Cambridge - School for foreigners and in-year application

[Malu2k]

Hi there,
I'll be moving with wife and 5 y.o daughter from Brazil to Cambridge in September (probable date).

Questions are:

1 - Is there any primary school known to be a reference for students whose English is not their mother language?

2 - Here are some texts from the Cambridgeshire website regarding 'in-year applications' and dates:

If you are applying for the start date of the new school year (September) and submit your applications from the 1 May to 28 June – you will get your offer of a place between 8 July and 15th July.
Applications made after 28 June cannot be guaranteed an offer of a place for the start of the new school year due to school summer holiday break. We aim to process your application within 20 school days.

We can allocate a school place in advance if you provide an official government letter stating your relocation date and intended address. We will accept a unit postal address or a quartering area address for applications from service personnel in the absence of a new postal address. You will need to attach this documentation to your online application.

So, there is this 28th June deadline. I won't be in Cambridge by that time, therefore, my only option is to get this relocation date letter from the employer and try to apply to a specific area, is that correct?

I already had access to a spreadsheet showing schools that has availability for September. But I'm kinda lost because I need to choose this unit postal address or a quartering area address that I have no idea.

[maslinpan]

The Unit postal address is for use by military families only, so not relevant to your situation.

[maslinpan]

Cambridge schools do get quite a lot of international families relocating particularly because of the University, so your DD is unlikely to be the only non-native speaker, and at her age is probably going to learn English incredibly quickly.

[forkfun]

All schools here have English as an additional language (EAL) facilities. In my child's class there are 14 out of 28 kids who are multilingual. He's just in our local Cambridge primary. From colleagues and friends I know this is not particularly unusual anywhere in the city.
There is also lots of movement here, with people coming and going, so a place can come up quickly. Good luck!

[BringOnTheScience]

Any Cambridge school will be totally fine for languages. The city & surrounding villages have many, many families from all around the world. I normally had 8-10 different home languages in any of my classes in village schools. I had children arrive with little or no English.

You can help your DD a great deal by ensuring that she has some basic English. Please & thank you, yes & no, counting, toilet, etc. Teach her to say "I don't understand" and encourage her to say it as often as she needs to

She'll be fine.

[Malu2k]

Thank you all for the replies. I can see now that I'll have to wait until I find a home to apply for a school place.

I'll be arriving in Cambridge September 16th. Unfortunately I can't make sooner, so my daughter will miss the 1st month of school and probably some days in October as well.

Now the search for villages/schools begins.

[MyOtherProfile]

Speak to the county council. They are well used to people arriving from abroad and may have some advice for you about how to find a school without being here yet.