Big day for Atherstone's September school starters as they find out where they are beginning their educational journey amid coronavirus lockdown

EDUCATION BOSSES SEND OUT 'REASSURING' ADVICE TO PARENTS ON PRIMARY NATIONAL OFFER DAY

HUNDREDS of parents in Atherstone and district will find out today where their child will be starting their education in September.

Education bosses have given an assurance that Primary National Offer Day will go ahead as planned despite the "uncertainty and unprecedented change in all of our daily lives" caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The allocation of school places for children due to start reception or junior school in the autumn term have been processed as usual and the published timetable will still be followed, Warwickshire County Council told Nub News.

This means that parents who submitted an application either online, by telephone or using a paper form before the national deadline of January 15, will be notified of their child's school place in the first round of offers this week.

Any late applications or preference changes received after that date will be processed in the second allocation round after May 5.

Warwickshire's strategic director for communities Mark Ryder said: "During this current time of uncertainty and unprecedented change in all of our daily lives, we are pleased to be able to provide reassurance to parents and carers that school admission arrangements for September 2020 have not been affected and are still going ahead as originally planned.

"Staff in our admissions team have worked incredibly hard behind the scenes to make sure that offers for reception and junior school places are sent out to parents on national offer day and to ensure that our school children have an offer of a school place when we are able to return back to normal."

Parents will be notified of their child's school place in one of two ways, depending on how they submitted their application:

Parents who submitted an application on time using the online parent portal will be able to log on to the portal today to view their child's offer which should be visible by midday.

A separate email will be sent from the admissions' service to parents with an online account guiding them through the steps they need to take to accept their child's place or, if they have any queries, advising parents how they can contact the team for further information.

Parents who submitted their child's application over the phone or by paper form will receive a letter containing their child's offer which was posted first class yesterday but they should allow additional time for it to arrive, given the current situation which is having an impact on postal services across the country.

The deadline for accepting offers is Friday, April 24.

To help avoid unnecessary delays or long waiting times trying to get through to the service on the phone, parents wishing to contact admissions should do so by emailing [email protected] or by using the dedicated online form that will be available on the webpages from this morning here.

Applications for schools in England opened in September 2019, and closed on January 15.

In England every parent must apply for a place for their child at a school, even if it's linked to your child's current nursery or primary school.

Most children in England start school full-time the September after they turn four. Children born between April 1 and August 31 can start the September after they turn five. They must legally be in full time education by 'compulsory school age'. This means December 31, March 31 or August 31 following a child's fifth birthday – whichever comes first. Children must stay in full-time education until they reach school leaving age. In England, you can leave school on the last Friday in June if you'll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays. If your children doesn't get a place, parents can appeal and it will be explained how you go about that process. Parents in Atherstone and district have already been thanked for their "responsible approach" to keeping children off school during the coronavirus outbreak. The 'stay-at-home' diktat issued last month by Government has seen numbers of learners still attending educational establishments reduced to a trickle. Only a few dozen children of key workers from the Nub News area with designated "essential" status are thought to be still attending state-funded schools. As a result, all eligible learners have a place at a school, college or early years setting throughout the whole of the Easter holiday period.