Admissions

We would like to invite parents and carers of children who will be looking for a school place in September 2024 to have a tour of Arunside School on either:

  • Tuesday 17th October, 2023 at 1.15 – 2.45pm or
  • Wednesday 18th October, 2023 at 9.15 – 11.00am.

Please contact the school office to reserve a place for a tour.

Primary School Admissions

As Arunside Primary is a local authority controlled school within West Sussex, applications for school places must be made to the Pupil Admissions Office by one of the following methods:

  1. Telephone: 03330 142903
  2. E-mail: admissions.north@westsussex.gov.uk
  3. Online: Council website (with further information)
  4. By Post: County Hall North (Parkside), Chart Way, Horsham  RH12 1XH (Map)
  5. In Person: At above address

Applications to community and controlled schools:

The general policy is to provide a place for your child at the designated school, which is normally your local school.  Should the school be oversubscribed, a place will be offered at another school.  If you express a preference for another school, your request will be agreed, unless there are more applications than places available at that preferred school.

All schools have a Published Admission Number (PAN).  If the number of applications for a particular school is within its PAN, places can normally be offered to all who apply. The PAN for Arunside is 60.

Applications are prioritised according to the following criteria :

  • Children who need a place at the school for exceptional and compelling social, psychological or medical reasons; children with a statement of special educational needs which specifically names the school; as support for looked after learners.  If a child has a statement of special educational need which does not specifically name the school, parents must provide a letter from a qualified person (usually a doctor or social worker) so that their evidence states clearly why it is essential that the child attends a particular school and this will be used to assist the Director for Children & Young People’s services when a decision is being made.
  • Children with brothers or sisters (all of whom live within the catchment area) who are already at the school and who will still be there when the child starts, (brothers or sisters may be half or step siblings but must be living permanently at the same address). Children whose parents were originally denied the place they requested at their catchment school for the older siblings are then treated as living in the catchment area for the school attended by the older sibling.
  • Other children who live in the catchment area
  • Children with brothers or sisters already at the school and who will still be there when the child starts, all of whom live outside the catchment area;  (brothers or sisters may be half or step-siblings but must be living permanently at the same address)
  • Other children who live outside the catchment area

In the case of over-subscription in the above categories, priority of placement would be given to applicants who live nearest the school (measured by a straight line from school to home, using Ordnance Survey address point data).

All applications from parents of children must be completed by 15th January preceding the academic year of admission and places are allocated on the 19th April. 

More details of the criteria for managing oversubscription to Arunside School can be found here.

Further Information

Visits to Arunside

Parents/carers considering an application to the school are warmly invited to tour the school with the Headteacher.  Please contact the school for an appointment. The dates of our open days for the reception class in-take September 2024 are shown on the calendar under the events page of this website

Transferring From Another School

Parents and children transferring from another school are encouraged to visit the school for a pre-transfer welcoming visit to ensure they have all the information required prior to the starting date.

Admission Contacts In School

For any information or enquiries regarding visits to school, please contact in the first instance, Mrs Lee-Anne Webber in our school office. When visiting school please speak to Mrs Donna Jagger (Headteacher) or Anna Hadden (Deputy Headteacher) for more information.