To think SOMEONE should be contactable in the school office over summer?

[Lmnop22]

I am moving house this week to a new area and local authority. my DS is due to start reception this September.

I was unable to apply for a reception place in the new area until I had a date to exchange contracts in order to prove I was in the very small catchment area for the school I wanted.

I didn’t exchange contracts until mid July when the summer holidays had already started. I immediately made the application for the Reception place and the council offered me the place a couple of weeks later. I accepted.

Then nothing. I have had no response to my email accepting the place. I have called the council and they say their part is over now and I’ll “hear from the school” but the school is closed over summer and there are no staff. When I told the council this, they said “oh yeah there won’t be anyone in until September now”.

So do I have the place? Do the school have my DS on the register for September? What uniform etc do I buy? How do I organise breakfast/after school club provisions?

Am I being unreasonable to think a member of staff ought to monitor emails and/or voicemails over the summer and communicate with parents in my position?

@Lmnop22 - if you go on the council website, you can get a list of local childminders. Start with the closest to the school and work back.

you have your place, it’s not been confirmed by the school but has been by the council, so that means there’s a place and the council won’t give it to someone else until you turn it down (which you haven’t) so that’s sorted.

what’s not sorted is wrap around childcare and before and after school clubs might not have places. Get something else sorted for September. A childminder will probably do the staggered start pick ups as well for an extra fee to enable you to restart working when you planned.

you can always move to before/after school club next year, but a childminder who’ll cover the holidays is definitely a better option.

@Lmnop22 which part of the country are you in now? someone may be able to give you some info privately here, if they are nearby.

Hi op

It sounds like you have had an awful time with everything, you are doing the best you can and this school situation will get sorted, yes it will be last minute but there’s no point getting so upset as it’s at the moment out of your control.

I admire your strength, moving areas with a newborn and young child and the way your relationship ended. You’re doing the best you can.
Be proud of how well you’ve coped.

Wow some really unnecessary snarkiness..

OP you're managing a new baby, a school starter, a house move, a bastard husband, and a return to work.. You should be applauded.

Staggered starts are pretty outdated.

They where standard 10 years ago when my oldest started (when you could stay home on income support until your child was school age so some kids had never been in any kind of out of home setting) but not for the last 3 years my youngest have been going to school.

We where told very early not to expect 'staggered starts' and its not the 'done thing' anymore. Most children now are expected to have been in nursery or preschool (since it is now an requirement by universal credit starting age 3 for parents to work, soon to drop down to 2) so its less disruptive to all to start on time all together.

I work in a school office and apart from occasionally checking in to see if we have any school place requests and accepting them we do not work and there is no expectation to. It’s the summer holidays and there is nothing to be done until we restart in September.

if you have had a place accepted them you have the place for your child/ ren. Check the school website and see what the uniform is if you want to purchase it.
also check term dates on school website - I can pretty much guarantee the admin staff will be in the day before the children go back so you can pop in them to collect admission forms and organise breakfast club ( if they have spaces as that’s is not guaranteed)
I can understand it must be stressful moving house so this will add to your panic about schools but you have nothing to worry about 😌

The one person in a school who almost always has an ‘all year’ contract is the Head. Their e-mail will be head@ followed by the usual rest of the e-mail address.

If you boil your query down to exactly what you need to know and which is not available on their website (by the sound of things, this is whether Reception has staggered starts and whether wrap around care has spaces), then a short and suitably ‘sorry to bother you over the summer but…’ could reasonably be sent by e-mail to the Head.

Otherwise, check the calendar for the school on their website and turn up in person at the door on the first date labelled ‘Inset’. The school may well be a hive of training, classroom setting up etc but the staff will be there. Not all admin staff work Inset days all year, but the first one at the start of the year, because it almost always includes Safeguarding training, will usually have absolutely everyone present.

I'd expect someone to be there few days before term starts so worth ringing up again nearer that date.

But starts - staggered or not - and before and after school availability varies widely between different schools even in the same area - so best bet is if you can ask other local parents - even trying local library or child center staff if there are any very local ones- and keep trying with the school - and scope out possible child minders as those places can also be in short supply.

Though we met head of school they ended up going to after a move as we were scoping out the schools before term and walked past her parked up outside school doors. We got house just before bank holiday after being messed around - couldn't get out stuff from storage for another week including kids beds - so they stayed with family another week so missed term start. Our preference had been another school till we looked round both - as soon as we'd decided even before council paper work went though they wanted them in - even when we hadn't sorted uniform - we sent them in generic bits they had. Week later wouldn't have know they missed term start.

I'd buy the uniform now - as council think you have a place - look though any welcome packs again to see what details they have - name of childcare provider as they be around as some do school holiday cover.

Def plan for not getting any breakfast and after school club provision from school, at least for the first few weeks / months. Our school is massively oversubscribed in this, places get allocated back in June for the whole next academic year and there is a lengthy waiting list with little movement.

im sure it feels stressful but in the grand scheme of your sons school ‘career’ and your career, a few weeks is a drop in the ocean but you have the chance to plan for it with childminders etc.

no I don’t think school offices should stay open in summer For this. Many of the staff are mums themselves (in ours at least it’s 100% of the office staff are mums) you can’t expect them to work and have to juggle just because of some people’s house moving didn’t align with government set dates.

If the council have confirmed your place don't panic.

The school website or even google will tell you the official uniform supplier and you can look there to see what it is. If like mine at primary, you need blazer and tie, they tend to have plenty extra in stock so when the office is back they can tell you. If he can wear a jumper and polo shirt all the better. Book bags you can get from the office when he starts.

Breakfast club and after school club can be sorted with the office once they're back. I assume you won't be dropping him at breakfast club on his first day anyway.

If this is your first child in school on top of not yet speaking to the school, you're bound to be worried. It'll all sort itself out, just try not to let it stress you out.

Their e-mail will be head@ followed by the usual rest of the e-mail address.

My HT doesn’t have that email address.

I think you have had some good advice on here, OP. Hopefully you’ll get some responses on the Facebook post soon. Good luck :)

I work in a school and it is true

Are there any INSET days at the beginning of September? If yes, phone school at around 8.30am on the first INSET day and try to find out as much as possible. This then gives you time to buy uniform if you do have a place and he can start as normal with all the other children.

There will someone in the office before school begins usually 2-3 days beforehand. Reception children have staggered starts, which usually begins after everyone has gone back, various schools have different entry patterns, so you will need to speak to local parents to see what your child's school does.

I kept mine in nursery for a few extra weeks as I was working full-time and could not make the half days work.

In regards to the Breakfast and after school clubs you are applying very late and there may be no space. These maybe run by the school but usually there is a link to the company that runs these. Again local knowledge will help you. However Reception children are rarely accepted into these clubs. Mine would not accept them in until they were at least 4 1/2 and the earliest entry was after the October holiday.

You should start looking into plan b e.g. Childminder, consider going part time, request flexible working hours/term time contract.

I definitely understand the worry OP but tbh with you (I'm a secondary teacher) we would have students showing up every year with zero notice, no uniform or prior communication from parents or the local authority. We'd just put them in classes until we could sort uniform and a proper timetable.

That definitely doesn't sound like your son's situation - I just add it to reassure you that even in the unlikely event that the school wasn't expecting him, they would know how to make him welcome!

As PP have said, have you seen start of term dates on the school website? Staff will definitely be back in before the children, usually 2-4 working days in advance. If you're able to, I'd try and just source a school jumper and assume the place is sorted as you've done everything you were asked to and the council's advice seems reassuring.

Thanks and apologies for stating something as a universal fact. Worth trying ‘head@‘ or scanning eg school letters and newsletters on the website to see if a specific e-mail is listed.

This is absolutely what to do. It happens every year in my primary school.

Wander up to reception on the first inset day and talk to the office staff. They often have on site uniform you can buy for situations such as this.

Until then, look on the website for the uniform policy and you can get most things from supermarkets. White polo t shirts, grey shorts/skirt.

Please don't worry. Many children are allocated spaces at a school over the summer.

My experience is of secondary schools. There might be some staff around but they might not be the right staff anyway. I can’t imagine many HTs would deal with this stuff anyway!

Ive been in school in the holidays and no one rings. It’s not worth having staff in really. I’ve only been in to do the summer payroll or for building works.
If you have your place then you have it.

go to their website, look for facebook pages and soo on possibly use a local fb group to ask if there is a parent out there that can help with info. DO not expect them in full time in first few weeks its unusual, uniform will be bloody obvious, just buy basic trousers/skirt/pinafore in right colour and a set of t shirts. Everything else can be sorted later e.g. badged cardi etc or again ask local groups if anyone has second hand stuff that could work till you know for sure etc.

Usually tops and bags and sometimes coats can be ordered from school

i dont know why you didnt contact school before hand for info if you were applying then you would know. (If there were 2 or 3 schools wouldn't have hurt to ask them all)

Yes you have a place just not yet acknowledged by school - it is up to County to place you.

School dates will be on County website too

Yes, someone will be in or at least working from home shortly.

If you've been offered a place then yes, you have it in writing. Do you buy the uniform through school or is it a generic one?

Presumably you'll take him on the first day anyway so can ask about breakfast clubs etc then. Can you arrange your working day so he doesn't have to go to both breakfast and after school clubs at first? It's just that, in my experience, they get very tired in the first couple of terms at school.

I'm sorry people have been such dicks to you on this thread.

Your ex is a piece of shit and I hope this is the fresh start for you and your babies.

Taking the first few weeks off is a good idea anyway because your kid will be shattered in those early weeks.

From one FT working single mum to another- you've got this.

The school will have two TED days before school opens for the pupils. Staff will be back in so you can call to double check.
They would have to pay someone to man the phones/ monitor emails over the holidays which wouldn’t make sense.

In our case I posted on the local facebook group and said we had been given a place but no chance to even look round it. I asked for parents experiences and descriptions. The lovely caretaker pm'd me and offered to show me and my children around in the middle of the holidays. You could try something similar xx

Oh dear, sorry I missed your update. Be strong!

Can your parents help out? I do hope so, but presumably you're not working anyway at the moment so breakfast and after-school clubs aren't an immediate concern.

As for uniform, often there will be a rack of hardly worn second-hand school jumpers, the rest should be easy to source from a supermarket, chain store.

My experience is of secondary schools. There might be some staff around but they might not be the right staff anyway. I can’t imagine many HTs would deal with this stuff anyway!

Primary heads are much more hands-on, except perhaps in very large schools. In my last couple of c 400 pupil primaries, the only ‘admin’ staff were finance person, and one full & 1 part time receptionist/ admin. As everyone else was classroom based and working with children (including the deputy head) the head necessarily got involved in all sorts of things that in secondaries would be covered by other teams.