Scottish School question....

[Tissy]

I know this is a little premature, but how do you go about getting a child into school? I'm completely clueless! Dd is 2 and at a nursery at the moment, and I'm expecting her to stay there till she starts school, but when will that be? Does the Council write to you when it's time to sign up to a school? Do you get a choice or do you have to go to the nearest? Do I get invited to open days or do I have to phone round and find out?

Can anyone help?

Tissy - My ds is 2.7yrs and is at a private nursery. As far as I know the Nursery keep you quite well informed and people from the various schools in the area visit the Nursery each year to speak to parents. Just ask the Nursery.
When is your DD 3?

DS is 3 in June so he will start in August 2005. The August after he turns 5. The cut-off point in Scotland is around March. If you child is born in between Sept- Feb they will start school the August after they turn 4.

HTH a bit.

Thanks M2T, my dd is only just 2!

Then she will start in August 2006 when she is 4 yrs 8mths (??). I mis-calculated my Ds's start date!! He will start in Aug 2006 too when he is 5 yrs 2 months.

So we've got plenty time yet.

Hi Tissy,
from my experience, schools start 'advertising' that it is time to enrol children for the next school year, i.e. August 2004 about 9 months or so beforehand, by putting posters in the local shops, doctors surgeries etc. So for August 2004 entry, the posters will start to go up in November/December 2003. This will explain how and when to enrol for your local school and what birthdates of children this will apply to. If your child is at a nursery in the area of the school, they should be able to advise you.
In Scotland there tends only to be one entry date for schools, namely August, and (I think) the law says that children must start school, at the latest, by the entry date following their 5th birthday. This means that for children whose birthdays are in Jan/Feb, they can start in the August when they are 4 1/2 or they can delay entry by another year.
Most people tend to send their children to their catchment area school (to find out what catchment area you are in, contact the Education Dept or look at the council website) but you can send your child to another school. Not sure how to do this, but again the council can advise.
You will, I think, be invited to open days for schools which you have enrolled your child for, but individual schools may arrange a visit for you if you are trying to decide on a school. Also, most schools have a prospectus which they will be able to send out to you, which should give you more information.
Hope this helps.

Thanks, you two! I'll relax for a while, I think!

Tissy, in the areas we've lived in Scotland the education folks put adverts in the papers telling you when it's 'enrolment week' (which I think is actually this week in my neck of the woods!). You go along and visit the school and fill in a registration form. You need to take the child's birth certificate with you. Almost everyone goes to their local school but if you want to go elsewhere I think you just call that school and ask about the procedure. It's certainly much simpler than it seems to be in England, according to what I've read on Mumsnet!

Tissy if you want to send your DD to a school other than her catchment school you will have to send a letter to your chosen school asking for a place, the school's prospectus should have information on how to do this.

Also don't assume that the school nearest you will be your DD's catchment school, doesn't seem to be the case for us in this house or our previous house.

All the best, you're wise to think about it now especially if you need to do some research into different schools, visit them etc.

It sounds as though procedures might vary across Scotland, by the sound of it. In Edinburgh, if you want your child to go to a primary school that is not your catchment area one you have to go to the registration day at the school that is your catchment one, but say that you want to go somewhere else and fill in the forms accordingly. Most schools only do visits in the same week as registration unless you ask to go and look round. The hardest thing is watching out for registration I found- here it is only advertised outside the school (fine if it's your second child) and in the Evening News, that I don't get!

Good job you said that tamum, I just assumed they would all be the same.

Well, I would have thought so too, Demented . I only know because quite a lot of people I know did it; the schools round here are all so close together there are at least 3 within 10 minutes' walk, so people quite often chop and change. It always seemed to me to be a particularly sadistic method designed to cause maximum embarrassment, making you go to the school you don't want!

I'm in Scotland and we put our dd to a nursery attached to a school and when it was enrolement time a notice went up, which also goes into the local papers, telling us what days to go along to enrole what you need to take etc.

An example of the age thing is... if the child is going to be 5 before the end of February 2005 they must start school in August 2004. Therefore some children start school at 4 and a half and others start at 5 and a half.

Also I agree with what everyone else said about catchment areas. There is a school 5 minutes from my door but I was told by the council once that it's not my local catchment school, total rubbish as is it our closest school and I went to it when I lived in this street as a child, but as it happens dd goes to a school further down the road.

I also went to schools and got a prospectus from them to read.

We are also in Scotland, and ds will be starting school this august. The enrolment notice is in the local weekly paper today.

"Notice to Parents on School Enrolment

"All Children who reach the age of 5 years on or before 17 August 2004 may begin to attend primary school in August 2004. Parents are asked to enrol their children at the local school at 3.00pm on any day during the week beginning 2 February 2004. Parents are reminded that they should take their child's birth certificate with them.
"Children who will reach the age of 5 years after 17 August 2004 but on or before 28 February 2005 may also be enrolled and commence in August 2004. Parents of these children should be aware that they may chose not to enrol their child until August 2005"

it also goes on to say that if you wish to send your child to a school that is not your local school, you can get inormation on how to do this from the school or the Area Education office.

Hope that helps (it might be different for other regions?) I can't beleive ds will be starting school THIS YEAR, that just makes it seen so soon...

It's the same here Jessmack, my DS1 has a January birthday and we have exercised our right not to send him until he is 5 1/2. It's nice to see a school being so open about it though, lots of Mums I talk to don't know they have a choice or are railroaded into sending them at 4 1/2 when they don't really want to.

Demented, just started another thread as my parents dont agree with our choice, but we're also keeping dd1 back until 2005 when she will be 5.5. Doesn't 4.5 just seem SO young? I'm glad to 'meet' another parent who has chosen to do the same as me, I don't know any others doing it this year (although I do know a few who have done it in the past, and not one of them regrets it).

susanmt, yes 4.5 seems very young, I have a January birthday and went to school at 4.5 and although I feel it didn't do me any harm I also feel that another year at home wouldn't have done any harm either. In my DS1's case he had a speech delay and we were encouraged to keep him back until 5.5 if possible even although his speech has caught up and is now considered normal for his age(although this had been our plan anyway).

Your DD1 must be the same age as my DS1 now (just turned 5), I feel my DS1 is now ready for school (nursery doesn't seem to be enough for him any more, he has a great interest in letters, numbers, wants to read etc, nursery encouraging him with this). I think you know your own child and IMHO it gives them a better start to be one of the oldest (if not the oldest) in the class than the youngest.

I'm glad that my DS2 is straightforward a June birthday.