Oughton nursery
At Oughton, we have 30 nursery places, providing 15 hours of free Nursery education every morning during term time. The Nursery runs between 8:45am and 11:45am. To see the current term dates, please click here.
Nursery Applications are now closed
If you wish to apply for a Nursery place for September 2026, please contact Mrs Channa [email protected]
For September 2026 entry, children need to be born between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023.
If you wish to apply for a Nursery place for September 2026, please contact Mrs Channa [email protected]
For September 2026 entry, children need to be born between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023.
Hitchin Partnership Admission Information for Local Authority Nursery Schools and Nursery Classes Admissions for 2026/27
Nursery settings operate their own admission process. Local authority nursery schools and classes within Hitchin form part of the Hitchin Partnership. In order to provide consistency and simplify the process for parents, the partnership has agreed a timeline for admissions and a set of over subscription criteria:
Autumn 2025 - Hitchin maintained nursery schools and nursery classes to make nursery admission information available on their websites
Wednesday 28th January 2026 - Applications open via school’s websites for Hitchin maintained nursery schools and nursery classes (online applications preferred)
Friday 6th March 2026 - Applications close for Hitchin maintained nursery schools and nursery classes
Thursday 12th March 2026 - Offers made to parents (via the same method as application was made)
Tuesday 21st April 2026 - Deadline for parents to accept/reject places
Continued interest offers will be made after this date.
Children will be offered a nursery place to start in the autumn term of the academic year they turn 4 (falling between 1st September to 31st August). We hold an information meeting for Parents in the summer term prior. Children are invited to visit and to attend a couple of sessions before they start and staff will arrange home visits prior to your child starting.
Nursery settings operate their own admission process. Local authority nursery schools and classes within Hitchin form part of the Hitchin Partnership. In order to provide consistency and simplify the process for parents, the partnership has agreed a timeline for admissions and a set of over subscription criteria:
Autumn 2025 - Hitchin maintained nursery schools and nursery classes to make nursery admission information available on their websites
Wednesday 28th January 2026 - Applications open via school’s websites for Hitchin maintained nursery schools and nursery classes (online applications preferred)
Friday 6th March 2026 - Applications close for Hitchin maintained nursery schools and nursery classes
Thursday 12th March 2026 - Offers made to parents (via the same method as application was made)
Tuesday 21st April 2026 - Deadline for parents to accept/reject places
Continued interest offers will be made after this date.
Children will be offered a nursery place to start in the autumn term of the academic year they turn 4 (falling between 1st September to 31st August). We hold an information meeting for Parents in the summer term prior. Children are invited to visit and to attend a couple of sessions before they start and staff will arrange home visits prior to your child starting.
oversubscription criteria
Should there be more applications than places, an agreed over subscription criteria will be followed. Please see the oversubscription criteria below. If an application is unsuccessful, you may request to go onto the nursery’s continuing interest list and as a space arises, the criteria will be applied again.
Children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs which names the school will be allocated a place in accordance with section 324 of the Education Act 1996. Schools will also admit children with an EHC (Education, Health and Care) Plan that names the school. Parents may state their preference as to which nursery class, school or centre they would like their child to attend in the years leading up to the child’s fourth birthday. However, if there are not enough places available, places will be allocated in the following order of priority:
a) Children looked after and children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order).
b) A child ‘at risk’ (or the sibling of a child ‘at risk’) who is the subject of an inter-agency child protection plan.
c) Other applicants where the following criteria are considered to determine priorities:
Proof of documentation to support any of the criteria above will be required.
If more children qualify under a particular rule than there are places available, a tiebreak will be used by applying the next rule to those children. If more children qualify under criterion 2 than there are places available, priority will be given to those who live nearest to the nursery as measured in a straight line, using Google maps. Where there is a need for a tie-breaker where two different addresses measure the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random.
Children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs which names the school will be allocated a place in accordance with section 324 of the Education Act 1996. Schools will also admit children with an EHC (Education, Health and Care) Plan that names the school. Parents may state their preference as to which nursery class, school or centre they would like their child to attend in the years leading up to the child’s fourth birthday. However, if there are not enough places available, places will be allocated in the following order of priority:
a) Children looked after and children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order).
b) A child ‘at risk’ (or the sibling of a child ‘at risk’) who is the subject of an inter-agency child protection plan.
c) Other applicants where the following criteria are considered to determine priorities:
- Children for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school.
- Children who have a sibling at the school (including, if an infant school, a sibling at the link junior school) at the time of application, unless the sibling is in the last year of the normal age range of the school. Note: the ‘normal age range’ is the designated range for which the school provides.
- Any other children.
Proof of documentation to support any of the criteria above will be required.
If more children qualify under a particular rule than there are places available, a tiebreak will be used by applying the next rule to those children. If more children qualify under criterion 2 than there are places available, priority will be given to those who live nearest to the nursery as measured in a straight line, using Google maps. Where there is a need for a tie-breaker where two different addresses measure the same distance from a school, in the case of a block of flats for example, the lower door number will be deemed nearest as logically this will be on the ground floor and therefore closer. If there are two identical addresses of separate applicants, the tie break will be random.
moving up to the main school
The nursery is an integral part of the school. Please note however that a separate application is needed to move to the main school and allocation of a Nursery place does not guarantee your child a place in our Reception class.
More information on applying for a school place in Hertfordshire please click below:
http://www.hertsdirect.org/admissions.
More information on applying for a school place in Hertfordshire please click below:
http://www.hertsdirect.org/admissions.