Starting P1 - West Dunbartonshire Council

Starting P1 in August 2017

If your child is:

due to start primary school in August 2017
living in the West Dunbartonshire Council area

If your child reaches the age of 5 years between 1 March 2017 and 28 February 2018, they must be registered for P1 at one of your catchment schools week commencing 9 January 2017 between the hours of 10.00am and 2.00pm. Please contact the school first for local arrangements. When enrolling your child at school please bring their birth certificate and proof of address.

You can view the schools in your catchment area using the catchment area postcode search.

Please note that living within a catchment area does not guarantee a child a place. Where a place is not obtained your child’s name will be held on a waiting list.

You may apply to place your child at a school outwith the catchment area. Further information is available on the placing requests page.

Early Entry

You can request that your child starts school early. If you are thinking of making an early entry request, please first consider your child's:

Physical Development

Is your child physically mature enough to cope with a full-time programme of education?

Emotional /Social Development

Is your child emotionally and socially mature enough to cope with a full-time programme of education?

Learning Development

Has your child developed sufficiently to cope with the learning programme in a school?

Long-term Implications

Have you considered the long-term implications for your child throughout his/her career?

If you feel your child is ready, please complete the Early Entry form which will be submitted to Educational Services and acknowledged within 5 working days.

Early Entry form

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.

Deferred entry

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.

Only those children born in January or February are entitled to have a free pre-school place for an additional year.

Delayed entry to primary school / delay within school stage

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.

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.