Schools transactions update 23 May 2022
A little later than planned, please read this month’s update to find out about the ongoing P1/S1 placements and plans for FSM and EMA applications.
P1 and S1 school allocations for August 2022
Allocations are very fluid at this time of year, and we in an almost constant state of offering places to parents of children on waiting lists. Sometimes we are offering so many places at once, we can’t always let you know straight away – and sometimes parents will be in touch before we’ve emailed you. Its always good practice to keep checking the Intake Registration Details report (P1) or Provisional Allocations report (S1) to see the latest picture. Details on how to view these can be found in the previous post, dated 14 March 2022.
The placing in schools appeals began on 16 May, so this will result in further changes. The appeal committee has the power to grant places to children regardless of availability of places, which in some cases may take you over the proposed intake limit. This is fairly common and we are normally able to manage these down.
Mark your N5 and P7 leavers
If you haven’t already, now is the time to start marking your N5 and P7 leavers to their next school. As mentioned above, the information on your SEEMiS reports shows the very latest information, so this should be used to identify the leaving destination.
If you find we still have children registered for P1 or allocated and S1 place and this does not match with information provided to you by the parent (i.e. going to a private school, moving out of Edinburgh), please double check and let us know using our contact form, so we can withdraw and allocate the place to another child.
There are a small number of children with no place allocated yet – this is because there are no available places in their catchment school. We be identifying alternative schools for these children and they will all be allocated and notified before 31 May.
Places for children from Ukraine
We've received a few emails about taking applications for children from Ukraine. These are treated the same way as normal applications. remember, if staying with host families they will not be able to provide the usual proofs of address.
There is informaiton for families, including applying for school places, on our website.
Free school meals and clothing grants
Planning has started for opening applications for 2022-23. Applications are still open but only for the remainder of the current term, so please don’t advise anyone to apply for the next session just yet!
We will again be using the information we hold on parents’ benefits to make awards without the need to apply. This will take place in June, and thereafter we’ll open applications for everyone else.
Self-isolation payments have stopped
As you are aware, you stopped using the bespoke SEEMiS attendance codes which were created for COVID-19 related absences. As there is no means of validating whether an absence is due to COVID-19 or another illness, the FSM self-isolation payments stopped after the Easter holidays.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Applications for the current session closed on 31 March 2022 and the team have been working hard to chase up outstanding information required.
The last awards were made on 16 May, and there will be no more weekly spreadsheets to confirm until we start processing applications for 2022-23. We hope to open these on 6 June 2022, and we’ll do the usual mailshot out to all age-eligible students.
Next update
We’ll post another update in June to let you know when we expect to open FSM applications.
If you have any enquiries in the meantime, please continue to use our contact form.