The Michael Sobell Sinai School is a United Synagogue School which teaches Orthodox Jewish belief and practice, embodied in the principles of Torah and Halachah. They include the welcoming of every Jew, creating a sense of belonging, encouraging and preparing for lifelong learning, spiritual growth and practice, mutual responsibility within the community and the wider world, and the importance of Israel in Jewish life. We welcome all children into the school community whose families are able to respect the School’s ethos and its importance to our school community.

The Nursery will admit 30 children per class – 60 children (which is the School’s Published Admission Number for the Nursery). In 2011, 200 applications were received.

Children will be admitted to the Nursery in the September of the academic year in which they will reach four years of age.

Consideration of Applications

The Nursery gives priority, up to the Published Admission Number, to children who meet the School’s religious practice test by virtue of their commitment to one or more aspects of Judaism, namely Jewish study and knowledge, the life of religious observance and prayer, and acts of kindness and social responsibility. Points for adherence to the above will be attributed in accordance with the Certificate of Religious Practice (CRP).

Application Procedure

Application for a place in the Nursery is by returning forms directly to the school. The deadline for applications for a place in Nursery for September 2012 is 15 January 2012. A Certificate of Religious Practice (CRP) must also be completed by that date.

Applications received after the closing date will be considered as late applications and processed after those received on time.

A letter informing parents whether or not their application for a place in Nursery has been successful will be sent by the School by 13th February 2012.

The school will give priority to twins and multiple births based on the criteria below. They will, as far as possible, receive offers at the same time, in line with class size regulations. Consultation will be taken with parents to decide on whether to split the multiples or educate them together in the same class. This decision will be taken after places are offered.

The Governors will rely upon the information contained in the Application Form and Certificate of Religious Practice Forms and reserve the right at any time to withdraw an offer of admission if it transpires that any information is false or misleading in a material way.

Waiting Lists

In all cases where there is a year group that is full, all remaining applicants for places in that year group will be placed on a waiting list. The child’s place on the waiting list will be determined at all times in accordance with the oversubscription criteria below.

Once initial offers have been made, the waiting list will be adjusted to include late applications. A child’s position on the waiting list does not depend upon the time they have been on the list but will be determined by how they meet the oversubscription criteria. This means that a child’s position on the list can go down as well as up, depending upon the child’s circumstances and those of other applicants.

In the event of a vacancy occurring, the place will be offered to a child on the waiting list, starting with the one at the top of the list and working downwards until the vacancy is filled.

The waiting list will be closed at the end of the year and will not roll over. Parents wishing to remain on the waiting list will be required to submit an application in the coming academic year directly to Brent Council’s School Admissions Service.

It will be necessary for parents who completed a CRP 2011 to complete a revised CRP 2012 in order to remain on the waiting list.

Oversubscription Criteria

In the event of the School being oversubscribed, the Governors will apply the following criteria in order of priority as set out below.

1. 1 The Governors will give priority, up to the published admissions number, to Jewish children who meet the School’s religious practice test in the order 1.1-1.3 below. Points gained will be attributed in accordance with the Certificate of Religious Practice (CRP) 2012.
   1. Siblings of pupils attending The Michael Sobell Sinai School on the date of admission. A sibling is taken to mean the brother or sister of a pupil where they share the same mother or father. This includes step-siblings and adopted siblings and children living in the household, for whom the householders are acting in loco parentis.
   2. Twins and other multiples
   3. 1.3 All other children
2. All other applicants.

Within each criterion, the tie-beaker will be the distance from the home to the school gates, measured in a straight line and as determined by Brent Local Authority using their computerised mapping system. In the case of families living in apartments, priority will be given to families living on the ground floor, then first, then second, etc. In cases where applicants live equidistant from the school and places cannot be offered to both children, the available place will be allocated using a random computer selection. Where a child lives with parents with shared responsibility, each for part of a week, the address where the child lives is determined by the address where the child spends the majority of the week.

For further information, please contact the School on 020 8204 1550.

Download forms

 MSSS – Certificate of Religious Practice

 Supplementary Information Form for a place at the MSSS 2012