How to move house, job, childcare/school... Where do we start??

[vjoy74]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post, so please move if needed.

We need help! We want to move from London to Bath in the next few months. Our daughters are 1 & 3 (starting school next September). I will need to leave my job and find a new one in Bath/Bristol. We need to identify 3 schools, catchment areas and find a house with garden (!) affordable enough for us to rent as we can't afford to buy. We need to find some sort of childcare (basic, whatever the free allowance will get us for the 3 year old and some extra for the 1 year old), that means interviewing nannies, meeting childcarers, visiting nurseries etc. Also ideally visiting the 3 schools we want to apply for.

I've been battling stress and depression, mainly due to my full time job and looking after the girls on my own, mornings and most weekends (DH is a freelancer and has to work most weekends). We had such a stressful month in July (pneumonia, chickenpox x3 ...). I don't know where my head is at.

I hope maybe one of you has done this before and can give me some advice. Do we find a flat first? Do I try to find a job first? Do I quit now and hope I find a job and flat in time? I am so lost right now. Please help me.

When we live in Bath, DH will look after the kids as much as possible. We are trying to look for flexible, ad hoc childcare (as in, if DH has work, we need it, otherwise we only need a few 3-4 hrs a day - which the 3 yrs should now get free). I will work full time, which will cover rent/living etc. DH income will cover childcare and a tiny bit more. Mainly staying in work as we know, once both girls go to school things will be easier financially.

I really need a step by step guide. And I'm not talking about the actual move. I'm normally very organised and we also got rid of so much stuff during the past year. Moving itself is the one thing I feel confident about.

Last time I moved properly (job/city etc), I moved countries! and jobs. but that was 12 years ago, without children or husband.

I'm lost.

I have no ideas really but just wanted to bump for you and say good luck - this is my fantasy!

I would start looking for a job first- identify companies you'd want to work for, look at current vacancies, contact recruiters speculatively, etc. The job location may influence where you live.
Then start looking at areas you want to live in, schools nearby, rental costs.
Can you afford to move without a job to go to?
Also look at how far you want to commute- it may be easier and cheaper to find a rental further out of Bristol/bath but do you mind taking longer to get to work?

Hope that helps you get started.

I think job and schools are your priorities. Find a job first then look at potential locations to commute from and what the schools are like. Check their catchment areas as they can often be weird. Read their ofsted reports but also go and visit.

For jobs - depending on what you do, are you on LinkedIn? Look for local recruiters and networking groups for your profession - eg Cipd if you work in HRS.

That should be HR .

Also I think you will struggle with ad-hoc childcare wherever you go. Most providers will want a commitment. You may be able to get say 2 days per week at a private nursery and they will take your dc for an extra day now and then if they have space, but they are unlikely to commit to being able to do so at short notice.

Just reread your post - you need to have ID'd the schools by Christmas right? So you have pretty tight timescales?
Can you do interim work - paid on a day rate - until you find permanent work? You would be need to find somewhere to live that means you can get to as many places as possible- Bath, Bristol.etc. Maybe start applying for permanent jobs now and set yourself a deadline of eg November to resign your current job and move to Bath?

Agree with pp - none of this can happen without the job, so this will have to be the first thing and then build everything else in from there. I think you will find take it or leave it child care incredibly difficult to find. I would factor in paying X amount for child care every week ie. although I know some nurseries are flexible they probably won't be able to guarantee you the hours you may need week on week if you only pay for your minimum requirement.

Firstly, you need to find the job.
There is lots of property around and as you are renting finding somewhere should be fairly easy.

As you look for properties then you can look at schools and school catchments.
As a gross generalisation, schools in and around Bath are fairly good.
Even though you will be renting, do give half a thought to the Secondary Schools your DCs may end up in too.

Just a thought; does it have to be Bath?
Bradford-On-Avon, Frome and Devizes are all nice small market towns with good schools (although for Secondary you may want to send them out of catchment). They are much cheaper for rental than Bath but good communities, nice for bringing up children, lots going on, easily commutable for Bath/Bristol.
i hope that doesn't add further confusion.

But Bath is george ours! Expensive but if you are used to city life it will be a good alternative.