Reception Admissions

Choosing the right school for your child is one of the most important responsibilities for a parent/carer.  Although this website can not possibly convey the full atmosphere of care, excitement for learning and excellence that we foster, hopefully you will find the information that you need to help you to make that choice. 

Bowdon Church School is one of the highest performing primary schools nationally but the success of our pupils in national tests and as they move on to secondary schools presents only a narrow view of the experiences offered here.  We are equally proud of our fully inclusive approach to children with special needs, of the numbers of children opting to be involved in sport, the creative and performing arts, our work in the community, the development of enterprise and our promotion of a healthy way of life. 

The strong partnerships between governors, staff, children, parents, our churches and the local community contribute to the achievements, the facilities and the forward thinking approach of the school.

In order to fully appreciate the standards and the opportunities offered by a Primary Education at Bowdon Church School, the staff and governors warmly invite all prospective parents to visit us and see the school in action for themselves. To arrange a visit, please telephone the school office on 0161 928 8907.

Please see the documents below for further details and for our admissions arrangements.  It is important to:

1.  Complete an application with Trafford admissions at Trafford residents Primary school-admissions  by 15th January 
2. Complete the additional form to be returned to us.  This will help us to make decisions based on our oversubscription criteria.

Parents who are applying for a Foundation Place (church links) for their child, need to record their church attendance using the sign in sheets or record cards provided by the churches.  Please speak to a member of the youth team or a church warden if you are unsure of how this operates.

In the event that during the period specified for attendance at worship the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship, the requirements of these [admissions] arrangements in relation to attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship.

Please note that places are reserved for local children who may not have an affiliation to a church, however as an Anglican Church Aided School; RE, collective worship and the whole ethos of the school are based on Christian values.  

Further information about admissions to Trafford schools can be found here: https://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/schools/school-admissions/Admissions.aspx 

Important update to the admissions policy from September 2021

From 1^st September the highest priority is given to “looked after children and all previously looked after children, including those children who appear (to the admission authority) to have been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted".

A 'looked after child' is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (see the definition in Section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989) at the time of making an application to a school.
A child is regarded as having been in state care outside of England if they were in the care of, or were accommodated by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other provider of care whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.

What can I do if my child has not been allocated a place?

If your child has not been allocated a place and you feel that the admissions policy has not been correctly applied, you have the right to appeal and the information for accessing the process is included below.

Please note that you should only appeal in rare circumstances and not just because this school was your first choice and you were not successful in gaining a place for your child.

If you do not have grounds for appeal and would like to be considered for any places that may become available, please ask to go onto the waiting list.  It is very unusual for us not to have one or two places available as the summer goes on.  We would advise that you accept the school that you are offered and register for the waiting list here.  Sometimes parents move jobs after the allocation of places and one becomes available in September.