This page will explain the steps you need to take to register your child for school (Primary and Secondary) and also answer some questions which you may have on things such as moving to the island, moving home, and appeals.
Primary School Applications
- The registration period for children born between the 1st September 2019 and the 31st August 2020 seeking to join Reception in September 2024 will open on the first day of the autumn term and close at 3pm on Friday 20th October 2023.
- Children may be registered after the registration period but will be assigned a lower priority if the availability of places is limited. The Committee for Education, Sport & Culture will endeavour to place them at their catchment school if there is sufficient capacity and resources.
- Children must be registered at their catchment primary school in all cases. Information about catchment areas can be found at www.gov.gg/catchmentareas .To register a child, please complete the following steps:
- the form from the 'Application Form' section below and return it to the catchment school, accompanied by:
- a photocopied proof of address (e.g. utility bill, signed lease or purchase agreement)
- a copy of your child's birth certificate
- photographic proof of your identity (e.g. driving licence or passport).
- If your child is a baptised Catholic you may choose to register them at one of the two Catholic primary schools (known as Voluntary Schools - Notre Dame du Rosaire Catholic Primary School or St Mary & St Michael Catholic Primary School.) The same process applies to these schools, however in addition, the application must be accompanied by the Catholic baptismal certificate.
- If you have any queries or would like a paper copy, please contact schooladmissions@gov.gg.
Primary School Application Form
- Please complete the below registration form and submit the completed form, along with the required supporting documentation, to your catchment school or voluntary Catholic school if your child is a baptised Catholic, which can be found at www.gov.gg/catchmentareas.:
Starting School arrangements - Reception Children
- All children joining a reception class at a States' Primary or voluntary School in September 2024 should expect to start school on or before Monday 16th September 2024 and will be able to attend on a full-time basis, including lunchtime, if they are ready to do so. For more information please follow this link:
Primary School Admissions Policy [372kb]
- The exact starting dates and arrangements will vary between individual schools, as some schools may choose to start reception children in small groups. In due course, Headteachers of the Primary Schools will write to parents/carers of children starting Reception in September 2024 to outline the school's settling in arrangements.
Transitioning to Secondary School
- The Committee for Education, Sport and Culture operates a partner school model such that in principle, children from groups of primary schools will be placed at their Primary School's Partner Secondary School Site, even if they no longer live within the catchment area of the primary school that they currently attend.
- For further information on the partner school model, please go to www.gov.gg/partnerschools.
- Admission to Special Schools is determined through the Formal Assessment Process.
- For more information please follow this link:
Secondary School Websites
- Want to find out more about the Secondary Schools? Please follow the below links to each of their individual websites:
- Les Varendes High School (formerly the Guernsey Grammar School) www.grammar.sch.gg
- The Guernsey Institute (TGI) http://www.guernseycollege.ac.gg/wp/
- La Mare De Carteret High School http://www.lamarehigh.com/
- Le Murier School http://www.lemurierschool.gg/
- Les Beaucamps High School www.lbhs.gg
- Les Voies http://www.lesvoies.com/
- St Anne's School Alderney http://alderney.sch.gg/
- St Sampson's High School https://stsampsonshigh.gg/
- Grant-aided Colleges:
- Blanchelande College www.blanchelande.co.uk
- Ladies College www.ladiescollege.com
- Elizabeth College www.elizabethcollege.gg
- Information on Secondary School transition arrangements can be found at www.gov.gg/partnerschools
Moving Schools - Changes of Address
- Children due to start Reception or currently registered in Year 6
- If a child registered for Reception, or currently within Year 6, changes address and subsequently moves into a different catchment area before the start of the new school year, parents/carers should advise Education Opreations as soon as possible in order that the child's placement may be considered.
- All other children
- When a child's home address changes and subsequently the catchment area to which they move differs to that of their previous address, parents/carers have two options available to them:
- 1. Submit a request for the child to continue attending the school at which they are currently registered or
- 2. Submit a request for the child to transfer into their actual catchment or partner school, based on the new address
- Moving to Secondary School
- If the child continues attending the primary school at which they are already registered, at the end of the primary phase children will transfer to the high school site that is partnered with their primary school.
- Requests for Transfers/Continued Attendance
- All transfer requests or requests for continued attendance where address has changed, should be addressed to The School Admissions Team in writing and must be accompanied by documentary proof of the child's new address. This needs to be either a utility bill no older than 3 months, signed tenancy agreement, a court document confirming proof of ownership of a property, or a Residence Order.
Out of Catchment Area Students (Primary only)
- Parents wishing to apply for an out of catchment placement will need to explain why it would be unreasonably detrimental for their child's education to attend their catchment school. The criteria for considering an out of catchment school are available in the downloads section of this page.
- These requests should be made by 3pm on Friday 20th October 2024. However, they can be submitted afterwards, but will be given a lower priority should the availability of space be limited.
Can I make a request for my child to attend a different secondary school site?
- Parents and carers are able to apply for their child to attend a different secondary school site from the one that is partnered with their primary school, if they can demonstrate that it would be unreasonably detrimental to their child's education to attend the identified site. These are referred to as 'Parent/Carer Request for an Out of Catchment Area/Partner Site' (PC-OCAPS).
- Circumstances in which it might be appropriate to make such requests include:
- Where a child has medical, psychological or specific social needs;
- Where an elder brother or sister attends, and will continue to attend, the requested school during the next school year;
- Where a school-based employee feels it would be unsuitable for their child to attend the school in which they work.
- Unreasonable transport arrangements (Secondary school only)
- Please bear in mind that capacity is limited at all secondary schools and therefore it may not be possible for such requests to be approved.
- For further information, please see the Secondary Admissions Policy and the PC-OCAPS Placement Criteria document, which are both available from the downloads section of this page.
- These requests must be made by 17:00 on Friday 5 January 2024.
Moving to Guernsey
- Primary School
- If you are moving to Guernsey with primary school age children you will need to fill out the following application form: Moving to Guernsey - School Admission Form
- You will then need to submit this to Education Operations along with:
- a photocopied proof of a Guernsey address (e.g. utility bill, signed lease agreement)
- a copy of your child's birth certificate
- photographic proof of your identity (e.g. driving licence or passport)
- If you wish for your child to attend one of the Catholic Primary Schools, please include a copy of their baptismal certificate.
- The application will not be processed without a proof of address. If you have any issues with producing a proof of address, please email schooladmissions@gov.gg to discuss further.
For those applying with SEN needs the information you provide will be passed to our SEN team. We would advise that The Bailiwick is a small jurisdiction within which a high quality set of educational supports and provisions are carefully managed.
In order to ensure that we are able to meet your child's educational needs and achieve a best match between those and a prospective school, we will require you to provide all relevant information on your child. This will include any past medical and therapeutic reports as well as assessments and intervention plans (such as Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) or the equivalent documentation from your previous education provider). We may also send further checklists, for your completion prior to arrival, in order to help us to ensure that we have a rich picture of your child's current functioning and needs.
Should we have received no prior information on your child's needs or incomplete details of past school and other service involvement, with your child, this will cause a delay in our being able to process your request. Further information will need to be gained from you, at that stage, in order for us to have confidence that the placement offer which is being made for your child, is most suitable.
This information must be provided in advance of arrival on island. We advise providing the information 1-2 months ahead of your arrival. For any applications received during the school holidays, we cannot guarantee a school placement for the beginning of term.
- You can either send this form by post to School Admissions, Sir Charles Frossard House, La Charroterie, St Peter Port, GY1 1FH or email it to us at schooladmissions@gov.gg
- Secondary School: Joining up to the first term of Year 10
- Children will be allocated the secondary school which is partnered with the primary school of their catchment area. Information about catchment areas can be found at www.gov.gg/catchmentareas
- Secondary School: Joining after the first term of Year 10 and Year 11
- Children will be allocated a place at the most appropriate school based on their current school's curriculum and their chosen examination subject options; this being determined by an experienced Education Officer.
- Special Educational Needs
For those applying with SEN needs the information you provide will be passed to our SEN team. We would advise that The Bailiwick is a small jurisdiction within which a high quality set of educational supports and provisions are carefully managed.
In order to ensure that we are able to meet your child's educational needs and achieve a best match between those and a prospective school, we will require you to provide all relevant information on your child. This will include any past medical and therapeutic reports as well as assessments and intervention plans (such as Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) or the equivalent documentation from your previous education provider). We may also send further checklists, for your completion prior to arrival, in order to help us to ensure that we have a rich picture of your child's current functioning and needs.
Should we have received no prior information on your child's needs or incomplete details of past school and other service involvement, with your child, this will cause a delay in our being able to process your request. Further information will need to be gained from you, at that stage, in order for us to have confidence that the placement offer which is being made for your child, is most suitable.
- Out of Year Group Requests
- Please refer to the Out Of Year Group Policy.
Leaving Guernsey
- If it is known that a child will be leaving school before they reach the age of 16, parents/carers should advise the child's school in writing of this as soon as possible. This enables improved planning for their place to be reallocated to another child.
Appeals
- If you have applied for:
- a. A place at your child's catchment school /partner site and have not been offered a place; or
- b. A place at a school which is not your child's catchment school / partner site and have not been offered a place;
- You may seek permission to appeal against the decision of the School Admissions Team to allocate your child a place at a particular school / site, by writing to the Head of Education Operations using the Appeal Form which can be downloaded here: OCAPS Appeal Form.
- Please fill out the form with as much detail as possible highlighting why it would be unreasonably detrimental to your child's education to attend the school at which they have been allocated a place.
- Please return the completed form and any additional information you wish to include to the Head of Education Operations, The Education Office, Sir Charles Frossard House, La Charroterie, St. Peter Port, GY1 1FH or email us at educationsportandculture@gov.gg. Forms will need to be submitted within 4 weeks of receiving the allocation notification. The Education Office will then send you an acknowledgement confirming the appeal form has been received.
- For further information on the appeals process please follow the link to the School Admissions Appeals Guide.
For any queries regarding applying for a school place, please email schooladmissions@gov.gg and we will be happy to help.
