Schools transactions update 2 February 2022
Read to find out where we are in the P1/S1 allocations process and read an update on free school meals.
P1 and S1 school allocations for August 2022
The school intake limits have been decided and communicated to schools. These are decided based on several factors, including pupil-teacher ratios and number of available classrooms available. For Roman Catholic schools we ensure we can accommodate all children we know of who are baptised in the Roman Catholic faith.
Over the next five weeks we will be finalising the initial allocation of places and responding to all placing requests received up to 24 December. We will also write to all parents of children who asked us for a place in their RC catchment school.
We aim to complete this process by Friday 11 March, with all decision letters issued on this date. You may notice changes to your intake during this time.
P1 registrations received after 21 January
Some schools have contacted us about late registrations. We have now locked the registration screen on SEEMiS, and transactions team will deal with these from now on. However, you will continue to receive the emails to your school’s admin mailbox as before. You don’t need to forward the details to us because we receive them to a dedicated P1 registrations mailbox.
Please download the phase 2 P1 registration process which covers the process in more detail.
Pupils not registered for P1
We have started checking children not yet registered for P1 and over the next few weeks we will be registering these children. Due to the rising rolls it is important we get as many children registered as possible before we look at placing requests. We are less likely to be able to accommodate these pupils later after we have allocated available places.
In these cases, parents have not completed a registration form, nor provided the child's birth certificate or proof of address - we have simply performed an address check against Council Tax / Benefits records. All of these children are currently attending a nursery or early years centre in Edinburgh so if there is any dubiety over you can always double check with the nursery (this is the 'linked school' on your intake registration details' screen).
Although we're doing this, you may still receive enquiries from parents wishing to register. If there is any doubt over the address, please ask the parents to complete the change of address form and we'll handle it.
Free school meals
Applying for 2022-23
We are starting to receive enquiries about applying for the 2022-2023 year. It is too early to do this now; applications will open in June 2022 after we have completed the automatic awards. Several applications are received for children not starting P1 until August - we understand some may receive information about school grants when they register for P1, so please ensure parents understand not to apply until the summer.
Families may still apply for the remainder of the current session; however, we won't pay any more clothing grants after 31 March until the summer.
February holiday FSM payment
We will soon be making the next holiday payments for children currently in receipt of free school meals – we expect these to be paid to accounts by 18 February.
Please note there is no £130 bridging payment payable for the February break – this will next be paid before the Easter holiday.
Full details are on our web page.
Next update
We'll post another update in March once the P1/S1 allocations process has been completed.
If you have any enquiries in the meantime, please continue to use our contact form.