Applying to Nursery School

TOP TIPS WHEN COMPLETING YOUR APPLICATION FORM

You will need an email address to initially register & then a link will be sent to this address.

If you need to translate the page use ReachDeck on the EANI website - please look at the photo images for guidance to select the language you need.

If you have used the Application Portal for older children then you will not have to set up an account yet use your email address & previous password as then the whole family’s information can stored in one account.

When applying select TARGET NURSERY not Reception

Type in your postcode & a list of local nurseries and playgroups will be displayed.

Read the other local Nursery schools and playgroups information to compare the different criteria's used and where your child may be more likely to be awarded a place.

Do apply to up to six settings in order of preference - we are often oversubscribed and if you just put one setting and are unsuccessful you will not be considered for other settings until the end of the whole process.

Check the admissions criteria for each of the schools you have listed as some schools ask for additional documentation such as proof of address and/or proof of eldest child. This documentation may be requested at the time of application, during the process or at the notification of placement. If verifying documents are being requested at the time of application you will need to upload the information on EA Connect for all school choices.

If you do not supply the documents requested this could lead to the inability of a school to offer a place to your child or the withdrawal of an offer of a place.

If a school has asked for documents which you do not have, or if it is unclear what type of documents are needed, you should email or phone the school directly to find out what they will accept as it can vary from school to school.

A list of possible verification documents can be found below – it is vital that you ensure the documents are from the list stated – as we will not be able to process your form. Example: providing a driving license – has it an issue date within the last three month? Yes – we can accept. No – not accepted.

Please ensure all documents have a date within the last three months. Please note that verification documents must be in the name of the parent/s or guardian listed on the application form (currently only one name can go on the application - therefore if living in the same house - please add both parents names to the Additional Information section for your selected school & supply the LONG Birth Certificate).

In the Additional Information

State both parents names and we will be able to accept proof of address named in both parents names. Otherwise it can only be in the name of the parent listed on the application form - if doing this please provide the LONG BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

Special Educational Needs

If your child is currently undergoing statutory assessment and does not have a formal Statement of Special Educational Needs, you will still need to apply for a pre-school funded place.

If your child has a formal Statement of Special Educational Needs, there is a separate placements process where the pre-school placement is discussed with you as part of the review of your child’s statement, therefore an application should not be made via Admissions on EA Connect.

For information on the progress of SEN assessments or school placements please contact the EA’s SEN Service directly on 028 9598 5960.

SEN - if you believe your child has additional needs yet has not been referred or statemented - please give details in this section as we can then guide you to the appropriate referral services also contact the Miss Donoghue for guidance.

What is Socially Disadvantaged Circumstances (SDC) when apply ing for a funded pre-school place?

Legislation requires pre-school providers to give priority to children in their final pre-school year who are from SDC. The benefits as defined by the Department of Education entitling parents to claim SDC are:

Income Support; or
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; or
Income related Employment and Support Allowance; or
Universal Credit.

If you have an entitlement to any of these benefits tick the box to confirm, when completing the pre-school application and you must provide verification to show an entitlement to the qualifying benefit.

How can I obtain proof of benefit entitlement if Socially Disadvantaged Circumstances applies to me?

The 3 listed benefits below require a Proof of Benefit Letter which you can access by clicking this link:

Get a proof of benefit letter - GOV.UK (dwp.gov.uk)

Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
Income related Employment and Support Allowance

This letter will be posted to you within approximately 5 working days which you must upload to EA Connect before 4pm on Wednesday 29th January 2025:-

UNIVERSAL CREDIT

If you have an entitlement to Universal Credit (UC), you DO NOT request a Proof of Benefit Letter as above. Please follow the steps below to access your most recent UC statement just prior to or when completing the application.

Sign into your Universal Credit account
Follow through to Payments. Under Statements - View Statement by Pay Date.
Click on the link for the most up-to-date payment date showing you have an entitlement to UC.
Take a clear photo image or download your UC payment screens that shows an entitlement to the benefit. Claimant details, relevant dates and entitlement information should be shown in the image.

If you are unable to access digital services, and have an entitlement to any of the above benefits, you can request a proof of benefit letter or request help with universal credit statement by contacting one of the following::

Employment Support Allowance - 0800 587 1377

Income Support – 0800 022 4250

Jobseekers allowance - 0800 022 4250

Universal Credit - 0300 200 7822

Upload the proof of Benefit letter/Universal Credit Statement when you apply online for a funded pre-school place for your child by taking a clear photo image of the letter.

Note: Tax Credits, Pension Credit and State Pension are not a defined benefit under the socially disadvantaged criterion when applying for a funded pre-school place.

NEED TO UPLOAD ADDITIONAL PROOFS OF ADDRESS?

(Check out the guidance photos included at the top of this page)

Log into your EA account - select your child's name (beside Target age - click on the three little dots then edit)
You will see a summary page and go to the bottom to documents to select edit & then upload new proofs.

Admissions Criteria

Full Admissions criteria

https://www.eani.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-12/Convent%20of%20Mercy%20Nursery%20School%202025-2026.pdf

https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions/search-admissions-criteria

Admissions Criteria

A timetable of pre-school admissions procedures setting out the dates by which an application is to be submitted is available at www.eani.org.uk/admissions under ‘Pre-School Admissions’. During the admissions procedure when applying the criteria punctual applications will be considered before late applications are considered.

The application procedure opens on 10 January 2025 at 12noon (GMT) and an application submitted by the closing date of 24 January 2025 at 12noon (GMT) will be treated as a punctual application. An application received after 12noon (GMT) on 24 January 2025 will be treated as a late application.

As the pre-school admissions procedure is in two stages the timetable also specifies the relevant dates at Stage 2 which will determine if an application is to be considered as punctual or late.

Children who are not normally resident in Northern Ireland at the time of proposed admission will not be considered for places until all children who reside in Northern Ireland have been considered. The Board of Governors have determined that, in the event of more applicants than the places available, the following criteria will be applied in the order set down, to select children for the available places.

Admissions criteria to be used in the event of the school being oversubscribed with applications for available places.

Statutory Criteria

Children from socially disadvantaged circumstances in their final pre-school year who were born:

on or between 2 July 2021 and 1 July 2022 (inclusive) and whose parents have not exercised their right to defer their child’s entry to primary school; or,

on or between 1 April 2021 and 1 July 2021 (inclusive) or were due to be born on or between those dates but were born earlier; and,

- have not attended or are not currently attending a funded pre-school setting under the Pre-School Education Programme as a target aged child; and,

- that child’s parent has completed a request to defer their child starting P1 until September 2026.

Note: Children from ‘socially disadvantaged circumstances’ means a child whose parent has an entitlement to (i) Income Support, or (ii) Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or (iii) Income related Employment and Support Allowance, or (iv) Universal Credit. When parents apply for places for their child on this basis they must provide Benefit Verification to confirm that they have an entitlement. The application procedure for Pre-School will outline how Benefit Verification can be submitted.

Children not from socially disadvantaged circumstances (as defined above) who are in their final pre-school year who were born:

on or between 2 July 2021 and 1 July 2022 (inclusive) and whose parents have not exercised their right to defer their child’s entry to primary school; or,

on or between 1 April 2021 and 1 July 2021 (inclusive) or were due to be born on or between those dates but were born earlier; and,

- have not attended or are not currently attending a funded pre-school setting under the Pre-School Education Programme as a target aged child; and,

- that child’s parent has completed a request to defer their child starting P1 until September 2026.

Admissions Sub-Criteria:

In the event of more pupils satisfying the last criterion, which can be applied, then selection for the remaining places will be on the basis of the following sub-criteria in the stated order.

(a) Children in their penultimate pre-school year who are currently attending the Convent of Mercy Nursery School.

(b) Looked after children (LAC) who are in their final pre-school year, defined by the Children NI Order 1995 as children who are in the care of a Trust or who are provided with accommodation by the Trust and have been referred to us by Social Services.

(c) Children residing in the Parish of Downpatrick. (*)

(d) Children residing outside the Parish of Downpatrick.

(*) Home is the child’s permanent place of residence during the application process – it is not the child minders or relatives address)

In the event of oversubscription in any of the above criteria, preference will be given to:

(i) Those applicants who have listed Convent of Mercy NS as their first preference.

(ii) On the basis of initial letter of the surname in the randomised order set out below which was created using

Random.org. The surname used will be as registered on the child’s Birth Certificate or as subsequently legally changed and documented.

F T O D R X B S Z M N Y K L C E J H P Q A I W G V U

The order was determined by a randomised selection of letters carried out by the governors of the school at a meeting on 04/11/2024. (Using Random.org)

In the event of surnames beginning with the same initial the subsequent letters of the surname will be used in alphabetical order. In the case of as doubled barrelled surname the first surname will be used.

In the event of two or more children having identical surnames the alphabetical order of the initials of the forenames will be used. In the event that two or more children have the identical forename and surnames, selection will be made by allocating them a rank number and using Random.org to select the order.

Non-Statutory Criteria

Note: Applications falling under Criterion 3 are processed only during Stage 2 of the admissions process, after final pre-school year (Statutory 1 and 2) applications

Children who were born:

on or between 1 April 2021 - 1 July 2021 (inclusive), or were due to be born on or between those dates but were born earlier; and,

- have attended or are currently attending a funded pre-school setting under the Pre-School Education Programme as a target aged (not penultimate aged) child; and, that child’s parent has completed a request to defer their child starting P1: or,

on or between 2 July 2022 and 1 July 2023 (inclusive); or,

on or between 1 April 2022 and 1 July 2022 (inclusive) or were due to be born on or between those dates but were born earlier; and,

- that child’s parent has completed a request to defer their child starting P1 until September 2027.

Tie Breaker – Non Statutory Criterion 3

Children within Criterion 3 will be selected in Chronological Order of Age – eldest child first. In the event of two or more children having the same DOB the above random selection of letters will be used.

Documentation submitted in support of your application should be submitted before 4pm on Wednesday 29th January 2025 if applying in January 2025. If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline, this will result in the withdrawal of an offer of a place.

Verification Documents

Any one of the following documents can verify child’s age or name.

‘Age – any ONE of the following original documents:

Child’s Birth Certificate
Letter awarding Child Benefit to the child or another letter relating to this benefit
Child’s Medical Card
Child’s passport
Child’s adoption certificate

‘Address – any TWO originals of the following WITH A DATE WITHIN THE LAST THREE MONTHS when provided as evidence.

Bank or building society statement (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Utility bill (for instance Electricity, Gas, Television Licence, Telephone LANDLINE ONLY) (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Addressed payslip (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Letter awarding Child Benefit to the child or another letter relating to this benefit (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Mortgage statement (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Land and Property Services rates demand (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Financial statement such as ISA, Pension or Endowment. (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Current Driving Licence (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)
Rental agreement (if issued within the last 3 months of the date submitted)

PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK THAT ALL YOUR PROOFS OF ADDRESS ARE DATED WITHIN

THE LAST THREE MONTHS TO ALLOW US TO ACCEPT THEM.

The Admissions Criteria will be applied by a Selection Committee consisting of the Principal and three Governors, subject to the final approval of the Board of Governors. If parent(s)/guardian(s) have any difficulty in completing the application they should consult the Principal.

Duty to Verify

The Board of Governors reserves the right to require such supplementary evidence as it may determine to support or verify information on any application form.

If the requested evidence is not provided to the Board of Governors by the deadline given, this will result in the withdrawal of an offer of a place. Similarly, if information is supplied which appears to be false or misleading in any material way, the offer of a place will be withdrawn.

Waiting List Policy

Should a vacancy arise after 10 June 2025, all applications for admission to nursery that were initially refused, new applications, late applications and applications where new information has been provided will be treated equally and the published criteria applied. The waiting list will be in place until the end of the academic year.

The school will contact you in writing if your child gains a place in the school by this method. Your child’s name will be automatically added to the list. Please contact the school if you wish for your child’s name to be removed from the list.

LINK TO EA WEBSITE

Admissions

Information on the procedures for pre-school/school admissions in the school year 2025 - 2026.

https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions/pre-school-admissions-guide

Important Dates for your Diary

Date	Activity
Thursday 5 December 2024	Admissions criteria for Pre-schools published on the EA website.
Friday 10 January 2025 – at 12 noon	EA Connect opens for online applications for pre-school, submitting verification/supporting documents.
Friday 24 January 2025 – at 12 noon	EA Connect closes for online punctual applications for pre-school.
Wednesday 29 January 2025 – by 4pm	Deadline for submitting verification/supporting documents via EA Connect. Final date for late applications.
Wednesday 9 April 2025	Notification of (Stage 1) outcome for Target Age application via email where one is held or by letter.
Wednesday 9 April 2025	Pre-School Stage 2 Admissions application opens.
Friday 18 April 2025 (by 4pm)	Deadline for Pre-School Stage 2 application/preference(s)/documents: Additional preferences (treated as punctual) from applicants who are engaging in Stage 2 for a child(ren) not selected in Stage 1; or New 1st time Target age application or pre-school application related to a Late P1 Deferral (treated as punctual); or New 1st time Underage application (treated as late); or Additional preference from an applicant who declined a Stage 1 offer (treated as late).
Tuesday 10 June 2025	Notification of (Stage 2) outcome (includes Underage application) via email where one is held or by letter.