English School System Info & How early do you have to register your child?

[efthalia]

Hi! I am pregnant and expecting my child in a couple of weeks. I have recently moved to UK and I live in Knightsbridge. I am very comfused about how the english school system works (at which age does a child go to school and to which school does it go to), how can you tell which schools are good, are state schools considered to be good and finally how early (after birth) do you have to register your child and to which school?

For state schools you apply in the autumn before the september that they will start, which will be the September after their 4th bday.

Your dc will start in Sept 2016 when she is 4 so you need to apply autumn 2015. (if my sums are right)

Ofsteds website allows you to search for schools near your home and you can read the reports for the schools. Good state schools often are very oversubscribed and you may have to live very close to get a place. Some schools have other admissions criteria such as church attendance/baptism.
Private schools have their own system and you would have to ask each school what you needed to do.

Thank you very much! So (if I understand correctly) for state schools you just apply a year before. Is that right? So does the first school start at the age of 4? How is it called? Is that the primary school? From the ofsteds website can you see ratings so you can judge which schools are good?

Actually it has moved, so the final date to apply to state schools in January 2017, if the dates don't change again.
The first year of school is called reception, then each year is numbered in turn (so year 1, year 2 and so on to years 12 and 13 which are sometimes called sixth form). The first school is called either Infants (reception, year 1 and year 2) or primary (reception to year 6). If it is an infants school they move to another school for years 3-6. But some places have a middle school system, so years 5-8/9 are in a middle school. Senior school is years 7-11 or 12/13, (unless there are middle schools).
On the Ofsted site you can feed in where you live, and what age you are looking for, and it will list schools gradually getting further away. You can then click on those schools and should be able to further click to see their latest inspection reports. I would read both the report and the grade to get a good idea about the school.
It is further confused as there are a number of faith schools in the State education system, but quite often you need to be able to prove commitment to that faith to be admitted to that school (eg. baptised Catholic and maybe evidence of Church attendance).
Private schools are another whole area, and do vary from school to school. However the best Private schools may accept a child's name being put down at birth, but that doesn't mean the child will get in unless they are bright enough.

Mummytime's advice is good except for one typo. The final date to apply for a state school for a child born in October/November 2011 would be January 15th 2016, not 2017.

Thank you so much girls! So, the first school starts at the age of 5? I am a little bit comfused as to which year is called reception... Is it this year (at the age of 5) or earlier? Do these categories of schools apply to private schools as well or do private schools have their own system and categories of schools? For example I have noticed that some private schools take children from the age of 4 (for the primary school, if I have understood correctly) until the age of 11.

Private schools tend to have pre-prep from age 4-7 (sometimes with nursery which can be from as young as 2). Then there is prep from 7-11 or 13. Then there are senior schools from 11 or 13 (sometimes with a year for 10 year olds). For senior schools traditionally Girls schools started at 11, and boys at 13. However more girls now stay at their Prep school until 13, and a lot of senior schools are co-ed. Boys schools also sometimes have two entries at 11 and 13. They may also have pre-testing about 2 years before entry.
In the State system children start reception in the September after their 4th birthday, so most are 4 (except a very few children whose birthday falls between September 1st and the start of term, usually about the 4th, inclusive). The year at age 5 is year 1, and is the first compulsory year of schooling, and I believe you have a legal right to defer school entry until then, but you do have to apply in time for reception, or you will not get a school place.

You have to apply to council not the school. And not first come first served either.

Mummy you do have the right to defer entry but when DC starts they will go into the year they should be in. i.e. If you defer entry for reception and start a year later DC will still go in to year 1

If you are considering private schools, entry to West London pre-prep schools can be extremely competitive and over-subscribed (you mentioned you are living in Knightsbridge).
I know that for Wetherby boys pre-prep (4 to 8) and Pembridge Hall girls (4 to 11) in Notting Hill, they have a system where they offer places to the first five registrations every month, so a registration form straight from the maternity ward might be in order. There have been rumours of ladies scheduling Caseareans for the first week of the month to maximise their chances!
For Knightsbridge, the sought after pre-preps and preps are Garden House (co-ed), Hill House (co-ed), Eaton House (boys), Glendower (girls) and Falkner House (girls). They all have differing entrance requirements, some are first come first served (Eaton House) and some are by registration followed by an assessment of the child at age three (Glendower and Falkner). It might be a good idea to call up some schools to get a better idea. A copy of the "Good Schools Guide" might also be a good idea, or failing that , the Tatler Schools Guide (can be found online).

Just to clarify the right to defer entry to a state school...

You can defer entry until the start of term following your child's fifth birthday. You cannot defer any longer than that. As your child will be five in October/November 2016 he or she must start school no later than January 2017. If you choose to defer you must still apply to your local authority by 15th January 2016 (unless the government changes the date) as if your child is going to start school in September. If you miss that deadline you will be unlikely to get a place at a popular school.

Hi efthalia, a fellow mum from Fulham here :-). For state school quality, a good place to start is the
primary school league tables
for Kensington & Chelsea. The religious schools may be of no good to you if you're from abroad so you need to focus on community primary schools that admit by proximity. State primaries in Kensington & Chelsea are actually quite good on average. Once you know which ones you might be interested in, you can check their Ofsted report and also check the "starting primary school" booklet from Kensington & Chelsea which will tell you about catchment areas, applicants per places etc..

Regarding private schools and how early you register, there is very few schools where you need to register so fast (wetherby, pembridge hall and norland place as mentioned above - it's all the same school group that's why they have the same policy). Thomas's Kensington is quite oversubscribed and you need to register within the first 3-6 months. Falkner House and Knightsbridge school it's advisable to register before you child is 2 years old (now they are only accepting applications for 2014 entry onwards). If you're pregnant now you're child is 2016 entry so you have two years to register even at very popular schools.

you may also find this website very helpful when choosing private schools in and around knightsbridge
www.londonpreprep.com

i recommend checking out knightsbridge school, hill house and eaton house schools which are all in knightsbridge. eaton square in belgravia looks very good too.

Ladies, chickswithbricks, mummytime, prh47bridge, coccyx, mixmouse, w8mum and sanam2010, I have not enough words to thank you :-)

You really helped me very very much and gave me a very clear image! I have already started looking the schools you suggested (for girls, because I did not mention I am expecting a baby girl) and started looking in other areas as well (Fulham, Putney and Wimbleton) because chances are that we will move from Knightsbridge within the next 2 years.

From what I understand my daughter will start the pre-prep at 5 (September 2016) because she will be 4 at November 2015 so in September 2015 (when the school year starts ) she will be 3y and 9 months and not 4 as she should in order to start school...

So, If I want to check state schools, can I find ratings I can trust? Also, if I understand correctly, for state schools you do not apply to each school separately but to the council and they tell you where to go depending on your post code? If this is the case, that means that you can not chose a state school but you will have to take your child wherever they tell you??? Are they obliged to offer your child a position to a state school?

Nope for state schools you look around the schools, and then apply for between 3 to 6 schools in order of preference (you do send the form to the LA). They then allocate you a school based on the admissions criteria, these are usually: Looked after children (those in foster homes etc.), Siblings, then distance. However some faith schools will have a preference for children of a faith group, but you really need to look at this for each school seperately.
The key thing with schools is to look yourself, OFSTED and even The Good Schools guide can give you an idea, but they can be out of date and are only a brief snap shot. Also the best school for you and your child/children, might be very different from the best for me.
If you are moving out of Knightbridge I wouldn't worry too much about putting a child's name down at birth.