Admissions procedure

All families considering registering a prospective pupil are encouraged to visit the school on Open Mornings and School in Action Days or, ideally, to make an individual appointment during the working day by contacting Miss Kim Stevenson, Head of Admissions admissions@westhouseprep.com

Parents should then complete the Registration Form and return it to the Head of Admissions along with the non – refundable registration fee, a photograph of the prospective pupil and proof of the child’s nationality in the form of a passport or, in the absence of a passport, a birth certificate (for foreign nationals please see below). Parents will then be contacted to arrange a convenient day on which the prospective pupil may spend a morning at the school.

West House is not rigorously selective on academic criteria. Places within the EYFS are offered on a first-comers basis, subject to a taster session arranged via the EYFS Department following receipt of the Registration Form and fee. However, external candidates for Years 1 – 6 will undertake an assessment of reading, writing, spelling and maths consistent with expectations for their age.

At the time of registration, parents are asked if there are any serious medical conditions or disabilities in respect of the prospective pupil that the school should be made aware of. In assessing any prospective pupil, the school may request specialist advice and assessments as appropriate so that it can plan for any reasonable adjustments that may be necessary. The school will be sensitive to any requests for confidentiality.

Prospective pupils should wear clothes that they feel most comfortable in when spending their morning at the school.

This information will be used by the School during the admissions process in order to manage your application. More information about how your data is used, stored and shared can be found in the Data Protection Policy.

If your child is not offered a place, or if you don not accept the offer of a place, we will only retain this information for as long as we need to. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, information is kept for 12 months after the end of the admissions process.

Following the initial visit, a member of the Senior Management Team will discuss with parents the outcome of assessments, where relevant, and provide general feedback. Parents will receive a verbal indication of whether a place is to be offered at that meeting, where possible.

The formal offer of a place for pupils entering the school at any stage is subject to:

1. The availability of a place;
2. A consideration of whether the care and education provided by West House School is in the best interests of the prospective pupil (please refer to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy).
3. A consideration of which pupils applying for a place will most benefit from the education that the school will provide (please refer to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy).
4. A preference being given to siblings of existing pupils.
5. The school being satisfied that the offer would not have an adverse effect on the care and education of other pupils at the school (please refer to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy).
6. A satisfactory performance in the assessments where appropriate.
7. A right to be educated within the UK.

The offer of a place will be confirmed in writing by the Headmaster. Should parents wish to accept the offer, they are required to complete the Conditions and Acceptance Form and return it to the school. This should be accompanied by an Acceptance Deposit for all pupils. The deposit is offset against the leaver’s bill when the pupil finishes at the school with the net balance refunded.

Where the school agrees to provide additional educational input, such as in the case of providing support with dyslexia or speech and language support, there is no additional charge for the service.

The offer of a place at the school remains at the discretion of the Headmaster, after consultation with appropriate members of staff.

While the school does not actively seek to recruit from overseas, such enquiries are given due consideration based on the criteria above and on the basis that the child has a right to be educated in the UK. In making an offer of a place to a foreign national, the school will follow the requirements of UKVI such as the status of parental visas and those relating to prospective pupils. Parents will also be required to provide proof of a UK address before an offer can be finalised. The school is registered to accept overseas pupils on child student visas and will carry out all checks consistent with that registration.

As with all pupils, the attendance of pupils who are sponsored by the school via UKVI is closely monitored and the school will revoke the sponsorship where attendance does not meet the criteria of the sponsorship.

Admission to West House Early Years Department is open to both boys and girls with places allocated on ‘first comers’ basis and thereafter if there is a vacancy, in accordance with the criteria outlined above. However, pupils entering the school before Year 1 are not subject to an assessment. The school may wish to liaise with the Early Years setting from which a child might be moving but will only do so with parental permission.

Moving from West House Pre-School to Reception for existing boys is usually automatic but parents are required to complete a transfer form. Admission to Reception from within the school is not subject to academic ability. However, should the school have any significant behavioural or developmental concerns, these will be discussed with the parents in advance of the completion of the transfer form.

Moving from Pre-Prep to Prep at the end of Year 2 for existing pupils is usually automatic and is not subject to academic ability. However, should the school have significant behavioural concerns, these will be discussed with the parents.

While the school does not wish to exclude any prospective pupil on the grounds of disability, it is important that it is in a position to deliver an education and individual development in line with the general standards achieved by the pupil’s potential peers.

However, should the school be made aware of a disability in respect of a prospective pupil, it acknowledges its legal and moral obligation under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 to make reasonable adjustments so as not to put any disabled candidate at a substantial disadvantage to any other candidate.

The School has a policy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and a Three Year Accessibility Plan, which should be read in conjunction with this policy.

The school provides a small number of means tested bursaries and scholarships which are subject to an annual review. Further details are available from the Bursar who can be contacted via the main office on 0121 440 4097.

The school records the personal details of every pupil at the school in the admission register. The register includes the following information for every pupil:

• full name;
• name the pupil uses at school;
• sex;
• address;
• the full name and address of each of the pupil’s parents;
• which of the pupil’s parents, if any, the pupil normally lives with and at least one telephone number by which each such parent can be contacted in an emergency. The DfE’s advice is that where reasonably practicable, schools should hold an emergency contact number for more than one person for each pupil;
• day, month and year of birth;
• day, month and year of the pupil’s starting day at the school;
• name and address of the last school the pupil attended, if any.