School Admissions

School Admissions

St Barnabas and Christ’s Chapel are committed to its children, families and young people

At St Barnabas and Christ’s Chapel we care deeply for our church families and feel committed to the mission, ministry, and discipleship of all the children and young people entrusted to us. We enjoy an excellent relationship with the children, parents, and staff of our outstanding church school, Dulwich Village Infants’ School, and with our three Foundation Schools: Dulwich College, Alleyn’s School, and James Allen’s Girls School, for whom our Vicar, Revd John Watson, is the Foundation Chaplain. We are delighted that so many children and young people from these schools and many other local schools are involved in the life and worship of St Barnabas and Christ’s Chapel. 

Foundation Place School Admissions

We know that choosing a school for your child is a hugely significant task. Many schools with a religious foundation admit a certain number of students to ‘foundation places’, for which the students (and/or sometimes their parents) must fulfil certain criteria, such as regular attendance at a church. Schools, as the admission bodies, set these criteria and trust churches to report honestly whether, or not, prospective students fulfil them. If you are thinking about applying for a foundation place for your child at a particular school, please check well in advance with the school what the admission criteria are. Many schools require attendance at church at least twice a month for a minimum of two years in advance of the application being made.

What do I need to do to apply for a foundation place?

To assist the church and the clergy to keep accurate records of attendance for this purpose, from October 2022, it has become necessary for St Barnabas and Christ’s Chapel to introduce a new attendance protocol for families attending worship to secure admission to a Church School. The full Foundation Place School Admissions Attendance Protocol for Families can be found here.

In summary:

ALL parents who are planning to apply for a Foundation Place in ANY school must now add their child’s name to the St Barnabas and Christ’s Chapel Foundation Place School Admissions Register by emailing the church office and collecting a St Barnabas and Christ’s Chapel Foundation Place School Admissions record.

It is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to ensure that the child’s record book is bought to church and that attendance is correctly marked in it by the designated sidesman/church officer or member of the clergy at that service or qualifying children or young people’s groups.

Subject to the wording below in bold italics, qualifying services and groups are as follows:

*When asked to sign off school admissions, the clergy need to see attendance at Sunday or Wednesday services, which can include children and youth groups during the Sunday 10 a.m. service. If families attend Messy Church services, this can only count towards 50% of the required attendance for whichever school is being applied for.

Viewing online services from St Barnabas will not qualify unless there are reasons as to why it is not possible for a family to attend in person. These circumstances need to be notified at the time and approved by the clergy. Admissions records will only be stamped and signed off at the end of each service. It is expected that families and/or children attend the full service or group. If an admissions record is left behind or not presented at the end of the service or group, it will not be possible to record the attendance at another time.

If you have any questions about recording attendance at school admissions, please email our Parish Administrator using parishoffice@stbarnabasdulwich.org All other questions should be directed to the school to which you are making the application. Please do not contact the clergy directly about record-keeping for school admissions in the first instance.