We're currently considering moving to a new area, which would mean moving our daughter to a new school. She's actually only due to start school this September, but for a number of reasons the move wouldn't be until next year at the earliest, so she would of course have started school by then.
When I look at the area we're considering moving to, there are 20 primary schools within a 2 mile radius, and they're all rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding.
There are also 6 secondary schools within a 2 mile radius (which, presumably, the primary schools feed into), all also with a rating of good or outstanding.
So, this seems good.
I'm just wondering if anyone has been in this position before and, specifically:
- Does the local authority have a legal obligation to find your child a space in a school within a reasonable time frame?
- Does the local authority have to find a space in a school within a reasonable travel distance (and, if so, what tends to be classed as 'reasonable')? She'll be 4 years old, so she can't really be expected to travel on a school bus, but because both me and my spouse work, if they placed her in a school 10 miles away it could cause us a real problem.
It looks to me as though the schools I've identified within the 2 mile radius generally look good (although obviously I'll need to do a lot more research), but I'm wondering if I also need to consider that she might be placed in a school further away than this.....
Thanks!