Oh some advice Please

[Khrys]

I am currently living in Greece finishing off a divorce and will be moving to London around June 2012. I have a daughter now 5 but then 6 and here is where my question comes in. I will be looking for a job and a house, but i am getting very scared about what I am hearing about getting her into a school. I do have a Driving license for Greece but I wont be getting a car right away until I am more familiar with our surroundings
Honestly I am scared and i am lost about how i can help myself and prepare Please any advice.

[mumoverseas]

Well my understanding although I'm prepared to be corrected, is that you can't apply to any schools until you have moved to the UK and have an address there. Have read so many threads recently about the lengths people go to to get their DC into good schools so I would have thought you should start looking ahead to where you will want to live.

Good luck

[IndigoBell]

It's really not that bad if you don't have a house. All you have to do is rent a house nearish a school that you both like and has places.

You will be missing the pallaver everyone else has to go through, because they don't know which school they will get.

But you know. Any school that has a place has to accept her. Regardless of where you live.

So ring round the diff London boroughs that you fancy. Find out which schools have places, research them.... Then look for a house.

[whomovedmychocolate]

It's not that bad - really. The problem is there is an illusion of choice and that is what upsets people. If the LEA said 'you live in street A, therefore you will go to school X' it would be fine. It's just because there is the expectation to have choice.

Even if a school is in special measures it does not stay that way, it'll be constantly assessed to make sure the problems go away until it shapes up enough to be satisfactory. And yes you apply when you get here but if it's between September and January it's great because there is a clear view on what places are available - versus now where you have to wait and see while parents like me are going through a quasi-clearing process.

Sorry about the divorce btw. :(

But I am sure you'll find a happy new life in London :)