St Mary’s is a Roman Catholic Primary School in St Teresa of Calcutta Roman Catholic Academy Trust.  The Academy Trust is the admissions authority, and the Local Governing Board is responsible for taking decisions on applications for admissions.

Please click here to download our Admissions Policy 2025 2026

Applications to start school (Reception Year) are dealt with directly through Bury Council Admissions Team.

All applications should be made online.

Once this has been done the supplementary form, Baptism Certificate and recent proof of address must be handed into the School Office before the online submission deadline.

If you wish to have your application considered against the school’s religious criteria then you must ALSO complete the supplementary form which is available from the school or can be downloaded. Supplementary forms are available from the School Office or via this link. Supplementary Form 2026

Admission to the school is in accordance with the admission policy which can be downloaded from the link above.

 

Nursery

If you are interested in an Nursery place for your child, please call in and collect an ‘Expression of Interest Form’. You can complete this at any time from your child’s birth. With this form we will need copies of your child’s birth and baptism certificates. Please bring the originals to school and we will copy them for you.

Children start in Nursery in the September after their third birthday.

If you have given us your child’s information and certificates we will contact you in the November/ December before your child is due to start in our nursery in September. You will be sent a letter asking whether you still require a place for your child and inviting you to a meeting in January.

In January, following your attendance at the meeting, you will be sent a second letter asking whether you require a morning or an afternoon place. Further information regarding the procedure and criteria will be given to you at the meeting in January.

When we have allocated the places we will send you a third letter in March informing you of the decision.

Please note that if you move house at anytime following the completion of the ‘Expression of Interest Form’, you will need to call into school to update your form.

If at any point in our admissions procedure we do not receive a reply from you, we will presume that you no longer require a place for your child.

Places in Nursery

At St Mary’s, we have part- time morning places and part-time afternoon places. When there are spaces available, we offer some full- time places to parents who are willing to pay or who are entitled to the 30 hours free child care scheme.

Expression Of Interest In A Nursery Place Form

Reception

Children start school (Reception) the September after their fourth birthday.

Each year the dates between which you can apply for a place for your child will slightly alter. You must check the Bury.gov website for up to date information. The closing date will be approximately the second week in the January before your child starts in Reception the following September.

In the October before your child is due to start school in the following September, you should receive a letter from the LA informing you of how to complete your child’s application. If you do not receive one, check the Bury.gov website or ring the Admissions team.

If your child attends St Mary’s Nursery, we will send you a message with the admissions information. Reminders will be included in our Foundation Stage newsletters and individual letters given to parents who have not applied as the process continues.

Parents are asked to apply for a place online however if you do not have access to the internet please contact the admissions team for a paper copy. This must be returned to the admissions team, not school.

As we are a Catholic school you will also need to complete a supplementary form and bring it to school with your child’s birth and baptism certificates. Without this information we will not be able to process your child’s application. If we do not receive a baptism certificate for your child we will presume that your child is not a baptised Catholic and they will be treated as a non-Catholic when we apply our admissions criteria. Please note that if your child is already in Nursery at St Mary’s you will still need to complete a supplementary form.

Please note that a place in our Nursery does not entitle your child to a place in Reception.