Nursery Admissions

Message from our Chair of Governors

We are delighted that you are considering making an application for your child to join our wonderful nursery.  St Joseph’s is a very special place where our pupils are supported on their educational journey by a fantastic, committed teaching staff. I am so proud to be the Chair of Governors and I can promise you that your child will be cherished at our school.  We are a Passionist congregation school, with close links to St Joseph’s Church in Highgate. Catholic life is at the heart of our school and our staff work hard to develop and support the faith of each child who attends.

As a Catholic school, you will see that our admissions criteria prioritise children from practising Catholic families. As such, we require evidence of regular attendance at Mass, and being known to your priest. I would recommend that you discuss the certificate of Catholic practice with your parish priest, or the priest of the church you normally attend, at an early stage. Unfortunately without a baptism certificate and priest’s reference your child will not fall within categories 1 through 5 of our admissions criteria.  St Joseph’s is a popular school and we normally have to apply our oversubscription criteria.

Finally, I wanted to remind prospective parents that as part of our acceptance procedures you will be asked to sign an agreement with the school, agreeing to co-operate with the school in your child’s Catholic education.  I look forward to welcoming you and your child to St Joseph’s.

Yours sincerely

Dr Paul Lasok,
Chair of Governors

Nestled in the midst of a busy community, St Joseph’s Catholic Nursery is an oasis of calm and provides fantastic outdoor, woodland space for children to explore. Our wonderfully spacious and colourful learning environment has the most up-to-date facilities to encourage your child’s development, providing a happy and secure stepping-stone from which your child can progress onto ‘big’ school.

Our staff are highly qualified, dedicated and caring, with a wealth of experience in delivering early years education. We provide a free hot lunch for all full-time children.

We offer fun packed activities across the week to develop skills and understanding through play. The children are presented with a wide range of practical experiences intended to motivate, stimulate and challenge and which promote learning through experience and encouragement of independence.

Application Process

We offer both part time and full time places for our Nursery children.

The Admissions Policy which sets out the criteria for offering places at the school, as determined by the Board of Governors, is available to download by clicking on the link below:

• Nursery Admissions Policy 2022 -2023 final version
• Nursery Supplementary Information Form – Nursery Application

Along with your Supplementary Information Form, you will need to bring to the school office your child’s original baptism certificate as well as a Certificate of Catholic Practice, obtained from your priest.  We also require two proofs of address, one of which should have your child’s name on it.  Examples of acceptable proofs of address include bank statements, benefits statements, and doctor / hospital letters.

Our over-subscription criteria shown in our Admissions Policy above will show you how we rank applications from both Catholic and non-Catholic applications.

Gaining a place in St Josephs Nursery does not guarantee a place in the main school. Further details regarding admission to the Main School are available from the school office or by visiting our Reception / In Year Admissions page.

Parish Boundaries

• St. Joseph’s Parish Boundaries
• St Gabriel’s Parish Boundaries

Children with SEND

If your child has a Special Educational Need and/or Disability (SEND) and you are considering St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School’s Nursery for their nursery education we would encourage you to contact our SENDCO – Mrs Noronha: SEND@st-josephs.islington.sch.uk) before applying in order to make a face-to-face appointment  with her in order to discuss your child’s needs and so that she can talk through how we support children with SEND in our nursery.  Our SENDCO will begin transition work for children with SEND following the allocation and acceptance of nursery spaces.

The SEND Code of Practice places a legal duty for all local authorities to fund and offer a Parent Partnership Service.  This is a statutory service which offers free, confidential and impartial information, guidance, advice and support  for parents/carers of children with special educational needs around their education. Islington Special Education Needs Directory

Please refer to the following page for more information about our Special Education Needs provision  https://st-josephs.islington.sch.uk/about-st-josephs/sen/

Nursery Fees – Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Funded Childcare offer?

All 3 year old children are able to access a FREE part-time 15 hour place the term after their child turns 3.

How do I find out about my 30 hour eligibility and get a code?

Many working parents of 3 and 4 year-olds could also be eligible to receive 30 hours funded childcare.  Use the following website to find out more information about paying for childcare www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.  HMRC recommends applying by the 31st December, March & July in order for the school to receive the funding.  If an eligibility code is not received before a child starts parents may have to pay for the provision.  Parents must provide the code to school as soon as they receive it.  The extended 30 hour entitlement is intended to support working parents with the cost of childcare and enable them, where they wish, to return to work or work additional hours.  The government has an online eligibility checking tool for parents/carers at https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/.

You will need to use this tool to check your eligibility. If eligible, you will receive a code which you give to the school office together with your National Insurance Number and your child’s date of birth.  Providers must validate a code before they can receive funding for your nursery place.   Eligibility codes will be valid for a certain period of time and you will be reminded by the HRMC to re-confirm your eligibility every 3 months.

If I am not eligible for 15 hours or 30 hours how much do I need to pay?

For non-eligible children there is a charge of £90 per week for all part-time places (8:40 am – 11:45 am) and extended hour arrangements including lunch (11:55 am – 3:15 pm) is also available for those parents who accept a part-time place at a total charge of £180 per week. Children who are 3 years old and are not eligible for a 30 hour code would pay a charge of £90 per week for the full-time provision (8:40 am – 3:15 pm).