Unfortunately, this year we cannot welcome parents to tour our school and hear information about the enrolment process and about Belmont itself.  Instead we have organised video conferences with small groups of parents, which we hope you will find useful.  We have lots of different dates and times set up so please contact the school on 90 471539 to arrange a time that is convenient for you.  Our aim is to ensure we keep every child safe, happy and healthy and I hope that by exploring our website, you will get a feel for what Belmont has to offer. We would also advise you to talk to parents with pupils at the school, who I have no doubt will tell you what a special place Belmont Primary School is.

 

Enrolment for Primary 1 September 2021 opens at 12 noon on 7th January 2021 and closes at 12 noon on 29th January 2021.  The process is now online and can be accessed on www.eani.org.uk  There is also a very useful video on the Education Authority website, which will give you some key information.  (also available on the News section of our website)

We usually welcome children from 15 - 20 pre-school settings, so your child is likely to see familiar faces in his/her new school.  We have excellent transition procedures for children and for their parents, including at least two pupil visits to the school prior to starting for every child, two parents' information evenings (one in May and one in early September),  individual parent interviews in the first few weeks of school, invites to lots of social events at our school in the Summer term and detailed questionnaires to ensure we get to know your child and their interests before they even start.  Our purpose built layout means that the teacher will be at each individual classroom door every morning to greet your child (and you) and build on our strong parent/school partnership.  Every decision at the school has the children at the centre of it and our pupils thrive in our nurturing environment.  (Have a look at our inspection reports, available on our website or on www.etini.gov.uk)

We have 84 places available for Primary 1 and usually over half of those are allocated by distance.  Unlike nursery applications, schools do not use preference as a criterion.  Therefore, if your application to your first choice school is not successful, it is passed to your second choice school and treated similarly to all other on-time applications.  This means that schools can be placed in order of preference, rather than by proximity.

I really hope you find this information useful and look forward to chatting to you in the near future.  Our admissions criteria are included below:

Best wishes

O Mcilroy

 

Belmont Primary School 215 Belmont Road Belfast BT4 2AG   Telephone No: 028 9047 1539 Fax No: 028 9065 8931 Email: info@belmont.belfast.ni.sch.uk Website: www.belmontprimary.org

Controlled Primary School Co- educational   Enrolment No:   252 Admission No: 84     Principal: Mrs O F McIlroy M.B.E. B.Ed (Hons), M.Ed Chair of Board of Governors: Mr P McIlwaine BCom(Hons), ACA, Cert PFS

 

Respective Functions

The Board of Governors has drawn up the school’s admissions criteria and has delegated to the principal its function and responsibility in relation to the application of the criteria and the admission of pupils to the school.  

Admissions Criteria

 

During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered before late applications are considered.   The application procedure opens on 7 January 2021 at 12noon (GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 29 January 2021 at 12noon (GMT) will be treated as a punctual application.   An application received after 12noon (GMT) on 29 January 2021 will be treated as a late application.

 

Only children of compulsory school age, (i.e. children born on or between 2 July 2016 and 1 July 2017 incl.) will be admitted to the school. In the event of the school being oversubscribed the Governors will select children for admission to primary one using the admissions criteria set out below.

The criteria will be applied in the order in which they are set down. Should the number of children who satisfy the requirement of any criterion exceed the number of places available, the remaining criteria will be applied successively to the children which caused the number of places to be exceeded, until all places have been allocated.

1             Children living permanently at the same address as a brother/sister, half-brother/half-sister or other child who currently attends Belmont Primary School. (Indicate name and year group)

2             Children living permanently at the same address as a brother/sister, half-brother/half-sister or other child who currently attends Strandtown Primary School. (Indicate name and year group)

3             Priority will then be given to children whose permanent residence is the shortest distance from the school. Distance will be determined by a straight line measurement generated electronically using the computer programme provided by Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland.

In the event of two or more children’s permanent residence being measured equi distant for the final place, preference will be given to the youngest child.

When considering which children should be selected for admission, the Board of Governors will only take into account information which is detailed on the Application or provided directly to the school.  Parents/Guardians should therefore ensure that all information pertaining to their child and relevant to the school’s admission criteria, is stated on the Application or provided to the school.

 

Duty to Verify

 

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any Application.

The Governors request that all applicants provide the following documentation to the school by 12 noon on Friday 5 February 2021:

 

An original birth certificate for the child (either long or short)

Any two of the following to verify the child’s home address:

  

A recent bank or building society statement which shows the address at which the child is resident

A recent utility bill (electricity, gas, television licence or phone) which shows the address at which the child is resident

A recent letter awarding child benefit to the child or another recent letter relating to this benefit

A recent financial statement such as ISA, Pension or Endowment

Driving Licence for parent/ guardian showing the address at which the child is resident

A recent addressed payslip

A recent mortgage statement or rental agreement

A recent land/ property rates demand

 

Recent documents are defined as being within the last 6 months, with the exception of mortgage or land property documents, where within the last year is acceptable.

 

If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline given, this may result in the withdrawal of an offer of a place. Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

Waiting List Policy

 

Should a vacancy arise after 28 April 2021 all applications for admission to P1, that were initially refused, new applications, late applications and applications where new information has been provided will be treated equally and the published criteria applied. This waiting list will be in place until 31 August 2021.

The school will contact you in writing if your child gains a place in the school by this method.

After 1 September parents should inform the school in writing if they wish their child’s name to remain on or be placed on a waiting list. All children on the waiting list at the time of the vacancy will be treated equally and the published criteria applied. This waiting list will be in place until 30 June 2022.

P2 – P3 Admissions Criteria available from school.

 

Applications and Admissions to Primary 1
Year	Total Applications	Total Admissions
2018/19	127	84
2019/2020	121	84
2020/2120	118	84