Joining Our School

We hope that you feel St John’s Church of England Primary School would be the right choice for your family. We want to welcome you to St John’s and show you the school we have created and what we can offer your child or children.

Click here to view the virtual school tour. This short film will show you the school in under 3 minutes.

If you’d like to find out what our parents think about being part of the St John’s family, you can watch a short video here.

Starting School in Reception for September 2024.

For admissions in September 2024, we will have 60 available spaces in Reception. Should the school receive over 60 applications, the oversubscription criteria will be applied. All applications will be placed into two groups – Children of the Christian Faith and Community places (allocated without reference to faith). The available places, after allocation to those children with an EHCP naming the school or children who have been in local authority care, the remaining places will be allocated equally between these two groups, with the oversubscription criteria being used to rank the applications within the groups. We feel that this is fair to ensure that there are places for local families as well as those Christian families looking specifically for a church school. Please note that the group the children applied under is not used to allocate children to a specific class. 

National Allocations Day for primary school allocations is the 16th April 2024. You will be told which school you have been allocated by the County Council. Please note that schools are asked not to talk to parents on this day. After the allocations have been released you will be invited to school for a next steps meeting if you have been allocated a place. If you have not been allocated a place, we will write to you to outline the next steps. 

How to apply

The deadline for applications has now passed. If you still need to make an application, please contact the County Council for advice on how to make a late application. 

Community Places

If you are of no faith, a different faith or are Christian but do not fill the criteria for “Children of the Christian Faith”, you can apply under the community group. You will only need to apply online. You will not be required to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF).

Children of the Christian Faith

You can apply to the “Children of the Christian Faith” group if you meet the follow criteria: Worship at least twice a month for one year prior to application at a Trinitarian Christian Church. You will need to apply online and obtain a signed  Supplementary Information Form (SIF) and return the SIF directly the school. We would encourage you to submit a SIF if you do fulfil the criteria, especially if you do not live close to the school.

A SIF can be downloaded from this page, or a paper copy can be requested from the school office in person, by telephoning 01923 255017 or by emailing office@watfordstjohns.org. It is also available from the County Council website. Please ask your church to complete the SIF to shown that you meet the criteria stated above. 

Your completed SIF needs to be returned directly to school before the deadline for ontime applications (15th January 2024) please ensure that you speak to your church about their process for signing SIF forms so that they can be completed ontime.  If the SIF is not returned by this date, your application will not be considered under the Children of the Christian Faith category, but can still be considered under the community category.

We use the banding for the initial allocation and for the subsequent rounds of continuing interest. 

Summer Born Children

If you are the parent of a summer born child (born between 1st April and 31st August) who would like to discuss the options available to you, please contact Mrs Moore, Admissions Lead, on 01923 255017 or via office@watfordstjohns.org

Key Dates for Reception Applications

The key dates for this academic year are:

October – December and early January – School Tours take place. You can book your place on a school tour by clicking here. 

1st November 2023 – Applications open. You will need to make an application through Hertfordshire County Council. We will post details of how to do this, once applications open. 

15th January 2024 – The closing date for on-time applications. You will need to have submitted your application by this date. If you are applying for a place under the ‘Children of the Christian Faith” category, please also submit your completed Supplementary Information Form (SIF) directly to our school by this date. 

16th April 2024 – National Allocations Day. The County Council will inform you which school your child has been given a place for. 

In Year Admissions 

Current vacancy status by Year Group – Updated Monday 11th March 2024

The following year groups have places available within PAN (Published Admission Number) as of the date above. 

Reception: NO

Year One: YES

Year Two: YES

Year Three: NO

Year Four: YES

Year Five: NO

Year Six: NO

Please note that the vacancy information may have changed since this page was last updated as, for example, we only have one space in a year group but that has been filled since this page was updated, or an offer was pending and is then accepted.

In Year Application forms are available from the school office, or you can download one from this page. They must be physically signed and returned to school with the relevant documents confirming the child’s home address. This should be returned directly to the school. We will accept applications via email as long as they are a scanned copy of the signed original and the scanned documents are attached. There is no requirement to complete a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) form for an In Year Application Form.

Once we have received your form, we will inform you within 15 school days whether a place is available.  If you would like to tour the school, please contact the school office. 

If we offer your child a place, we would expect you to accept within 1 week and for your child to start at our school within 10 school days of the offer. We would, of course, like them to start as soon as possible.  

If a place is not available, your child will be placed on our waiting list that operates until the end of the academic year.  Should a place become available, we will allocate it to the first child on our waiting list. Places are allocated according to our oversubscription criteria as contained in our Admissions Policy for the relevant academic year.

If you believe that you have grounds for appeal against a decision not to admit your child, Hertfordshire County Council administers the appeals process on our behalf. An appeal must be made in writing and the County Council will provide details of how to lodge an appeal online. 

If at the end of the academic year we have not been able to allocate your child a place, you will be able to reapply for the next academic year. We will write to every family still on our waiting list, inviting them to make a new application if they would like to stay on the waiting list.