Admissions Arrangements
We are delighted you are interested in a place for your child at St Margaret Ward Catholic Primary School.
Please take a few moments to get a feel for life as part of the St Margaret Ward family by looking around our website, especially our Welcome and Mission Statement and Values pages.
Below we have information about how you can take your interest further, and apply for a place at our school.
Applying for a place to start the Reception class in September
Prospective Reception parents must complete:
- the application form with Trafford Council.
- AND our school's Supplementary Information Form.
Please be aware that all applications for places MUST be made through Trafford Council, even if a supplementary information form has been completed.
Places are given out according to the criteria set out in our Admissions Policy for the relevant year (see links below or in the column on the right).
Applying for a place at other times
An ‘in-year’ admission is when a child transfers to St Margaret Ward from another school during the academic year. These are handled directly by the school.
An in-year application should be made directly to the school by completing:
- the in-year admissions application form and returning it to St Margaret Ward Catholic Primary School, Sale, M33 4GY or office@smwprimary.net.
Where there are places available but more applications than places, the published oversubscription criteria, as set out our Admissions Policy for the relevant year, is applied Parents are advised to read the admission arrangements carefully before making their application.
If there are no places available, the child will be added to the waiting list. Please see the admission arrangements for more details.
You will be advised of the outcome of your application in writing as soon as possible. Applicants must be informed of the outcome of their application within 15 school days of receipt, but the aim is to notify applicants of the outcome of their application within 10 school days of receipt.
You have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel if your application is unsuccessful. If you have any questions in relation to in-year admissions please contact Mrs Shaw, school administrator, office@smwprimary.net, 0161 969 9852. You may also wish to discuss in-year applications with the local authority.
In addition to their right of appeal, unsuccessful children will be offered the opportunity to be placed on a waiting list. This waiting list will be maintained in order of the oversubscription criteria and not in the order in which applications are received or added to the list. Waiting lists for admissions will operate throughout the school year.
Inclusion in the school’s waiting list does not mean that a place will eventually become available.
Applying for a place in Nursery only
Please complete this form to register your interest in a place for your child in our Nursery.
For children attending the school’s nursery, application to the Reception class must be made in the normal way to Trafford Council Attendance at the our nursery does not automatically guarantee that a place will be offered at the school.
SMW Nursery Admissions Policy 2024-25.
Map highlighting the streets which are part of the parish formerly known as St Margaret Ward
Trafford Council admissions information
2024 Primary School Appeal Timetable.
Oversubscription criteria:
Where there are more applications for places than the number of places available, places will be offered according to the following order of priority.
- Looked after and previously looked after children.
- Catholic children who are resident in the parish formerly known as St Margaret Ward.
- Other Catholic children.
- Non-Catholic children whose parents wish for them to have a Catholic education
Within each of the categories listed above, the following provisions will be applied in the following order.
- The attendance of a brother or sister at the school at the time of enrolment will increase the priority of an application within each category so that the application will be placed at the top of the category in which the application is made.
- The children of staff will be given increased priority within each category so that the application will be placed at the top of the category in which the application is made after children in (i) above.