authority’s websites providing secondary school admissions arrangements.

In recent years children at Heathbrook have moved on to all the local state and private secondary schools as well as some further afield – enjoy reading the full list!