To be petrified of my son having no school place - surrey :-(

[Lostandlostsomemore]

We have had to move ( renting ) 20 miles from our old address so have had to do a late admission.
I also requested the information of all schools with vacancies within 10km and have added the one and only school on there - woodmansterne in Banstead however ofsted is pretty poor however it was the only one with " possible spaces " That is 8 miles from our new address.
Will obviously go on all waiting lists for local schools but with a winter birthday he has to be in full time education come January so not much time to play with.
Feel really bad for him even though he doesn't seem phased at all about any of it, move included!
Just feel pretty shit

Is home schooling until a place comes up an option?

If you repost in primary schools some posters have a lot of knowledge of the admission system so may be able to help.

Good luck

Will look for that board now, thankyou.
I'm a stay at home mum so yes home schooling an option although not sure if in qualified to do so, I'm not stupid but not particularly gifted academically either.

There are often children who do not appear in the first week of term. Make sure you are on all the waiting lists right now. We were offered a place on Sept 4th last year after moving in on Aug 29th. I would try to ring as many schools directly as possible, don't rely on the council as they are often slower. School staff are often closer to the ground and know of pupil movement much sooner.

I'm pretty sure that the LEA is legally obliged to offer every child in their area a school place if they ask for one?

Although of course the place they offer doesn't have to be one of your nearest schools or a school you really like.

Yes they are obligated under fair access protocol. They will also have to help with transport as the school is such a distance away.

Make sure you post in Talk / Education / Primary Education. There are admissions experts there who can help you.

I have just posted there thanks.
They will provide a taxi service if this is the only school with spaces however I would rather get a job at mcdonalds for extra money and drive him myself ( this is not a dig at all I actually would ) than put a 5 year old in a taxi on his own to school.
I have rang all schools but there is no answer so have also emailed them.
Just feel like a bit of a shit mum for putting him in this position and not having enough money to have bought our old house so that he could start at the lovely school we got into.

Most Surrey schools go back on Sept 2nd so someone will be available to answer your call from then. He doesn't have to be in school until his fifth birthday, and as Janice said, it's not unusual (esp in Surrey) for children not to turn up at the start of term.
Make sure you get added to waiting lists for your preferred schools on the 2nd, perhaps don't accept the offered place as you don't need to until his birthday and if it sounds like there will continue to be spaces there, and wait and see?
It's really unlikely that schools will contact you over the holidays, so focus on identifying your preferred schools and enjoy the sunshine.
Good luck.

I thought if anyone had moved so a place was available the council would know rather than the school itself, however maybe I'm wrong as I emailed the school and called the council when I knew we were moving so that the space was available for someone else but not everyone may do that I guess.
I was planning on accepting it but deferring until January as by then his sisters application will be due in for next September so it can't really go on any longer than that.
Not sure what would happen if I chose the local catholic school for her and she got it but he was still at home I guess he would go to the top of the waiting list but still unlikely to get a place for year 1 :-(

Stop feeling like a shit mum. You are not. He is obviously loved and that's all that counts. It is only primary school.

Now they don't just use any taxi that turns up for this. It will be a CRB checked service. Other people will be along to explain more about how the service works so it is an option. I don't know how it works - is it possible for you to travel with him?

Do you work outside the home? It is possible for you to home educate until a place comes up. However if you take this route the LA isn't obliged to find you a place.

On another week school offices will be open again so you can start calling around. As mentioned there is often movement at the start of the year.

If the school's you want have their waiting lists handled by the LA then contact them about going on this now.

Good luck. And stop beating yourself up. You're a great mum!

If you do end up with a place at a school more than two miles away but decide to take him yourself, you would be entitled to repayment of mileage costs by the council. Make sure you apply, as they probably won't fall over themselves to tell you that.

Now I'm crying! I do try to be a good mum, I've put everything I can into raising the kids, leaving my career behind to be a stay at home mum but financially it meant we had to rent which I just didn't realise was so unstable :-(
I wouldn't want him in a taxi, they don't allow you to accompany so it just wouldn't be fair on him.
I didn't realise about paying the mileage though, although if a place closer then does arise I guess they would expect you to change so they were no longer obliged to pay? Which could be very unsettling for him depending on when that was.
Thanks for all your advice and kind words on here, means a lot honestly

You could insist on a place near home, go to appeal, and make them argue it would be unsafe to admit over numbers

they wont put a 5 yr old on his own in a taxi they would have a dbs checked escort.
but try and relax a little there is lots of movement in school places in first week september so make sure he on the wait for your favoured school. there will be further movement during the autumn term. eg someone waiting on their favourite moves, people moving house etc.

Try not to stress (easier said than done I know), wait and see what school he does get placed at and then decide what to after that.

I was in the same situation last year, ds1 got placed at a school several miles away that I couldn't actually get him to (I don't drive) and the council requested evidence of our address and ds1's identity.

I told them I couldn't actually get him to the school, they weren't interested. I asked how likely it was he'd get a place at the local school (which was oversubscribed), they just said he'd go on the waiting list.

He was offered a place at the local school the same day they received the proof of address! After mentioning this to other parents afterwards, they told me that the school has to take all children in catchment because there's no other school for miles. I think he was always going to get a place (they actually went several places over their published intake number and created an extra class) so all my stress was for nothing.

He will get offered a place somewhere, wait and see which school that is and if you aren't happy with it then decide what you want to do about it (the school ds1 was initially placed in was ofsted outstanding! If I could drive I would have happily accepted the place).

In our case, the school knew about 2 families who were 'probably' going to be moving abroad, but didn't confirm until they had actually left the country. Schools are often aware of that sort of thing well in advance, as children most often talk about it.

I would email the schools aswell as trying to call. Our admin staff often check in over the summer.

A VA school (normally church schools) handle their own admissions too if they are 'in-year', so that's why it's worth speaking directly. Our school informed the council we had the place once my DC had been there a week. The admissions lady said the council were so busy it can take them days to process offers. There is a process they have to go to 'offer' to the 1st on the list, for example, if they don't want it, they need an email or confirmation that its a definite No before it gets offered to No2 on the list, this is why it can take a while as parents can be hard to contact and get a response from straight away.

For what it's worth Woodmansterne is lovely, the school looks as if it has good outside facilities. I don't know anyone there so can't comment on the teaching, but the environment is very nice.

Reading your posts has really brought it back to me, we also rent and were looking forward to ds1 starting the lovely little school where he was already attending the preschool and had made friends...then we moved house!

He was the only child who knew nobody at all on his first day. He cried everyday for two weeks after he first started but he soon settled in, has absolutely loved his reception year, has made friends and is really looking forward to going into yr 1 in September and I actually prefer our new house and living where we do now than our old place.

I do remember the stress of moving and school places well though but everything will most likely work out fine op and if it doesn't work out how you hoped, you'll find a way to make that work for you and your children.

I agree the school looks lovely, not sure why the ofsted is bad although a new head joined in 2012 and hasn't had a report since so next one could be great, who knows.
Someone on another thread mentioned they will reimburse your mileage, I wasn't aware of this.
But obviously if in September a school 5 miles that I hate is available and so is this one I can't opt for the further away school and expect them to foot the bill they will only pay the mileage for the absolute closest school surely.

parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result/18727/current

This link shows what parents think of the school.

I agree with merlottime. It's in a nice friendly village with a strong sense of community, and I wouldn't place too much store by the Ofsted. Can you arrange to visit?

I don't know what the rules are in Surrey, but where I live, the council will only pay for transport to the nearest school with a place available. If it's outside what they consider to be a reasonable walking distance.

I have emailed them asking to come for a viewing as soon as they can fit me in.
Now I've put it on my list if he gets it how will I know whether it's still our closest school with a place to know whether we would qualify for the mileage?
I'm hoping another awful school doesn't come up closer to home now almost as although the ofsted isnt good, I do think it could have been a lot worse considering when our move has been

Taxis aren't so bad - my 5 yo had to go by taxi and he loves it. He also probably won't be on his own for the whole journey as they pick up other kids. However, the LA may offer you a parent contract and pay you mileage if you did want to take him yourself (especially if the taxi wasn't picking up others).

I wouldn't put a 5 year old in a taxi with a stranger. I'm a stay at home mum and chose to be so to be as involved as possible in the school, assemblies etc, walking them into school and collecting them.

You put in your application, the system will look for available places and if there's a vacancy for one of your preferred schools, and you qualify ahead of anyone else being processed late, you will get that place.

If there are no vacancies for your preferred schools the council will offer you the nearest available vacancy.

If it is over a certain distance then you are entitled to transport. This might include mileage BUT each LA has a different policy so you do need to check.

Some LAs will automatically put you on the waiting list for any preferred schools you don't get. Again, check what your LA does.

You can defer your child's start until the term he turns 5. Do this if at all possible.

Waiting lists generally stay until Christmas. After Christmas you have to apply again to go on waiting lists.

If you haven't already put in your application do so now. Otherwise if a vacancy arises now you may miss out (it depends on when your LA processes late applications/vacancies).