Admissions and Appeals

Welcome to Woodland Academy Trust and thank you for your interest in educating your child at one of our schools. The following notes are designed to provide guidance on enquiries or applications for places.

Woodland Academy Trust is the admission authority for the schools within the Trust and the allocation of school places has been delegated to the Local Authority School Admissions Teams.

You can visit our schools' websites for their admission arrangements:

Knockhall Primary School

Northumberland Heath Primary School

Peareswood Primary School

Willow Bank Primary School

In addition to the above schools we are excited to confirm Lime Wood Primary School will be welcoming Reception age children in September 2023. As a new free school, the application process for Lime Wood Primary School will be different to the application process for other primary schools within the Local Authority for this year. Our proposed admissions process has been created to comply with DfE policy and further details together with the application form can be found within the attached documents. 

Lime Wood Primary Application Form for 2023 2024
Admissions Arrangements Lime Wood Primary School 2023.24

Please note the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 Admission Policy has been updated in line with the requirements of the new School Admissions Code which came into force on 1 September 2021. Changes to the policies have been made to clarify the key issues around the admissions for vulnerable children, in-year admissions and Fair Access Protocols.

We welcome visits to our schools before application and are flexible in trying to ensure you can look around at a mutually convenient time. Please telephone the school office to make an appointment. If possible, we will try to arrange for a member of the Senior Leadership Team to be available for further questions.  Please check each school’s website for further details.

Applications for Reception places at one of our Bexley schools will be made in accordance with the Bexley Council coordinated admission arrangements.

Applications for Reception places at our Greenhithe school will be made in accordance with the Kent County Council coordinated admission arrangements. 

Information on our schools is displayed on their websites. The schools will use the timetable specified by the Local Authority each year and published annually to parents for admissions of pupils to primary schools. For detailed information, please check the Local Authority website.

In year admissions (those that take place to all other year groups) are made as places become available. We do have currently some spaces available across our schools and welcome enquiries. Formal applications can be made to Bexley or Kent as appropriate selecting your school of choice. Please contact the school office for further information.

Applications are considered for reception places annually. For ‘in year’ admissions, applications are considered as soon as a place becomes available. 

Waiting lists are maintained by the Local Authority and all enquiries should be made to them. Children on waiting lists are ranked according to the priority they have under the published admission arrangements. Waiting lists do not operate on a ‘first come first served’ basis; if new applicants have a higher priority, they will be ranked higher than those who have been on the list for some time.

Please see below links to in year admissions information:

London Borough of Bexley

Kent County Council

Each September, parents/carers of children in Year 6, are able to apply for secondary school places for the following year.

For detailed information, please check the Local Authority website.

Parents/carers who are not offered a place for their child will be entitled to appeal to an independent committee under the provisions of the:

School Standards and Framework Act, 1998.

A service level agreement has been taken out with Local Authority Independent Appeals Services and Clerks Associates to carry out the role of clerk to administer appeals hearings.

Information about the appeals process can be located under the Appeals section on the school website. 

Knockhall Primary School

Northumberland Heath Primary School

Peareswood Primary School

Willow Bank Primary School