Parents flocked to the Curia offices yesterday morning to collect the application forms that will hopefully get their children accepted into Church schools.

Eager mums, and a few dads, queued outside the Floriana offices and stood in the drizzle for up to an hour before the doors opened at 9 a.m. to enable them to get the application forms.

"I went to a government school when I was younger but I'd like my daughter to go to a Church school because I think children there get more individual attention," one mother said, holding her two-year-old daughter in her arms.

Another mother, who teaches at a government school, said she was registering her son at a Church school because she had been to one herself.

"However if he doesn't get in it won't be the end of the world. I'll just send him to a government school, which I prefer to a private school," she said.

After the morning queue dispersed, other parents trickled into the Curia to get a copy of the coloured forms for entry into Kinder One (children born in 2006), Kinder Two or pregrade (born in 2005) and Year One (born in 2004).

Once filled in, the applications are to be returned to the Curia. Applications for Kinder One must be returned on January 19 and 20; Kinder Two on January 21 and 22 and Year One on January 26 and 27 between 9 a.m. and noon and from 4 to 6 p.m. As explained by the Curia, parents are to fill in one application per child and list their school preferences. After the ballot, children will be allocated to the schools according to the order of the draw and available places.

The entry criteria will be the same as that followed in the past few years, with preference being given to children whose siblings are already in Church schools and children from residential homes. Three children per class will be selected from families with special needs and the rest will be drawn by ballot in April.