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Admissions

Application for Reception 2025

Do you have a child born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021?  If so, you must apply for your child to start primary school in September 2025 by Wednesday 15 January 2025.

For applications for starting school in September 2025, National Offer Day is Wednesday 16 April 2025.  The deadline for receipt of appeals is Thursday 15 May 2025.  Details of how to appeal are included in the relevant admission policy.

The staff of all of the Schools in Frays Academy Trust recognise that choosing a Primary School for your child is an important decision. 

Each school in the Trust has its own individuality while sharing the common ethos founded on the Christian principles of respect for one another, honesty and self-reflection. Although a Christian based Academy Trust, all of the schools welcome applications for children of all Faiths, or none. We are respectful of everyone’s differences and celebrate this diversity.

Cowley St Laurence CE Primary School started working with St Matthew’s CE Primary School in 2010 primarily to improve teaching and learning in both schools. In January 2012, the schools federated which became the basis for the Frays Academy Trust. This expanded in 2013 when Laurel Lane Primary School joined, and has continued to grow with the creation of St Martin’s CE Primary School and, most recently, the inclusion of two schools in Wokingham.

At the heart of the School are the core values of Hope, Love, Trust, Forgiveness and Faith, which produces an environment in which the pupils feel welcome, safe and included. Cowley St Laurence CE Primary School offers a solid start to life-long learning, preparing children for the future. The School aims to deliver a knowledge-rich curriculum, the content of which has been carefully crafted to enable pupils to build upon existing knowledge and develop a deep understanding of concepts. This holistic approach leads to a child whose love of learning is driven by curiosity, a desire to succeed and flourish in all that they do. The most recent data available for Year 6 pupils shows that their progress through primary school is at an expected level nationally, and that the amount of children exceeding the expected levels at the end of KS2 is slightly higher than the national average.

In Reception, the concept of ‘Learning Through Play’ is used to develop our pupils’ knowledge in 7 curriculum areas. These 7 areas are divided into 3 prime areas, and 4 specific areas. The 3 prime areas are Personal, Social and Emotional development, Physical development, and Communication and Language development. The children explore these areas through practical, play based, activities set up in the classroom and the outside area which change regularly, according to the topics being covered. The 4 specific areas are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design. There are ‘carpet sessions’ to focus on the teaching of basic maths and literacy skills to the class as a whole, which are then practised in small groups with a teacher. Every child’s individual progress is constantly monitored to ensure they are ready for the transition into Year 1, when a more formal style of education begins. The children will have Homework activities to support the work done in class which will include learning and practising phonics or tricky words, number games, and ‘craft’ tasks – making things related to the current topic. In addition to this, every child will have a reading book which is changed weekly and sent home daily for you to enjoy with your child and involve you in their education. We encourage 10 minutes daily reading practice at home.

Each year, the school admits 60 pupils in Reception(with the exception of the 2012 intake, whereby 90 children were admitted to Reception.) There are 420 full time places for children in Reception to Year 6, with 2 classes in each year group. There are two Reception classes at Cowley St Laurence CE Primary School which can each have a maximum of 30 children, in line with Government guidance. The two classes share a large classroom with its own child-sized toilet facilities, and access to an enclosed outside area which is an exciting extension to the classroom.

Every child is entitled to a free school meal until the end of Year 2. These are cooked freshly, on site, every day with a choice of meals available, including a vegetarian option. Children can also bring in a packed lunch if they prefer, but all children eat together seated in the hall.

If you include Cowley St Laurence CE Primary School as one of your preferences on the London Borough of Hillingdon’s school application form, you will be prompted to supply a ‘Supplementary Information Form’. This form is available on the school’s website and is a Reference form, completed by your Christian Minister, to confirm regular attendance to a Christian Church. Worshippers of other Faiths, or none, do not need to supply this form, and their applications will be considered based on the distance from the school to the home address, prioritising children with siblings already attending or any detailed medical needs. More details of the allocation of places (inlcuding our over-subsrciption criteria) can be found on the school’s Admissions Policy, available on the website.

Lots of information about our schools can be found on the website, but we appreciate that choosing a school can be daunting. To help, each of the Frays Academy Trust schools is now in a position to offer visits during or after the school day. 

We will be providing tours and the opportunity to meet and ask questions to one of our senior leaders.

If you would like to book onto one of these tours please email cowleystl@fraysacademytrust.org  

To book a viewing at a different time or if you have any questions, please email Louise Brown – Admissions Officer, Frays Academy Trust at admission@fraysacademytrust.org or contact her by phone on 01895 462352, any Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

For details of how we process in-year applications please see the relevant admission policy.