Starting Nursery 

Children born between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023 can start Nursery in September 2026. We have Nursery provision at both Brindishe Green and Brindishe Manor.

At Brindishe Green, we offer 15 and 30 hour funded places, 15-hour places are mornings only for 3 hours 8.45am – 11.45am and 30-hour places are 6 hours a day 8.45am – 2.45pm 5 sessions per week.

Timings

Brindishe Green:

Morning places (15hours) are from 8.45am - 11.45am.

Full time places (30hours) are from 8.45am - 2.45pm.

Brindishe Manor:

Morning places (15hours) are from 9.00am - 12.00noon.

Full time places (30hours) are from 9.00am - 3.00pm.

To find out if you are eligible for 30 hours of free childcare please click here to check the eligibility criteria.

Applications can be made at any time after your child’s 2nd birthday. They can be obtained by emailing the school office.

Nursery places are allocated to children within the nursery age range (i.e. between 3 years and the start of the academic year in which they will be 5). We do not allocate places to children whose parents have delayed admission to reception class.

In line with Lewisham’s Admission Criteria, where there is over-subscription, priority is given to:

1. Children in public care (i.e. looked after by the local authority)
2. Children with acute medical or social needs (the application must be supported by a letter from a professional such as a doctor or a social worker)
3. Applicants whose sibling is on roll at the main school (either Brindishe Green Brindishe Manor) on the closing date for applications and will still be on roll at Brindishe Green or Brindishe Manor Primary School at the intended date of admission. Siblings include all blood or adoptive siblings, half-siblings, foster siblings of Looked After Children and step-siblings. Siblings must all live at the same address as the child applying. Proof of the sibling relationship may be required.
4. Children in Year 6 of a mainstream primary school and who will have transferred to secondary school by the time the younger child is admitted to the nursery do not meet sibling priority.
5. If the school is over-subscribed entirely with siblings, priority will be given to those with exceptional social and medical needs.
6. If any places remain unfilled, priority will be offered to children who live closest to the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line using digitalised mapping software.
7. All distances will be measured to a central nodal point in the school premises, using digitalised mapping software of the area, from a nodal point in the applicant’s permanent home address. If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. flats), priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically.

Offers are made approximately 4 months before September when a child is due to start.

Unsuccessful applicants do not have the right of appeal however, the child’s name can be placed on a waiting list.

Please note that a place in the Nursery does not guarantee a place in the Reception Class at any of the Brindishe Schools. You must apply separately, at the appropriate time, online to the Local Authority.

Starting Reception

Children born between 1st September 2021 and 31 August 2022 are due to start in a primary school in September 2026.

Applications can be made from 1st September 2025 to 14th January 2026.

You should apply online directly to your home Local Authority (i.e. the borough where you live and pay council tax) at:  https://www.eadmissions.org.uk

If you are unable to apply online, please contact the Admissions Team at the Local Authority (020 8314 8282). 

Parents should apply for six schools, which can be within Lewisham or any authority outside the borough. Schools must be ranked in order of preference (you should have previously checked your chosen schools’ admission criteria).

Where there is oversubscription, priority is given to:

1. Children in public care (i.e. looked after by the local authority)
2. Children with acute medical or social needs (the application must be supported by a letter from a professional such as a doctor or a social worker)
3. Applicants whose brother or sister is on roll on the closing date for applications and will still be on roll at the intended date of admission. Siblings include all blood or adoptive siblings, half-siblings, foster siblings of Looked After Children and step-siblings. Siblings must all live at the same address as the child applying. Proof of the sibling relationship may be required.
4. Children of staff - Priority to children of staff will be given only where the member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, and/or the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.
5. If any places remain, unfilled priority will be offered to children who live closest to the school. Distance will be measured in a straight line using digitalised mapping software.
6. All distances will be measured to a central nodal point in the school premises, using digitalised mapping software of the area, from a nodal point in the applicant’s permanent home address. If more than one applicant lives in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. flats), priority will be given to the applicant whose door number is the lowest numerically and/or alphabetically.

When applying online, you will receive an automated email confirming receipt of your application and a reference number. You will also be able to make any changes to your application up until the January deadline.

National offer day is 16th April 2026. Online applicants will get the result by email during the evening of the 16th April 2026 from the Local Authority.

You will need to accept your offer direct to the Local Authority by logging into your account, so it is important to keep a record of your username and password.

At a later date, we will contact you to advise you of the date of the induction meeting which both you and your child are invited to attend.

For more information about applying to start primary school, please visit the Lewisham Council Website including:

1. Important Dates
2. How to Apply for a Primary School Place
3. Deciding Which Primary Schools to Apply For
4. Supporting Evidence
5. Admissions Criteria
6. Last Year's application and appeal rates
7. Applying after the Closing Date
8. The Preference System

In Year Admissions – Yrs 1-6

Once the school year has started, applications for places in Year 1 -6 and reception should be made online direct to Lewisham Local Authority - for more information click here

Offers are made in accordance with the admission criteria as listed in the 'Starting Reception' section above. Offers will be made to you direct from the Local Authority. They will inform the school of any offers made.

The school will then contact you to arrange an induction interview with the Deputy or Assistant Head of School. The Deputy or Assistant Head of School will ask for all relevant details concerning the child’s health, welfare and previous attainment. The parent/carer will be given the opportunity to ask any questions they might have about the school. If there are no places available, the Local Authority also hold the waiting list for these year groups.

Children transferring from one local school to another should not transfer to the new school until the start of the following half-term unless both the home school and receiving school agrees an earlier admission date.

In certain circumstances, Lewisham will consider a request for delayed admission for an older child. This is under the updated “summer born” guidance from the DfE.

• The application should be supported by the child’s nursery/primary headteacher and/or an educational psychologist confirming that the child has a learning delay or difficulty, and their social maturity is well below that of their peers.
• The parent agrees that their child will transfer to primary/secondary school with the later cohort regardless of the outcome of their applications and had not participated in the transfer scheme the year before.

In cases described above, parents must consider the implications of an earlier or later transfer, as headteachers of primary/secondary schools are not required to continue to keep the child out of the year group and may decide to later educate the child in the correct year.

Deferred admission to primary school - Lewisham offer early admission to reception classes to children before they reach statutory school age. Parents/carers have the option of deferring their child’s admission to reception to a later term, e.g. the start of the spring or summer term. However, the child must be admitted to school during the reception year and not beyond it. Alternatively, the parent may arrange for their child to be admitted on a part-time basis up to the point they reach statutory school age. Parents may not defer their child’s admission beyond reception year or after the beginning of the term after their child’s fifth birthday. We advise speaking with the school regarding any deferral requests. 

Early Admission:

In very exceptional circumstances, Lewisham will consider a request for admission out of the cohort for a younger child.

• The application may be supported by the child’s nursery/primary headteacher and/or an educational psychologist confirming that the child is academically outstanding and sufficiently physically and emotionally mature to cope with the demands of primary/secondary school.
• The parent agrees that their child will transfer to primary/secondary school with the earlier cohort regardless of the outcome of their applications and will not qualify to participate in the transfer scheme the following year.

Appeals for statutory school admissions will be heard in accordance alongside the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and the Education Act 2002, together with the School Admissions Appeals Code. Parents will have the right of appeal to any school that has refused their child a place. On time appeals for reception and secondary transfer phases for community schools will be heard during the summer term prior to the child’s admission to school.

Parents whose appeal has been unsuccessful will not be able to apply and subsequently appeal again for a place at the same school in the same academic year, unless there are significant and material changes to the child or family’s circumstances. Documentary proof of such changes will be required from the appropriate professional(s) working with the family.

Children with SEND

Most children and young people with special educational needs can get the support they need in mainstream schools.  However, some children need extra support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

There is a separate application process for children with an EHCP. 

For more information, click here https://lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/special-educational-needs/admissions

Alternatively, contact the Children with Complex Needs Service on 020 9049 1475 or via email to sen@lewisham.gov.uk 

For more information and advice on applying to start school or an in-year admission:

• Visit the Lewisham Council Website (https://lewisham.gv.uk/myservices/education/schools/school-admission )
• Speak to a member of the Admissions and Appeals Team on 0208 314 8282

(Lines are open Tuesday-Thursday, 9am - 1pm)

• Email the Admissions and Appeals Team schooladmissions@lewisham.gov.uk
• For independent advice you can contact ACE Education Advice on 0300 0115 142 (lines are open Monday - Wednesday, 10am - 1pm) or visit their website: www.ace-ed.rg.gov.uk