Thank you for your interest in learning more about how to join WCPS
As we become a co-educational community, and we look forward to welcoming girls as well as boys, we want to ensure our admissions activities are inclusive to all families. It is our aim to have equal numbers of boys and girls in each year group, once co-education is fully established.
We understand and acknowledge that admissions timings vary, and don’t always align across different schools; boys’ schools, girls’ schools, and co-educational schools. Therefore, to achieve our aim of being truly co-educational, we are aligning our admissions timings to the needs of families who have either, or both, a son or a daughter. We also understand that children are very young when they come and see us, and that each child grows and develops at different rates. We are therefore, going forward, offering termly Getting to Know You sessions, rather than one session 20 months ahead of children joining us. As you read about our new approach in this booklet, we hope you can see how this gives you, as a prospective family, the choice as to when you think is best to enter our admissions process.
We remain committed to trying to find children who we think will thrive at WCPS. We welcome ambitious parents who expect high academic achievement whilst placing the pastoral care and mental wellbeing of their child at the forefront of all discussions and decisions.
We hope you will find this FAQ booklet useful, providing all the information you need about the changes to our admissions approach. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask me or my team.
Mr Andrew Forbes Headteacher, WCPS
What are we changing, and why?
Going forward we will now be offering termly Getting to Know You sessions, rather than one session 20 months ahead of children joining us.
Historically, our Getting to Know You sessions have always taken place nearly two years ahead of pupils joining the school. Due to demand for places, we have also always operated a ‘reserve list’ for children wishing to join our Reception class.
As is normal for all schools, families’ plans can change, meaning we have children who were planning to join WCPS relocate and are therefore no longer able to take up their space. There are also many new families moving to the area who wish to join the school.
This means there is always movement in and out of our reserve list, and we have, therefore, always run ad hoc additional Getting to Know You sessions throughout the year to accommodate these changes in circumstances. Historically, this has meant that many pupils who join our reserve list have still been able to join WCPS.
This decision has been made in response to increasing demand:
• We continue to have more families apply to WCPS than we have places available.
• We are also now experiencing higher numbers of parents enquiring about spaces at WCPS throughout the academic year preceding their child’s entry year.
• High levels of interest and demand continue from families of boys, and we are delighted our announcement to move to co-education has resulted in high numbers of prospective girls’ families too.
We are now holding termly Getting to Know You sessions
Entry year
Child’s date of birth
Getting to Know You
Spring session 1
Getting to Know You
Summer session 1
Getting to Know You
Autumn session 1
Getting to Know You
Spring session 2
Getting to Know You
Summer session 2 *
This will continue to be our main Getting to Know You session. If families wish to secure their place at WCPS, due to high demand, they should aim to attend this first session.
Families should be aware that joining these later sessions will likely mean they are joining our reserve entry list. However, many pupils who join our reserve list have still been able to join WCPS.
* Please note, to avoid undue disappointment, we may choose to not offer this session if our Reserve list is too long.
Reception 2027
01 September 2022 to 31 August 2023
January 2026
Reception 2028
01 September 2023 to 31 August 2024
Reception 2029
01 September 2024 to 31 August 2025
5th January 2027 January 2028
3rd June 2026 June 2027 June 2028
25th November 2026 November 2027 November 2028
24th February 2027 February 2028 February 2029
May 2027 * May 2028 * May 2029 *
Please be assured that:
• We will be holding separate Getting to Know You sessions for each year group of entry. Your child will only be with their peers, not with children looking for entry the following year.
• All Getting to Know You sessions will follow a similar format; they are friendly sessions where your child will play and interact with other children and our experienced staff. There is not an academic examination as part of our process.
What happens after my child has attended a Getting to Know You session?
We will either offer your child:
• A place at WCPS: we think your child would thrive at WCPS and we would like to make them an offer to join us. At this point we ask parents to confirm acceptance and pay a non-refundable deposit to secure this space.
• A place on our reserve list: we think your child would thrive at WCPS, but we don’t have enough places available to make them an offer at present. Your child will stay on the reserve list until a place becomes available. At which point, we will ask you to confirm acceptance and pay a non-refundable deposit to secure this space.
• The opportunity to come back again for a deferred Getting to Know You session. This means that we think your child is not quite ready to show their full potential and would like to invite them to come back another time. Given our prospective pupils’ young age, we offer children the chance to come back for one more Getting to Know You session a term, or two, later. It is the family’s choice when they prefer to book their child’s next Getting to Know You session –either in the following term, or to leave it more than one term.
Please note we do not:
• share how many places are allocated in any given year as this varies
• share the length of our reserve list or your child’s place on it
• offer any feedback on why children have been offered a reserved place or been invited back for a deferred Getting to Know You session
• offer any guidance to families on which additional Getting to Know You session to attend
• offer a third Getting to Know You session.
Which Getting to Know You session should my child attend?
We understand that different parents will have different preferences. Our recommendation, where possible, would be to join our main Getting to Know You session in January. This allows you to secure your child’s place early (20 months away from joining), or to join our reserve list as early as possible.
However, some parents may prefer to wait for their child to develop and progress, before they join a Getting to Know You session. Other parents may simply not be able to attend 20 months in advance, as they have only recently moved to the area or find their personal circumstances have changed.
What should my child expect at the Getting to Know You session?
The children are incredibly young, so our entry process is focused on us getting to know them in a friendly and fun environment. Held in one of our Reception classrooms, the setting will feel familiar to those children who attend a nursery. There will be activities on offer that are specifically designed to enable your child to relax and be themselves. We are looking for potential, rather than what has already been learnt. During the session our Early Years specialists will be looking for each child’s language and social skills, as well as number, physical and creative skills.
In our Getting to Know You Spring session 1, the children are divided into their age groups, with 10 to 12 in each group. Children who are born in September, for example, will not be in the same group as children born in August. Where possible, when making offers, we aim for an even spread of birthdays throughout each year group to ensure a good class dynamic.
Our subsequent Getting to Know You sessions are run in a same way, the only difference is the number of children taking part may vary.
What
gender balance and class
sizes
are you planning for your first co-educational Reception cohort in 2027 and going forward?
Our aim is to provide a truly co-educational experience at WCPS and we are carefully working towards a balance of boys and girls in our Reception cohort.
Each year group at WCPS will have either three or four classes. This varies to accommodate the overall size of our school.
Do places become available after your main Reception entry?
Occasional places arise from time to time in all year groups due to relocations and changes in family circumstances.
When a space becomes available, we will revert in the first instance to the Reserve list for this year group – to ascertain if any family would wish to move to WCPS at this later point.
Families looking for a place after our Reception intake in September, having recently moved to the area, should contact the School Office to log their interest and to check for current details of availability. Families would need to register their child, before they are invited to a Getting to Know You session. We will also request a report from their nursery or current school.
