Admissions
There are two kinds of admissions to Slade.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Admissions are for those children starting school for the first time in Reception Year and In Year Admissions, which happen once a child has already started school and there is a desire or need to transfer schools, or is new to the UK and is of school age.
Both of these are described in full below. If you have any questions, please contact us using the email address admissions@slade.kent.sch.uk.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Admissions
​​​We offer 60 places in our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS, or 'Year R') for new admissions (this is our Published Admissions Number). These places will be allocated by our admissions authority, Kent County Council, in accordance with the following criteria (in order of priority):
- Children in Local Authority Care
- Current Family Associations (siblings)
- Health and Special Access reasons
- Nearness of children's homes to school
EYFS Applications for September 2025
The application window to apply for the Early Years Foundation Stage (Year R) places to start primary school in September 2025 has now closed. If your child was born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021, and you need to make a late application, please contact the Kent County Council Education Helpline on 03000 41 21 21 as soon as possible for the next steps.
National Offer Day: Wednesday 16 April 2025
Everyone who has made an application for their child to start primary school in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Year R) will receive their offer of a place from Kent County Council via email on National Offer Day, Wednesday 16 April.
The offer will state which school your child has been allocated a place at, and will be sent to the email address from which the application was made.
If you are allocated a place at Slade and are happy with this offer
Please wait for our Welcome Email which will drop into your inbox on Wednesday 16 April. Our email will come from admissions@slade.kent.sch.uk and will follow that from Kent County Council. The email will detail what to do next, which will include letting us know that you will be accepting the place by Sunday 27 April and to send us proof of address documentation - details of acceptable documents will be included in our email.
If you are unhappy with your allocated place
If you are not satisfied with the offer you have been made, you are able to put yourself onto the waiting list of one or both of the two other schools you put on your original application. Information on how to do this will be included in your offer email from Kent County Council.
You are, however, advised strongly to accept the place that has been offered at this stage, as this means you will have a guaranteed place at a local school come 1 September. If you decline the place, KCC cannot guarantee where they will be able to reallocate your child in the case that the waiting list application is not successful. Where you have applied to be put on to a waiting list, you will find out by email from Kent County Council if this has been successful on the Reallocation Round of Offers, which takes place on Thursday 22 May.
If you have applied to be on the waiting list for a place at Slade through this method, but are not successful in the Reallocation Round, we will keep you on our waiting list that we maintain and you will become an 'In Year Applicant' (see below) which means that we would be able to contact you if a place subsequently becomes available after 22 May, through the summer and once the school year starts. There is no need to complete any more paperwork.
Appealing the Offer Decision
If your child is due to start Primary School in September 2025, you can appeal if you are refused a place at one of your preferred schools on National Offer Day (Wednesday 16 April 2025).
You need to submit your appeal before Tuesday 20 May 2025 for it to be considered by Friday 18 July 2025.
Any appeals received after this time will be heard within 40 school days from the deadline, or where reasonably possible in line with updated guidance from the Department for Education.
For late applications, appeals should be heard within 40 school days from the deadline for lodging appeals where possible, or within 30 school days of the appeal being lodged where reasonably possible in line with updated guidance from the Department for Education.
Useful links
In-Year Admissions
If you are looking to transfer your child from another primary school, please complete an in year admissions form and submit this directly to us. Slade Primary School applies the admissions criteria laid out by Kent County Council as described above in the EYFS Admissions section. Please click on the link below to find out more information about the criteria and for links to the application form required.
Please email your completed application form via our dedicated admissions email address:admissions@slade.kent.sch.uk
Useful links:
Visiting the School
For parents interested in joining Slade as an In Year transfer, we are unable to satisfy demand for tours before such time that an offer of a place has become available. Once this is the case, we will invite you in for a full 1-2-1 family tour before making up your mind whether to accept the place or not.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When should I apply for a place for my child?
Children start school when they are 4 rising 5 and all applications should be made via the Kent County Council in the year preceding their 5th birthday.
For example: Children who are born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020 need to apply in the application window which opens in November 2023 through to the closing date in mid January 2024 for admission to school in September 2024.
2. Can I put my name down on a waiting list now for a place for reception?
Slade Primary School does not keep a reception waiting list or expression of interest list.
3. What is your catchment area?
There is no official 'catchment area'. We fill our spaces using the criteria mentioned above - with the vast majority of spaces being filled by those living closest to the school (criteria 4). Although a set distance does not guarantee a successful application, and as a guide only from the last two years, the furthest distance from the school to gain a place under this criteria has been 1.3 Kilometres.
4. How are children allocated to a class when they start school?
Children are divided up into two classes in order of date of birth. We attempt, where possible to provide classes with an equal number of boys to girls, additional educational needs and other factors that will allow for a balanced year group.
5. What provision do you have out of school hours?
We have limited spaces wraparound provision at Slade for Breakfast Club, starting at 07:30 and for After School Club finishing at 17:30. Further details can be obtained on the relevant page on this website or by contacting yetis@slade.kent.sch.uk.