Admissions Update

We’re accepting registrations for places in Reception and Year 3 for 2020 now. We are also registering interest for Year 4 in 2020, should we decide to split the class. Limited places are also available for admission in other years. Contact us to find out more.

Parents who are interested are urged to contact the Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley, on 01788 523851 or by email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

Applications for places in the current Reception up are treated on an individual basis as places are limited. Once full we operate waiting groups.

Most of our pupils enter at Reception and at Year 3, though pupils are welcome at any age, dependent on a place being available.

Places in other years are limited and in years where there is no place available we operate waiting groups. A meeting with Joe Thackway, the Headmaster, is a key part of the admissions process. We encourage prospective parents and pupils to visit us both formally and informally to get a true flavour of the school. We hold various Open Events throughout the year, including a specific Reception Open Evening in November, which prospective parents and pupils are most welcome to attend.

Our Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley, will be pleased to talk you through the admissions process and current availability, contact her on 01788 523851 or email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

To request a prospectus please click here.

For a copy of our Registration Form click here. To download our current Crescent Information Booklet click here. 

Reception 2020 

Early Bird applicants

Siblings of Crescent pupils, those attending Pathfinders Nursery, and any external candidates with a strong interest in a place in Reception, are able to apply early and take advantage of a priority application process. The deadline for taking advantage of this priority arrangement is Monday 25 November 2019. Please return your completed Registration Form with the accompanying fee of £50 (non-returnable) by this date. Your child will be visited in their nursery setting by one of the Early Years Team, and subject to availability and a satisfactory visit offer letters will be sent out first class on Monday 16 December 2019 with a Confirmation of Acceptance Form, which we ask you to complete and return to us together with a deposit of £300 by the acceptance deadline of Monday 6 January 2020.

On-time applicants

Applicants interested in a place in Reception following similar timescales to the state application process, need to register by the deadline of Monday 3 February 2020; once we have received your completed Registration Form and accompanying fee of £50 (non-returnable) your child will be visited in their nursery setting by one of the Early Years Team. Subject to availability and a satisfactory visit, offer letters to applicants will be sent out first class on Friday 6 March 2020 with a Confirmation of Acceptance Form, which we ask you to complete and return to us together with a deposit of £300 by the acceptance deadline of Monday 27 April 2020.

Current Reception to Year 6

Applications for places in the current Reception to Year 6 will be treated on an individual basis as places are limited. In years where there is no place available we operate waiting groups. Please contact Helen Morley, our Registrar, to discuss these on an individual basis.

Should the possibility of a potential place become available you will be invited in to meet with Mr Thackway, the Headmaster, then if appropriate you should complete a Registration Form and return it with the accompanying fee of £50 (non-returnable), after which time your child will be invited in for a taster day.

During the taster day children will be assessed both formally and informally. Children in Year 3-6 take a short online assessment to help us gauge their current levels of understanding. Younger children may have a reading age assessment and of course will produce written language and number work as part of their day in school.

Once a taster day is arranged, we will contact you to advise that we plan to seek a reference from your child’s current school. Following the taster day, confirmation of a place being offered would be made in writing subject to a satisfactory reference being received.

To secure your place return your completed Confirmation of Acceptance Form with a deposit of £300 within 14 days of the date of the offer being made.

The final deadline for applications and completed registration forms for entry in September 2020 is Friday 22 May 2020. All incoming pupils need to have completed the admissions process by Friday 12 June 2020 to enable your child to attend our Induction Morning. (Although a place at Crescent School may become available after this date, and applications will be processed, we cannot guarantee availability of places.)

Note: Deposits are refunded after the end of the final term which the pupil spends at the school provided that the correct amount of notice has been given and the final account is settled in full.

Induction

New pupils are given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the school, staff and fellow pupils when they are invited to our Induction Morning in the Trinity Term.

We ask all prospective pupils for Crescent School to join us for a taster day which they will spend with their current year group participating in lessons and activities. 

A taster day can be arranged with Mrs Helen Morley, our Registrar, or another member of the office staff. We are flexible about when we can offer taster days and will look to find a mutually convenient date.  Where possible, we will choose a day when the timetable includes a child’s favourite subjects so that they get the most out of the day and we can see them at their best.

If parents have not already met with Mr Thackway, the Headmaster, we will ask them to do this prior to arranging a taster day.  This is an important step in our admissions process as it gives us an opportunity to find out more about individual children so that we can pass on information to the form tutor should they go on to join us for a taster.

Taster days typically run from 8.40am to 3.45pm for applicants for Years 1 to 6.  For those children who will be entering Reception the following academic year, the arrangements are different, one of our Early Years Team will go out to visit them in their nursery setting.

Children in Years 3 and above will be asked to take a short online test in verbal reasoning and non verbal reasoning with a little Maths included, although we take care that this is done in a low-key manner so that they do not feel that they are sitting an exam.

In offering a place, we take the child’s performance in these tests into consideration. However we look at the results together with feedback from the class teacher regarding the child’s behaviour, involvement in class and willingness to learn. 

Children participating in a taster day should wear their current school uniform.  A school lunch will be provided for them. Children should also bring a water bottle and a snack for break time. They may also require a games kit including trainers for outside use and football boots.

We ask you to let us have a completed registration form and accompanying £50.00 registration fee before the taster day. Please include any medical and dietary information of which we should be aware and any information regarding specific learning needs. 

Mr Thackway, the Headmaster, will provide feedback as soon as possible following a taster day.  We may wait to receive references from the child’s current school or nursery setting before deciding on the offer of a place.

The Foundation's senior school Princethorpe College is still accepting registrations for September 2020 entry.

The Entrance Exams for 2020 take place on Saturday 9 November 2019. The deadline for registrations is Friday 4 October 2019. There are still opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the College, including an Open Morning on Thursday 26 September from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

For more information click here to see the latest Princethorpe Admissions Update newsletter.

If you have any questions about the College's admissions process please contact the Registrar, Vanessa Rooney, on 01926 634201 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Our onsite partner Nursery provision is delivered by Pathfinders Day Nursery, formerly known as Nature Trails at Crescent, and judged 'outstanding' by Ofsted at their recent inspection.

The Pathfinders children enjoy many shared activities with the school and the Reception class.

It is our hope that many of the children in the Nursery will follow through into our Reception class in the September after their 4th birthday. As such, the Nursery staff are conscious of the need to prepare the children for school and the children are made to feel an integral part of the school from the day they join.

For further information about Pathfinders visit their website here or call Rachel Ward, Nursery Manager on 01788 813666.