Smart Academy Trust Admissions Consultation North Tyneside

Smart Multi Academy Trust is committed to the Department for Education's School Admissions Code. As part of the Code, we consult on admissions arrangements whenever there is a change which requires consultation, and at least once every seven years even if there is no change.

Whilst there is no proposed change to the criteria used for determining admissions to Smart schools in North Tyneside, the proposed Admissions Policy for Smart's North Tyneside school includes some rephrasing to give greater clarity to the policy. 

We would love to hear your views on our proposed Admissions Policy 2027-2028. 

Once you have read it, please contact us with any comments by emailing admissionsconsultation@smartacademies.net

The consultation will run from throughout December and close on 30 January 2026, at which point we will review the policy in the light of the consultation.

Stephenson Memorial Primary School

Smart Multi Academy Trust and Stephenson Memorial Primary School wish to inform you of a statutory consultation on admissions arrangements for the 2027/28 academic year. There is no change to the number of pupils being admitted to Stephenson Memorial Primary and no change to the oversubscription criteria used to allocate places if more applications are received that there are places. Despite there being no significant change, consultations are required to take place every seven years and the last consultation took place in 2019. Consequently, a consultation is taking place.  

Below is a copy of the proposed policy for admissions from September 2027. There are minor amendments to the wording of the admissions policy which are designed to make it clearer. These have been highlighted in yellow to help stakeholders to see where these small changes are being made. There is one change to deadlines being made to keep Stephenson Memorial in line with other North Tyneside schools and the North Tyneside Council co-ordination of school admissions. This changes the deadline for late applications to be heard by an admissions panel from 31 January to 23 January. This keeps Stephenson Memorial’s admissions policy in line with the co-ordinated scheme for North Tyneside schools.  

If you would like to submit your opinion on the admission policy, please email admissionsconsultation@smartacademies.net or write to the Clerk to the Trust, Stephen Davies, at Smart Multi Academy Trust Halewood Office, Halewood Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3RX. The consultation will run close at 3 p.m. on 30 January 2026. 

Smart Schools in Gateshead including reduction in PAN at Oakfield Infant School

Smart Multi Academy Trust is undertaking a statutory consultation regarding a change to admissions policy which includes a proposed reduction to the Published Admission Number at Oakfield Infant School for the 2027/28 academic year.

Background

The current Published Admission Number (PAN) at Oakfield Infant School is 60. This means that the number of children admitted to the school in Reception each year is a maximum of 60. As the demographics of the area around the school changes, we are seeing a marked decline in the number of primary school age children in the surrounding area. This has been reflected in a decline in the applications to Oakfield Infant School and means that we have not had full year groups coming into the Infant School for 3 years. This is part of a national trend. The latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) goes up to the end of 2022 and shows that the number of live births in the UK has fallen in six of the previous seven years, with the total number of live births in 2022 being the fewest since 2002. In consequence there has been a significant reduction in the number of Reception places required and many Gateshead schools, including Oakfield Infant School, are not full in Reception.

Of course, we are keen that as many children as possible benefit from the educational opportunities at Oakfield Infant School, but having fewer than 60 children joining in any individual year group results in uncertainty for school planning and we would like to minimise this in the future.  Now that the changes in the local population look likely to result in 30 applications being made each year to join the Oakfield Infant School at Reception, it is a good time to allow our admissions policy and PAN to reflect this. The proposal is to become a one-form entry Infant School by lowering the PAN to 30 with effect from September 2027.

This change would not affect cohorts of children who are already at the school and will not affect those who are applying for admission in 2026.  It is important to note that Oakfield Junior School would not change PAN at this time, allowing all pupils currently at Oakfield Infant School to progress seamlessly to the Juniors. A further consultation would be undertaken when the Junior School will seek to align its PAN with the pupil numbers rising up from the Infant School.

There are no changes proposed in relation to the oversubscription criteria being used at Oakfield Infant School, meaning that places in the school will be allocated in the same way as they are currently.

The consultation regarding the new admissions policy with a PAN of 30 at the Infant School will run from Thursday 18 December 2025 until 3 p.m. on Friday 30 January 2026.

We are consulting with staff and parents in face-to-face meetings as well as garnering written and email responses. We have not scheduled any face-to-face meetings with other stakeholders, but if you feel that this would be of benefit, please contact Smart via our admissions consultation email address by replying to this email and we will be in touch to arrange a phone call, Teams call or in-person meeting. 

Consultation

As the admission authority for Oakfield Infant School, Smart Multi Academy Trust abides by the School Admissions Code. In line with the Code, Smart is seeking the views of key stakeholders, including the following

• parents/carers of current pupils and prospective parents of pupils
• the staff at both the Infant and Junior Schools
• admission authorities of other local primary schools, including Gateshead Council
• Secondary schools that Oakfield pupils regularly move on to when leaving Oakfield
• councillors and MPs
• Trade Unions

The reduction in PAN is the only proposed change to the school’s admission arrangements. If the proposal is agreed, the maximum number of pupils admitted to Reception in 2027, and subsequent Reception cohorts, will be 30. For children who already have a place at the school in other year groups there will be no change.

Prior to consulting on this proposal, Smart Multi Academy Trust has considered the following:

• The total number of pupils from Reception to Year 2 in Oakfield Infant Schools, as recorded by the school at the November 2025 census, was 129 which is below the current capacity of 180;
• A large portion of the funding received by schools is directly related to the number of pupils attending the school. Too many vacancies mean that schools do not receive the maximum possible revenue per class;
• The expectation of a continuing decline in future Reception intakes which would result in a significant likelihood of vacancies each year if the PAN remains at 60;
• A reduction to 30 is required to allow the school to continue to operate efficiently and cost-effectively in the interests of providing the best possible education to pupils;
• The proposed PAN reduction will leave sufficient Reception places for local children in the future.
• Smart Multi Academy Trust is committed to working with Gateshead Council and all local school and multi-academy trusts to look creatively at solutions in the future, should there be an increase in the birthrate or an increase in the number of primary age children in the area as a result of new housing.

If you would like to submit your opinion on this proposal, please email admissionsconsultation@smartacademies.net or write to the Clerk to the Trust, Stephen Davies, at Smart Multi Academy Trust Halewood Office, Halewood Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3RX.

This information will also be available on the Smart website here: www.smartacademies.net/admissions-consultation/ This can be found by going to the Smart Multi Academy Trust website, selecting the News tab and then selecting Admissions Consultation.

We look forward to engaging with you regarding this proposed change.