Admission Requirements

• Baptism certificates may be requested this month (November 2025) for reception next year into a Catholic school. Certificates of Catholic practice will be issued after Christmas for those with a proven record of attendance in this parish.    
• Certificates of Baptism must be requested well in advance of need or they may not be available in time.
• The certificate of Catholic practice is not needed for acceptance into a Catholic school.
• They will be given out on request for children in year 6 who have a 2-3year record of attendance.
• For Reception entry the family must who have a 2-3year record of attendance at this Church.
• From the guidance to priests on Catholic practice – The precise nature of this obligation is set out in the Church’s canon law. For members of the Latin Church, the relevant canons are canons 1246 – 1248 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. For members of Eastern Catholic churches the equivalent canon is canon 881 of the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. In applying these canons, it is important for priests to remember the following:
• children under seven are not bound by these canons, so primary schools ask if the family are practising.
• for numerous reasons, occasional non-attendance may not constitute a breach of the obligation: canon law provides for a range of particular circumstances which excuse or mitigate the obligation.
• Priests cannot be expected to be able to recall whether or not each parishioner has attended Mass on every single Sunday or holiday of obligation, nor can they always be expected to know whether or not, on a particular occasion, a person is lawfully excused from doing so. On the other hand, it is also clear that fortnightly or monthly attendance does not constitute the practice required by the canons.
• The certificates are not necessary to apply to a Catholic school and are given on the basis of attendance during 2026, 2025 and 2024

Our parish school is St Mary’s, a Catholic Primary school with a nursery. This is in Russell Road near to Wimbledon theatre and is a voluntarily aided school.

The school serves primarily the parish of St Winefride’s, nearby parishes have privileged access to nearby Catholic schools. The head teacher welcomes visitors with an interest in the school.

 

Catholic Primary School

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School:
Children stay there until they finish year 6 around the age of 11.

 

Catholic Secondary Schools

Most of our children go to Wimbledon College (boys) or the Ursuline High School (girls) with a mixed Sixth form. Catholic secondary schools in the area are:

Wimbledon College

Ursuline High School

The London Oratory School

The Holy Cross School

Richard Challoner School