Please check back occasionally, as we will add more information in the coming months. 

Timeline

  •  November 2020 – Parents can start to apply here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/schools/apply-school-place/infant-and-primary-school
  • 15 January 2021 – closing date for applications on the website of the county council
  • 16 April 2021 – National Allocation Day: letters (sent by second class post) and emails sent detailing the offer of a school place. If the answer is negative, please make sure to tell the county council that you wish to remain on our continued interest list for round 2. (Usually you can do this via the portal that you used to apply for a school place).
  • The school will receive a list from the county council with the first and second language preference. We will confirm everyone’s language allocation before the deadline the beginning of May. NB Check your spam e-mail regularly, in case our e-mails are sent there.
  • 4 May 2021 – deadline for submitting response form, continued interest forms, late applications and changes of preference
  • 10 June 2021 – second allocation round: This will include all late applications and those that requested to be on our continued interest list. 
  • 25 June: Last date to respond to offers on 10 June.
    Last date for change of preference for offers on 10 June
    Last date to be added to the continued interest list for offers made 10 June.
  • End of year – introduction, a letter has been sent out
  • Summer – We will send login details to the parent portal to those who accepted the place, so you can check that all details, like the name of your child, are correct before we print any labels – as soon as we receive the list from the county council with whom has accepted the place
  • September 2021 – start of the school year: the children will have 2 mornings or one morning and 1 afternoon the first week, so they have the opportunity to settle in properly before starting full days

September settling in schedule

We have sent you an email with the group for your child for September.

6th Sept – Group A AM 09.00-11.00
7th Sept – Group B AM 09.00-11.00
9th Sept – Group A AM 09.00-11.00
10th Sept – Group B AM 09.00-11.00
13th Sept – Group A Full day
14th Sept – Group B Full day
16th Sept – Group A Full day
17th Sept – Group B Full day
Please note 13th October the early Years team will have to submit the Statutory Baseline Assessment and there will be no school for reception pupils this day.

Parent Handbook 2021-22

It is full of practical information about school life, so be sure to read it please.

Lunches

Every child in keystage 1 (Reception included) will be entitled to a free school dinner. We will send out more information on the menus before the end of the summer holidays. We need to inform the catering company of numbers, so please let us know if your child will not make use of them. It is important for the school to know, as we will only get refunded for the actual meals consumed. There is always a vegetarian option, but not vegan.

Documents to read

Documents to return

(Please return this directly to the class teachers, see contact details below)

Teachers contact details

Please return the entry profiles to your teachers directly. Your teachers will also email you before the end of the current school year with more information about next year. Please keep any messages to your teachers short as they have little time to spend on emails.

RDE – Hetty Thresher (En) Martina Mullord (Ger) – h.thresher@europaschool.uk and m.mullord@europaschool.uk

RFE – Sally Hetherington (En) Francoise Yates ( Fr) – s.hetherington@europaschool.uk and f.yates@europaschool.uk

REE – Hannah Boardman (En) Laia Puertas-Huertas (Sp) – h.boardman@europaschool.uk and l.puertas@europaschool.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I buy a school uniform?

There is no school uniform, so you can go shopping wherever you like. Practical and easily washed clothes are a good idea though as the Reception year spends a lot of time outside, even when it is muddy! The parent handbook will tell you exactly what you will need.

Group B:

How do you determine who goes in which class (which language) for reception?

First, we determine a ranking from 1 to 90, where number 1 would be a sibling. After the siblings, we use the ranking determined by entry to give priority. This year Oxfordshire County Council has collected preferences at the same time as the applications. They will send the school these preferences as soon as the offers for places have been made.

The school then uses the admission rank order and offers the applicant with rank number 1 their first preference, then number 2, etc, until a class is full. When a class is full, we give the next person their second preference. When 2 classes are full, the rest goes to the third class. So it is possible that we offer a French child a place in the Spanish class. Please remember that as a state funded school, we cannot make any decisions based on background and culture, and this is the only unbiased way the school can make this decision.

You will receive an email from the school with the allocated language stream before the deadline to accept the place.

Can I accept the place, but remain on the waiting list for the other class?
The simple answer is – no-. We do not have a waiting list for the other class. When a child enters a class, but does not speak the language, the school invests a lot in helping the child get to the right level. It will only really work, if the child and family are behind the language and fully supportive. The child will be less motivated, if it is seen as a temporary waiting stage until a place comes up in the other class. It will also be disruptive for the other pupils in both classes.

It is possible to withdraw your child and reapply to the school. It has happened in the past that the governors have allowed a change in reception to avoid the parents from actually doing so, where the person that wished to move had a clear priority over anyone else on the continued interest list. However, these cases are very rare, so if your heart is set on a certain language, we advise you to turn down the place, and ask to remain on the continued interest list for if a place comes up in that class.

How do I sign up for the After School Club?
Do I need to start teaching my child French/German/Spanish/English?

No, most children can pick it up at school. Our teachers will make allowances for children that do not understand in the first months to make sure they settle in well and happily.

Children are like sponges, so can I expect my child to speak French/German/Spanish in a couple of months?

Afraid not! While children would learn the language rather quickly in a full French/German/Spanish environment in and outside of school, remember that the children only have 2,5 school days in the second language. Generally, children will start to understand during the first year, but it will be over 2 years before they really start to speak it actively (and the character of the child in question plays a major role too, of course). They have years to learn the language though, so please give them the time and opportunity to enjoy the process.

With all the focus on language, will my child get behind in other subjects, like maths?

In terms of English and maths, on average the children are slightly behind their peers in KS1 (Reception to year 2), but generally catch up during Key stage 2, while at the same time gaining an additional language. For our KS2 results (end of primary), please go here: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/138269/europa-school-uk (the KS2 tests have been cancelled for this and last school year though).

What are the calendar dates for 2021-22?

You can find our calendar here: https://europaschooluk.org/parent-zone/calendar/

With Brexit, will you still be able to be a European School?

We have obtained accreditation as an IB school (International Baccalaureate) for the end qualification, and this program has successfully launched in September 2020 for the then 6th form. You can find more information on our IB page.

There are many stories about schools that are underfunded. Are you impacted by this?

Yes, unfortunately our funding is low but we have benefited from generous voluntary parental donations in the last years, enabling us to continue to enrich the education of our pupils. For more information on fundraising please see our Fundraising page.