Pupils' Admissions Arrangements
Our school is an Academy and it determines the admission arrangements in agreement with the local authority (LA). The Admissions Authority for our school is Slough LA, which publishes its entry regulations every year. Parents and carers can receive a copy of these regulations directly from the LA.
The LA's annual admissions prospectus informs parents and carers how to apply for a place at the school of their choice.
Parents and careers have a right to express their preference, but this does not, in itself, guarantee a place at that particular school.
Applications must have been made direct to the Local Authority by 15th January 2027 at the latest.
Admission into Phoenix Infant Academy is allocated in accordance with, and by, Slough Borough Council.
If you want more information about the school admissions process, or if you want to comment about this booklet or the admission arrangements, please write to; The Admissions Team Slough Borough Council Observatory House, 25 Windsor Road Slough SL1 2EL Email: _admissions.helpline@slough.gov.uk Contact Centre: Telephone: 01753 475111 (Monday to Friday) Please note that the School Admissions lines open as and when needed around admissions time.
Families will hear back from the Local authority on 16th April 2026
Please read the below sections (click on the heading and the text will appear below) for further information on our admissions policy, of which a copy can be found at the foot of this page for you to download should you wish.
Introduction
Phoenix Infant Academy is an Academy and the Thames Learning Trust is the admissions authority. The Board of Trustees has determined to operate admissions on the same basis as that used by the Local Authority.
Phoenix Infant Academy operates within an equal preference scheme and welcomes all children.
The planned admission number for 2026/27 and 2027/28 is 90.
Our Board of Trustees applies the regulations on admissions fairly and equally to all those who wish to attend this school. The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 introduced a new framework for school admissions as of September 2000. This was later revised in the Education Act of 2002. Our admissions policy conforms to the regulations that are set out in that Act and are further explained in the statutory School Admissions Code of Practice and the statutory Appeals Code of Practice. These were revised in January 2003 and came into force in September 2004 which was revised in February 2012.
aims and objectives
We seek to be an inclusive school, welcoming children from all backgrounds and abilities. All applications will be treated on merit, and in a sensitive manner.
The only restriction we place on entry is the number of spaces available. If the number of children applying for entry exceeds the places available, we adopt the procedure set out below to determine whether a child is to be accepted or not. It is our wish for parents and carers to find a place for their child at the school of their choice. However, this is not always possible, due to excess demand on the places available.
We treat applications for children coming from overseas in accordance with European Union law or Home Office rules for non-European Economic Area nationals.
application procedures
Our school is an Academy and it determines the admission arrangements in agreement with the local authority (LA). The Admissions Authority for our school is the LA, which publishes its entry regulations every year. Parents and carers can receive a copy of these regulations directly from the LA.
The LA's annual admissions prospectus informs parents and carers how to apply for a place at the school of their choice.
Parents and careers have a right to express their preference, but this does not, in itself, guarantee a place at that particular school. Application should be made on a form that can be obtained from the local Education Department's admission team, and should be returned by the date stipulated on that form. The school will notify parents and carers of the decision as soon as all the applications have been considered.
In this area, children enter school at the start of the academic year in which they become five. There is one admission date per year, early September (i.e. when the autumn term begins.) Therefore, parents and carers who would like their child to be admitted to this school during the year their child is five should ensure that they return the necessary application form by the fixed end of year by the Local Authority.
Applications must be made using the Common Application Form which will be made available by the Local Authority’s School Admissions Team. Applications can also be made online via the Local Authority’s website www.slough.gov.uk/admissions
Applications must be made direct to the Local Authority
no later than 15th January 2027.
All places will be offered by the Local Authority’s School Admissions Team on behalf of the Governing Body, within the primary admissions operational in the Local Authority’s area on 17th April 2023.
You must apply to the authority where you live. If you are unsure, for example if you live near council boundaries, it is whichever Local Authority you pay your council tax to. You can apply for a primary school in any area, but you must apply to your home authority. If you live outside the local area, please contact your home authority to request an application.
infant class size
The Education (Infant Class Sizes) (England) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1973) as amended by SI 2006/3409 prescribed that infant classes must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single qualified teacher. (The School Admissions (Infant Class Sizes) (England) Regulations 2012 – introduces certain exceptions relating to children of multiple births and children of UK service personnel).
Admission outside of year group
Parents may seek a place for their child outside their normal age group; for example, if the child is gifted and talented or has experienced problems such as ill health.
In addition, the parents of a summer born child may choose not to send that child to school until the September following their fifth birthday and may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group – to Reception rather than Year 1. (The term summer born children relates to all children born from 1 April to 31 August. These children reach compulsory school age on 31 August following their fifth birthday (or on their fifth birthday if it falls on 31 August). It is likely that most requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group will come from parents of children born in the later summer months or those born prematurely.
Oversubscription Criteria
All children whose education, health and care (EHC) plans name the school will be admitted before any other places are allocated.
If the school is not oversubscribed, all applicants will be offered a place.
In the event of the school being oversubscribed the Board of Trustee's criterion gives priority to the following children:
1. Highest priority will be given to looked after children and all previously looked after children who apply for a place at the school.
2. Priority will next be given to children on the basis of social or medical need. The school defines social and medical need as a serious medical condition or exceptional sensitive, individual and compelling family circumstances. The school requires appropriate professional reports e.g. from a social worker, police officer, doctor or educational psychologist. The report must demonstrate exact reasons and the impact on the child or family’s circumstances as to why this is the only suitable school compared to other schools available. Only exceptional reasons directly relevant to this school will be considered.
3. Priority will next be given to children of staff at the school, in either of the following circumstances: a) The member of staff has been employed at the school for 2 or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, or b) The member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage
4. Priority will next be given to children with siblings at the school. Siblings include step siblings, foster siblings, adopted siblings and other children living permanently at the same address. Priority will not be given to children with siblings who are former pupils of the school.
5. Priority will next be given to distance from the school. The address stated on an application must be the current one at the time of application. If an address changes after an application is submitted, the School Admissions Team should be notified immediately.
Tie break
In the case of 2 or more applications that cannot be separated by the oversubscription criteria outlined above, the school will use the distance between the school and a child’s home as a tie breaker to decide between applicants. Priority will be given to children who live closest to the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line from the child’s home address to the school’s front gates on Warrington Avenue. A child’s home address will be considered to be where he/she is resident for the majority of nights in a normal school week. Where the distance between 2 children’s homes and the school is the same, random allocation will be used to decide between them. This process will be independently verified.
Late Applications
Applications received after the published closing date will be treated as late applications.
Only in exceptional circumstances, and where appropriate evidence is provided, will those applications received after the closing date (but before offers of places have been made) be considered concurrently with those applications received on time.
The circumstances which might justify a late application include, but are not restricted to, the illness of a single parent/carer which might have reasonably impinged upon their ability to submit an application on time or where a family has just moved into the area.
Fraudulent Applications
If it is found that a child has been allocated a place due to misleading information having been provided, for example an incorrect address, then the offer of a place may be withdrawn and the offer of an alternative school will be made by the Local Authority.
Waiting Lists
Waiting lists will be set up in the week following the letters being sent to parents. As places become available, the child highest on the waiting list will be offered the place. This is not dependent on whether an appeal has been submitted.
How to appeal
Appeals
Any applicant not offered a place will have a statutory right of appeal to an independent panel in accordance with the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. If your child’s application for a place at the school is unsuccessful, you will be informed why admission was refused and given information about the process for hearing appeals.
If you wish to appeal, please use this link to complete your appeal online.
Please do NOT use ANY other appeal form or send your form to your local authority.
It is highly recommended that you download the explanatory booklet about appeals which you should read before you complete the appeal form.
You should include any evidence or supporting material with your appeal form and you MUST state the grounds of your appeal at the time you lodge your appeal form. Your appeal form will not be accepted unless you give the grounds of your appeal. You may appeal for more than one school. Please note that the online form will ask you to download two utility bills dated in the last THREE months. If you do not have access to a scanner, please take two photographs using a mobile phone and upload the photographic files.
If you wish to contact the clerk – email : clerk@educationappeals.com
The timetable for ‘in-year’ appeals
Last day for lodging appeal forms: 20 School days after the decision letter informing you that you had not been offered a place.
Invitation letter giving details about your hearing will be sent by the Clerk to the Independent Appeal Panel: At least 10 school days before the hearing. This MAY be emailed. All in-year appeals will be heard within 30 school days of the appeal form being lodged.
Closing date for any additional supporting evidence: FIVE school days before your hearing. You are advised that additional paperwork received on the day of the appeal hearing will not be taken into account. Please email files to clerk@educationappeals.com Please note that slightly different rules will apply for any summer transfer appeals into Year R.
Letter from the Clerk informing you of the decision of the independent appeal panel: Due to the high number of appeals, an email is sent a few working days after your hearing with the decision of the panel. This is followed up around 10 working days later with a letter outlining the panels’ reasons.
Please refer to the Admissions Policies below for further information.
