If you have enrolled your child at their catchment school, or your placing request to a school has been accepted, the school will confirm transition and enrolment arrangements with you directly. This will not be in the format of a confirmation email sent from education services.
Responses to placing requests for P1/S1 submitted before the end of March 2021 have now been issued and parents/carers should have received their emails direct from education services. Placing requests submitted after that date will be considered and parents/carers will be notified of the outcome of their application within 2 months of submission of the placing request, although we aim to let parents/carers know as soon as we can.
If your child is living in the West Dunbartonshire area, and born between 1 March 2016 and 28 February 2017 they will be due to start school in August 2021 and must be registered at their catchment school. P1 registration for children starting school for August 2021 is Monday 11 January 2021 – Friday 15 January 2021.
Parents/ carers can register their child by completing the online registration form.
Wherever you live, there will be two catchment schools – a denominational school, and a non-denominational school. Your child must be registered for Primary 1 at one of these catchment schools. You can view the schools in your catchment area using our catchment area postcode search.
You can arrange to register your child at their catchment school by completing this form. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are reducing parental contact with schools and this year we are not asking parents/carers to attend the catchment school to provide supporting proof of date of birth and home address.
If your child is currently in attendance at a West Dunbartonshire Council nursery, or in one of our partnership nurseries, there will be no requirement for parent/ carer to provide this proof as this will be provided by the nursery to the catchment school. If your details change before August 2021 you must let the catchment school know.
If your child is attendance at a private nursery you should contact the local catchment school for details of when to attend to provide the documentary evidence required.
We make every effort to accommodate your child in your preferred school. Please note that living within a catchment area does not guarantee your child a place in that school. Where a place is not obtained your child’s name will be held on a waiting list.
Some parents / carers may wish to make a formal placing request application for their child to attend a school outwith their catchment area. It is essential however that you still register your child for Primary 1 at one of their catchment primary schools however, you can apply for a placing request on the registration form.
Your application, along with any relevant documentary evidence supporting your request will be considered and you will be notified of the outcome of your application no later than 15 May 2021.
Please be aware that the granting of a placing request for one child / young person does not guarantee that any future placing requests made for a younger sibling for the same school will be automatically agreed. Where your application is successful for a P1 placing request into an alternative West Dunbartonshire primary school, the P1 place at your child’s catchment school will be automatically withdrawn. Further information on Placing Requests.
You can request that your child starts school early using the P1 Registration Form. If you are thinking of making an early entry request, please first consider your child's:
If after the assessment Educational Services decide to refuse your request, you will be advised accordingly and sent a copy of the assessment report on your child.
If your early entry request is refused, you cannot appeal this decision.
Parents of a child born between the start of the school term in August and the last day of February the following year can make a request to defer their child’s enrolment to the following August using the P1 Registration Form.
Only those children born in January or February are entitled to have a free pre-school place for an additional year.
In exceptional circumstances, a child may be granted an additional year at the pre-school stage as a result of identified additional support needs which have a bearing on their ability to benefit from school education.
A decision on delayed school entry will be made by the appropriate Service Manager on the basis of an assessment and recommendation from the West Dunbartonshire Psychological Service.
Please contact your child's nursery and they can advise you about deferring entry for your child.
All pupils will normally progress through school spending an academic year at each stage of schooling. In exceptional circumstances, where pupils have missed a significant portion of an academic year due to medical or other factors, and would benefit from remaining at the same stage in school for another year, consideration may also be given to such a request.
You may be entitled to school age grants including free school meals and clothing grant, Best Start Grant and the Scottish Child Payment.
Further details, including eligibility criteria, is available on the School and Education Grants Section.