Only one child offered a school place and anxiety

[Zaina89]

Reposted
We have bought a house in Solihull, relocating from Birmingham. This is a move we’ve wanted to make for a long time. We have three kids - a daughter in Year 4, a son in Year 3, and one still nursery age.

The commute to the older kids’ school from our new home is sadly not sustainable - it’s 30 minutes each way when roads are clear, but at school rush hour more like 45-50 minutes.
I applied last month to Solihull council for the kids to move to local schools, fully understanding that the good schools were unlikely to have open spaces. To my surprise, my son in Year 3 has now been offered a place at our top choice school (with a nursery attached that I hope our 19 month old will attend once he turns 3, before going on to reception there). They don’t have a place for my daughter in Year 4, however - she’s third on the waiting list (though could move up the list based on sibling priority once my son starts).
The school wants my son to start on 9th June, so I have to decide quickly or we lose his offer.

Would you take the offer? My son is very shy and I’m having all the usual worries about moving him especially so late in the school year - I’m panicking about whether he’ll make friends. I’ve also got to let his current school know he’ll only be back for a week after half term, and the three-way school run will be very challenging. But hopefully this will mean my daughter is more likely to get a place? Is there anything I can do to speed this process up? Would love to hear about any similar experiences

Why did you move house if you weren’t prepared to take a few risks regarding school admissions?

Not sure how old the children are but presuming primary school age? I really wouldn’t worry until it comes to secondary schools. To my mind, they’re the important years!

Take the place. Your other child should move up the waiting list in their year group due to sibling priority. I think there is a good chance a place will come up sooner rather than later.

We started with only few weeks of school year too, worked great as my daughter settled in, made friends - and we saw them over the summer holidays - by the time the new school year came, she was completely comfortable. Her new teacher didn't realise she was a "new kid" (which wasn't great testament to their handover, but that's by the by).

Absolutely take it. I moved dd to a new school in June a few years back, she was very shy and anxious about the move. However, by September when they all returned from summer it was as though she had always been there.

She should get sibling priority if you take the place?

Thank you everyone.

I have accepted his place and he will start June 9th.

all these replies have honestly put my mind at rest. My son is enthusiastic about the move and chilled about it and my older daughter is really mature and understanding about the situation thankfully, that also makes it easier. It’s just me and my over reactive mind and an anxiety sufferer, it’s probably affecting me more than my children if I’m honest.

we started looking for houses back in January but the market has been crazy, so I have had it in the back of my mind for months that they may need to move but also aware waiting lists are crazy, all this has actually happened so fast, we actually thought we’d never be able to buy a house in Solihull with the market but then we found a house at a great price in our dream location that needs a lot of work but my husband is a builder so it was absolutely a steal, we only got the keys 3 weeks ago and only just applied for schools with the full expectation of the waiting lists being extremely high especially in good schools so receiving the email yesterday was a huge shock.

Now with this upcoming half term I’ve now got to go shopping for a new uniform which I never thought I’d be doing but you’ve all really put my mind at rest that it’s a high possibility my daughter will also get a place hopefully very soon.

Yes

Sounds brilliant OP, you have the whole summer ahead of you and should be in a good position come Sept. I hope your daughter gets her place soon. There's a good chance someone will be moving house over the summer.

No, home education doesn't give priority on the waiting list, otherwise everyone would do it! 😂But she may well go higher up the list now her sibling is there, because that is a common criterion.

All the same, if the two school runs are too impractical, home educating her while hoping for a place to come up at your preferred school might be a good short term solution. Is there plenty of availability at her current school, so she could just return there if you get fed up of waiting for the preferred school and don't want to carry on home educating? Things would get awkward if not, as she might end up at yet another school!

In my experience, schools are slightly happier to go over their PAN (Pupil Admission Number) for older children.

It might be that come September it is a different scenario with waiting lists etc, but keep pushing the council for updates.

Take the offer.