AIBU regarding dd's nursery place?

[springhasprung]

My dd is 19 months old and I'm in the middle of deciding which nursery I'd like her to go to. The thing is, I don't want her to go to the nursery in the area we live in at the moment and at the end of the year I plan to move an hour away to a different town county. I have family there.

Would I be unreasonable to put her name down on the waiting list at the nursery there and use my relatives address until I actually move?

I should have said.. she'll be starting nursery in January 2018 so a long way away yet.

Just use your own address, and update it when you move.

Nurseries don't usually care where you live, as most people use a nursery close to a parent's workplace.

Can't you just be up front about the planned move and put her name down? Nursery places are different to school places and you can put a child into nursery near your work instead of near your home address etc. So you shouldn't need to lie.

It's a really great nursery and I'm worried that we'll be given less priority if I tell them we don't live there yet. When would I normally have to apply for primary school? The nursery is at the primary school.

I don't think the nursery will care.

The nursery really won't care where you live.

It won't care what primary you are applying to either.

Maybe I'm worrying a bit too much

If it's a council run nursery alongside the school then chances are there is no waiting list. You apply via the council at a specific time. (Not sure when ask the council).

If it's a private nursery (albeit funded by 15 hours) then absolutely put your name down at your parents address.

No nursery (private or one attached to a school) has cared where we live.

You apply for school around oct/Nov the year before they are due to start.

Ywbu to use someone else's address to get them into a school. But it doesn't mater for nursery.

The only thing I would think about is if the move gets delayed. Dbro was going to put his son into nursery in a different area as that's where they planned to move to. However for various reasons they didn't move. So he is glad he opted for the closer one as that's where his son is going to school next year. Had he have put him in the nursery in the other area, they would have had to move him.

As it's a nursery attached to a school, the council will run the admissions process, which usually start around a year before they would be due to start.

If the nursery is over-subscribed (as they certainly are in our area), priority will be given to people who live closest to the school.

However, it is fraud to apply on the basis of an address where your child doesn't live, and in over-subscribed areas, councils do check. Being caught lying would definitely result in your child going to the bottom of the list for places, or even kicked out after starting.

So to maximise your chance of getting into the nursery you want, you would be best checking the application timetable for the specific council, checking how many applications they usually get for the number of available places, and planning your move to fit in with that.

Also, the process for applying for nursery places attached to schools, is completely separate to the process for applying for reception places at the same schools - so it is possible to get into the nursery, but not into reception. So do check the catchment area for the school applications before you move.