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?

The reality is that most school staff are not paid for the 12 weeks that schools are closed, so that is why there is no requirement for them to be in... However, at my school, the business manager has been in 5 times over the summer already so I'm sure she'd respond to emails received on such matters - but that is above and beyond her actual contract.

The salary is supposed to cover the 12 months as with any other job.

I know my DIL will be going in to school to sort everything out for the new school year during the last couple of weeks of the holidays

Bless you. That sounds horribly stressful. I think you’ve done everything you can and it sounds like your child has a pace at the school. Just get the uniform and plan as much as you can until you get a reply to your communications.

I’m only paid to work for 39 weeks per year. I do occasionally check my emails but I don’t have access to the rest of the school systems.

I will be back in the office on the first Monday in September - a few days before the children.

Myself and my office colleague used to be paid for extra weeks to cover this sort of thing in the holidays but the school can’t afford it and our weeks and hours were cut. This is happening in schools everywhere.

Don’t panic OP, the school will be in touch when the office reopens.

@Butwhybecause yeah, that's really not how it works. The pay is stretched over 12 months so teachers don't signon jn the summer like they used to but the pay is only for the 1260ish contracted hours (+ what ever it takes to get the job done).

Most support staff will be on term time +1 which covers the inset days, again stretched across the 12 months so they have paydays. Business managers and PAs might have another few weeks added on. IT and caretaking staff work in the holidays and have to take their time off once schools are back but they won't have access to emails directed to the office

Some staff do go jn in the holidays to get their classrooms ready or to prep other things but that's a freebie and to make their life easier on them

There is a difference between teaching and admin contracts, as well.

Admin contracts (and TA contracts) are genuinely ‘school term only’ - and adverts for them are usually given as the annual salary as if for 52 weeks and then the pro rata, or quoted as an hourly rate.

Teaching contracts are given as an annual salary, paid monthly, for a directed hours budget of 1295 hours which is usually ‘spent’ during school terms plus Inset plus eg staff meetings, training, parents’ evenings etc. While many teachers work well above their directed hours, the fact is tat they cannot be directed to work eg in the holidays unless they are genuinely under their hours allocation.

Heads, to my understanding, usually have a normal annual contract and are required to work the hours needed to fulfil their role, much more like a ‘normal’ professional contract.

@Lmnop22

I'm really sorry your EX turned out to be such a wanker, what kind of scum has an affair when his partner is pregnant & leaves her and their 4yo & 5 DAY old baby, they hide their true selves well sometimes don't they🥲. Bastard.

I'm sorry your entire life has been turned upside down.

I'm also sorry you've had some bitchy replies. They don't realise their own 'perfect little lives' could just as easily be turned upside down in a nano second.

you have done amazingly to cope as well
as you have!! Don't let anyone make you feel otherwise!!

School administration has to be one of the most frustrating things in life! They like to try to treat the parents like mushrooms - keep them in the dark... private & state.

i think you've done the right thing to delay the start of your contract, hopefully it hasn't caused you too much of a problem.

try to take a few deep breaths, as frustrating as the lack of communication is, it'll all work out!!

I hope you all settle well in the new house, new school etc. it'll be lovely being near family & friends again.

& I hope karma takes a huge bite out of your Ex's arse!!!

& you have your 2 beautiful children❤️

Contact the admissions team at your local council, they will be able to confirm everything for you, and try the school office a few days before term starts there will be staff in them - appreciate that its short notice though.

Regarding uniform, but the basics, trousers/polos/shoes etc. and then get the last bits once you have spoken to school next week. Reception year tends to be quite relaxed, there are a lot of people who don't know what they're doing and are still gathering information in the first week or so, so don't worry about it.

Hope all goes ok for you OP, I imagine it's quite stressful 💐

Ask in a local Facebook group if there is a contact parent or WA group, or try school website and pta. Ask for second hand uniform and go from there.

The school should have a website with links for booking the breakfast/after school club, so try there.

I am sure all will be fine, leave voicemail on the answerphone and someone will get back to you but buy a pack of the right polo shirts and one jumper for now and it'll work out ok. Sounds like you've had a stressful time.

There will be someone back into the office next week whether officially or not and it'll get sorted.

Yanbu that would stress me out so bad

If the council have offered you the place, then you have the place.
Try emailing the Head direct, and phone after the Bank Holiday. Most schools have a couple of INSET days at the start of term, and admin staff will be in then.

Take a deep breath. State school reception uniform and rules are way more relaxed than private school. No one’s going to even blink if you child turns up on the first day without the proper uniform having not booked school lunches. You’re going to have to hit the ground running but rest assured no one (not even your child) is going to care. Part of your anxiety will be projected from your stressful situation. Try not to put that on the school, you need them with you not against you.

There will be an allocated admin person who deals with adding children to roll etc. Even if OP managed to find the head’s email, they wouldn’t be able to action it. It’s a matter of waiting until term starts. They will need to allocate a class and will need forms filling in. At my school, if there were spaces in more than one class, we would want information about the child to help us decide which class to allocate them. The parent and child would be given a tour and be given their transition timetable for the first couple of weeks of term. Your child will not be able to start on the first day of term. When school Places are applied for, the child should start by the 10th school day (in my LA).

As others have suggested, there are no guarantees around places for wrap around care. This provision should be offered in schools but any extra recruitment to account for demand would have been done in the summer. It might be worth contacting some local child minders this week as a back up.

Hopefully you get the answers next week OP.

Just a heads up tho, your dc will be going in for the first few weeks/months ona staggered time table.

Most schools don’t do breakfast clubs and after school clubs straight of the bat and have a settling in period for reception children, also I don’t know any schools who offer 6pm after school clubs and even if they do it would depend on staff availability and child ratios.

I’d be personally looking at plans B and even C.

Hi OP I work in a school.

Can you see are there any INSET days at the beginning of term? It should say on the website. If there are then staff, including some office staff will be in. Many you could ring or physically go in to confirm things then.

I appreciate its rubbish timing. They will get back to you but obviously not until the last minute.

This actually happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago. She didn't hear from school until the first day of term. Child started the next day.

Yes I think there should be a member of staff in to solve these issues, or there should be some decision making done prior to actual move in date with confirmed proof (ie when missives concluded in Scotland and confirmed by solicitor) or some level of decision making should be outsourced to someone in the council if no member of education staff is working over holidays.

We moved over summer to avoid disruption to our children, we are in a zoned primary (so that is the school they should be going to), we sent a confirmed letter from the solicitor before school broke up, we moved with over a week until school. We have dutifully contacted school and council and tried our hardest not to pester. Well today is the first day of school and my DS has no school place, no one cares and the head teacher will 'get back to us by the end of the week'. If they say no we then have to go through the same process with every other school in the city until we find one that has space regardless of whether it is reasonable to travel to there. I can't buy uniform because there is a fairly distinctive uniform for his zoned school. Thankfully I work shifts so can work it out but literally cannot plan anything re childcare.

You have my sympathy because I am quite disgusted with the education dept of my city this week.

I had a similar situation needing to contact my sons new high school last year - his place was secured but over the summer he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and we needed to get a care plan in place etc before he could start. It was a real pain and we were worried he wouldn’t be there on day one, which upset him more than his diagnosis at the time!

I just bombarded them with contact from every angle and got a reply the day after the bank holiday and managed to rush paperwork through and have a meeting with new head of year and one of the staff who was trained to deal with Type 1 at the school. Worked out in the end, but all I’d say is keep trying to contact from different avenues and try not to let the worry dampen the excitement of the start of school! I promise it goes by in a blink so enjoy it if you’re able!

Well it's annoying for you. But they can't keep a school open in the holdidays on the off chance somebody will move into the area. If the council says you have the place then I think it's fairly certain you have it. Good idea to look on the schools website. There might be an email address.

There will be someone in, maybe just not yet. There’s generally inset day etc before school starts so try the week before school starts

Hello @Lmnop22 have you emailed the school? It’s worth a try - ours email back at various points over the summer so it is staffed on a few days. In terms of brekkie and afterschool clubs it might be worth seeing if local nurseries do them too- just in terms of the school holidays this works a lot better as they have holiday clubs too.
Id purchase the uniform if you are in a position too-even if you can’t get the logged ones (as you might be beyond the cut off for sept delivery!) you should be able to get some from Matalan / Asda / Tesco etc without the logos on them.
School wise there will be forms they will send out too you by email, ours needed birth certificates too. There is always a lot of movement in September in terms of schools so I’d not panic…. They also might have a training day the day before the rest of the school goes back for forms to be sent etc.

sounds like you’re on top of things joining fb groups etc for school- these should also help re the Qs re brekkie and after school club.

please don’t panic too much though - enjoy the last few weeks of mat leave as much as you can as sounds like it’s been a horrendous year for you all xxxx

Unless this is a tiny school the head teacher's inbox will be extremely busy and any such emails will be forwarded to the office staff to deal with on their first working day so I really wouldn't pin my hopes on this strategy.

@Lmnop22 as an idea of what happens and hopefully put your mind at rest, let’s pretend it is my school you’ve been offered a place at.

You will have had an “out of office” reply to any email you sent to us saying we are back in office on Monday 2nd.
On Monday 2nd I ring you. “Hello Ms 22 this is Mrs Croissant from local school. I see you’ve been offered a place for Eugene to start with us, do you still wish to accept that place? Lovely. Now we do have some paperwork for you to complete would you be able to come and see me later today or at some time tomorrow - our children return to school on Wednesday. Fantastic. When you come in This afternoon, please do bring Eugene so he can have a look around and please bring his birth certificate and proof of your address - I realise you’ve already given these to the council but we need to see the originals here as well. Most of our uniform items are available from local supermarkets but any branded items you can get from me when you come in. Once all the paperwork is done Eugene can start with the rest of his class on Wednesday at 9am. We don’t do staggered starts here at local school. I look forward to meeting you and Eugene at 2 o’clock and answering any other questions you have.”

I hope that is if SOME help OP.

Not true.

Neither is it a universal truth that children are confused if they do not do staggered starts. Some benefit, some do not.

Unless your family has a SAHP, staggered starts are a logistical nightmare

I'm also sorry you've had some bitchy replies. They don't realise their own 'perfect little lives' could just as easily be turned upside down in a nano second

Agreed. And why would someone know about staggered starts in reception when it's their first child? You'd only know if you eg had a older niece or nephew or close friends with older children. And it varies from school to school and depending on when your child's birthday is, so there's no one size fits all rule anyway, even in the same town. My ds had a staggered start for 3 weeks, another local primary didn't do it at all.

MNers are so snarky about things like this. Funnily enough, we're not all experts on everything, and often don't become experts until we have to.

OP you mentioned you'd moved back to where your parents are living, can they help with wraparound care until you find it.

I'd also be nervous if I'd accepted a place but my acceptance hadn't been acknowledged. I wish councils and other organisations would realise that it would be much easier all round if they'd just send an email saying "confirmed, next step will be that you hear from the school". Not hard at all.