Admissions
If you would like your child to start at our either Hilgay Riverside Academy or Ten Mile Bank Riverside Academy, please contact the appropriate office for further information or to arrange a visit.
Further information about children starting school is available on the Norfolk County website.
Timetable for school admissions for September 2023
First admission to school (pupils born between 1/9/2018 and 31/8/2019)
- Round Opens: 26 September 2022
- Round Closes: 15 January 2023
- Offer Day: 17 April 2023
By law, children must start statutory education full-time at the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday.
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Details of application process and a link to the online application form can be found here.
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If you are considering applying to defer your child's admission to Reception class to the following school year read the guidance below:
Useful links:
- Guidance on deferring your child’s Reception place until the following year
- Department for Educations advice on the admission of summer born children
Moving schools (in-year transfer)
A move to a different school at any time other than admission to reception, transfer to junior or transfer to secondary is known as an ‘in-year transfer’. This could be a move between Norfolk schools or a move to a Norfolk school from a school in a different area.
If you want to transfer to a school that is not in Norfolk you will need to contact your new local authority to ask about their admissions process. Find your new local authority using the Government’s postcode finder.
Under no circumstances should you withdraw your child from their current school before an alternative school place has been allocated.
Apply online
Read the In-Year Admissions Guidance download before you begin your application.
Please note that all applications will be dealt with as quickly as possible but can take up to 15 school days.
When to apply
Children will usually start their new school at the start of the next term. The timetable below shows the date ranges for applications for each term.
If the family has moved a significant distance and travel to their current school is unreasonable, the below timetable does not apply – the Admissions Team will process the application as soon as it is received.
Timetable for in-year transfers
| Application received | Start at new school |
|---|---|
| 5 July – 31 October | Spring term (after Christmas) |
| 1 November - 28/29 February | Summer term (after Easter) |
| 1 March - 31 May* | Autumn term (start of new school year) |
*Decisions regarding preference(s) will be sent out before the end of the summer term.
Timetable for late applications for Autumn term
| Application received | Date processed | Start at new school |
|---|---|---|
| 1 June – 4 July | After 4 July** | Autumn term |
| 5 July – 31 October | After 31 October | Spring term |
**Late applications will be considered after all on-time applications. Where possible we will send out decisions before the beginning of the new school year.
In some circumstances Norfolk County Council provide school transport - for further information visit Norfolk Gov website.
Appeal process
If you are unsuccessful in getting a place at Riverside Federation of schools, details of the appeal process can be found here.
School admission policy : 2023/2024
If there are more applications for places than there are places available, we will give preference to children living nearest to the school, according to the following rules in this order of priority:
Children who are due to start school and:
- have a statement of special educational needs naming that school
- are in public care or have been adopted. children who appear to the Admission Authority to have been in state care (i.e. in the care of or accommodated by a public authority, religious organisation or any other provider whose sole/main purpose is to benefit society) outside of England but ceased to be so as a result of being adopted only.
- live in the area served by the school and who have a sibling attending the school at the time of their admission
- live in the area served by the school who have a brother or sister attending the feeder junior school
- have a disability and live in the area served by the school (Appropriate professional evidence will be required to confirm the disability)
- live in the area served by the school
- have been allocated a permanent place at a Specialist Resource Base attached to the school. (Places allocated by Norfolk County Council's Placement panel)
- live outside the area served by the school who have a brother or sister with a statement of special educational needs attending the school at the time of their admission
- live outside the area served by the school who have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of their admission
- live outside the area served by the school who have a brother or sister attending the feeder junior school
- have a disability and live outside the area served by the school (Appropriate professional evidence will be required to confirm the disability)
- live outside the area served by the school
If all children within any of the above rules cannot be offered a place, the highest priority will be given to children living nearest to the school within that rule. To determine who lives nearest, distance will be measured on a straight line 'crow fly' basis, using Ordnance Survey data. The address will be measured from the post office address point on the property.
In the unlikely event that distance does not separate the final two or more pupils seeking the last remaining place, a random allocation will be used to determine who is offered the final place.
NOTE: Criteria 7 only applies to schools which have a Specialist Resource Base on site.
Feeder school priority will only apply in the first year of entry to the school.
Please contact the school should you have any questions.