For general (in-year) admission into school for all children from Reception Year to Year 6, you will need to contact Haringey Council’s Admissions Service. You can visit them in person at 48 Station Road, Wood Green, London, N22 7TY, call them on 020 8489 1000 or follow the link below for the Haringey website: http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/children-families/education/schooladmissions.htm

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Reception September 2025 Applications

If your child is currently 3-4 years old and you would like to apply for them to go into Reception class at Bounds Green School in September 2025 you will need to apply for them online. Please click on the link to go to the EAdmissions website where you will be able to apply. Please note, the deadline for Reception applications is 15th January 2025:

www.eadmissions.org.uk

Please also see the Haringey website with more information on how to apply and information about delayed admission and Summer born children:

https://www.haringey.gov.uk/children-and-families/schools-and-education/school-admissions/starting-primary-school

Below you will find a selection of frequently asked questions which you will hopefully find useful, but if you have any other questions that you can’t find on there then please feel welcome to give us a call.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does the Reception setting operate at Bounds Green? How is it staffed?

Bounds Green has 3 forms of entry with a maximum admission number of 90 pupils to our Reception. These are split into 3 classes of 30 children, which in Reception we call ‘stations’, Paddington, Elephant & Castle and Canary Wharf. Our Reception setting occupies the whole of the ground floor of the newer part of our Early Years building.

Whilst each class or ‘station’ has its own base room and carpet area, the way the Reception setting operates is that it is open to allow the children to ‘free flow’. This means that the children, whichever station they are in, are able to access all the different areas and activities that the setting offers.

Our core Reception team comprises 6 full-time equivalent staff. Each ‘station’ has a classteacher and a Nursery Nurse (a trained Early Years practitioner) who will be allocated as a ‘Key worker’ and they will be you and your child’s key contact, however both will always be approachable and there for you. The team of 3 classteachers and 3 Nursery Nurses operate across the whole Reception environment supervising activities and learning in the different areas as the children ‘free flow’.

In addition to the core team, other staff assist in the Reception part-time from Inclusion Teaching Assistants to the team of lunchtime Reception staff that provide experienced support at lunchtimes.

2. What can we expect if our child comes to Reception at Bounds Green?

The key question…”Why Bounds Green Reception for my child?”

The best answer to this key parent question has always been the children themselves, seeing them during a visit to our Reception setting, showing confidence, independence and enthusiasm whilst engrossed in their play and happily interacting with each other.

Unfortunately, as you know, due to current COVID-19 circumstances, we are unable to offer you a real tour of our Reception and School to see the setting in occupation, buzzing with happy and confident children. We have filmed a virtual tour of our Reception setting as an alternative, which you can see above and which we hope will give you a ‘feel’ for what our Reception is like. Please also see testimonials from parents about their child’s experience of attending our Reception at the bottom of this page.

At Bounds Green, we value what each family and individual bring to our school. Ours is a community where each person feels that they are ‘known’ as the unique individual they are. Bounds Green has relationships, family and community at its very heart.

Our Reception setting has a strong focus on your child’s personal, social and emotional development as a priority, particularly at the beginning, with you as parents/carers as key partners. The children learn through play-based activities that stem from the children’s own interests, engaging their enthusiasm and confidence, enabling each of them to thrive. We focus on all the key areas of learning from language development and early reading & writing, to mathematical development, their physical development, their knowledge and understanding of the world and their creative development. The children learn phonics in class sessions as well as in differentiated groups to develop their emerging reading and writing skills. In past years (pre COVID-19) we usually invite parents in for the beginning of the day on Fridays to join the class for ‘family phonics’ so that you can see how the children learn in action. We hope this can happen again soon.

We actively involve parents in a shared role as educators of your child in a number of ways apart from that vital contact at drop-off and pick-up time. We use an online software programme called ‘Evidence Me’ where we can share observation notes about your child’s developments and progress with you AND you can also share with us observation or comments about their successes and achievements at home. This enables school (as well as home) to document your child’s progress in Reception.

Each child and their Key Worker create a shared ‘Special Book’ where the child chooses work or photographs of their special moments with comments made by the Key Worker. In usual times these go home and parents can also contribute ‘Wow!’ moments or experiences from home.

3. My child has particular individual needs…How will you meet them?

As mentioned above our whole school ethos focuses on recognising and celebrating each unique individual. We are an inclusive school dedicated to meeting the needs of any child (or adult), and have a breadth and depth of experience in supporting children with differing (and even complex) needs.

If you do have any specific further questions that you would like to ask in relation to your child please do not hesitate to contact us. Our Assistant Headteacher in charge of Inclusion, Marcus Read, is contactable via the school office email or by telephone.

4. Do you have a Breakfast Club and / or an After School Club that my Reception child could attend?

At Bounds Green we have both a Breakfast Club and an After School Club, run and managed by School staff only for children who attend our school. We are able to offer spaces for Reception children, where it is appropriate and suitable for the child. If this is something you are interested in, you will be able to request & apply for this formally once your child’s Reception place has been offered and accepted. Information about applying for a place will be sent to you in a ‘Reception Welcome Pack’ after the May half term holiday (early June).

It is important for you to be aware that our After School Club in particular is very popular and oversubscribed. We have a maximum capacity of 100 children per day, with a limit on our youngest children (Reception & Nursery) of 28. It is important that you apply for a place as soon as possible.

Please bear in mind whilst we do our utmost to try to accommodate your needs we have a maximum capacity therefore we cannot guarantee we can offer what you request. We aim to be able to confirm any request by mid-July. If we are able to offer your child a place at either club this will not be something your Reception child will be able to take up immediately in September, but after the short settling in period.

5. (a) How do you allocate the children to the 3 classes or ‘stations’?

In previous years a proportion of the children (usually about 40-45 children) offered a place for Reception have attended our own Nursery so they are known to us. We split these children across the Reception classes/stations. In relation to children who will be new to Bounds Green, we try to gather a ‘view’ or information about them in a number of ways to help us then sort these children across the 3 classes/stations to create the right balance considering a wide variety of factors (such as gender). In prior years, staff have been able to visit other settings to see prospective children, and we have invited children and parents to visit our setting after school so we can meet you and your child, benefit from your knowledge of your own child and any friendship groups so that we can gain a perspective. We are then able to have a better picture to sort children into the 3 classes or stations.

It is important for you to remember how our Reception setting works which allows free flow across the whole Reception environment meaning that the children don’t stay in their class station separate from the others.

In June of the summer term of the Reception year, with the benefit of all the knowledge we have gathered about the children since their start the previous September, the Reception staff team consider which classes they will go into for the beginning of Year 1. This then enables us to consider the mix of each particular class to ensure they are best balanced as they move into Key Stage 1.

(b) How do you settle the children in at the beginning of September?

• The official school term is scheduled to start on 4^th September 2024 with at least 1, possibly 2, Staff training days. Exact academic year dates are usually confirmed by April and can be found here: Bounds Green Term Dates.
• Over the following week our Reception staff team undertake home visits for children new to our School. We do not undertake home visits for children who have been in our School Nursery.
• After this we begin our ‘settling in’ period to enable all the children to become familiar and confident in their new environment. This typically sees the children attend for half days, with the children new to Bounds Green doing the morning session and collected at 11.30am, whilst ex-Nursery children attend the afternoon session (usually 12.30-3.25pm).
• This period usually lasts for around a week and is very important to allow the children to adjust and settle in. After this all the children will attend the morning session and stay for their first lunchtime at school together. Then collect afterwards at around 12.30pm.
• The following day sees the end of the ‘settling-in period’ and all the children stay for the whole day. At this point any children who are booked to do Breakfast or After School Club can start.
• More information with exact dates and details is shared with you in June.

6. How do you support my child at lunchtime?

This is a common, and understandable, concern some parents have. We take great care to support the Reception children at lunchtime, helping them with their lunch choices, keeping a close eye on their eating, their use of cutlery and so on. When they start we ensure the Reception children come to lunch earlier (about 11.30am) so they have the lunch hall to themselves. The Reception staff stay to support them alongside a number of lunchtime staff dedicated to Reception to ensure high adult:child staff ratios to give the children the attention they deserve.

At the time of writing all Infant children (Reception, Year 1 & Year 2 pupils) are able to have a Free School Meal as part of the Government’s Universal Free School Meals programme regardless of parental income. If you are offered and accept a school place at Bounds Green we will liaise with you about the fantastic lunch provision, menu and other information such as how we support dietary needs.

7. What about toilets?

Again a very common parental question and worry!

The Reception children have 2 sets of boys/girls toilets on either side of the Reception setting on the ground floor. These toilets are solely for the use of our Reception children and are not used by any other children. Their close proximity means they are easily accessible and staff are nearby.

As mentioned in earlier FAQ 2, we have a key focus on supporting the children’s own confidence as well as personal and emotional well-being, including a focus on developing their independence and self-help and care skills.

8. What happens if my child has an accident?

The Nursery Nurses attached to each Reception class/station hold a full first aid qualification (including a specialism with regard to children) and will attend to any child who has an accident/injury. The office staff team are similarly qualified, as well as key staff at lunchtime. Staff will contact parents as required in case of an injury.  

9. What happens next if I am interested in a Reception place? What is the process and what do I need to do?

To apply for the Reception class you will need to go online to www.eadmissions.org.uk

Please read through the Primary Admissions Booklet as this will give you information on how to apply, as well as what criteria the borough uses when allocating places, and it will also give you information on how places were allocated last year: Primary Admissions Booklet. In the booklet you will see that the ‘distance of last child offered’ for Bounds Green was 0.3736miles, please note that this distances changes every year depending on many factors, and is only what the last offer was as of April. Between the official offers going out in April and the children starting in September there does tend to still be movement, including even into September once the children are starting school. So please don’t be discouraged by the catchment area distance, if you feel that we are the right school for your family then do put our school into your choices, and we hope to see you very soon.

Testimonials

“Our daughter started at Bounds Green Reception in September 2020, the school managed the introduction fantastically especially with the challenges of Covid-19.
The Teachers did everything they could to make the children feel comfortable and now into the 2nd half term we continue to love the school, the teachers and the environment that had been created for a safe, fun and educational place. Communication from the school is thorough, regular enough and I feel I understand enough about my daughters development and day.”

Reception Parent, Bounds Green School