moving house and schools!

[mummy3pups]

Hi all, just need some advice as I am getting a little stressed with my situation! Any advice from mummies who have moved schools very much appreciated!!!!

The problems are we have never moved the kids school before so not sure how to go about it, our new house is two roads from a primary school we would like our dc to go to. We are due to move into our new build the end of May but are renting right near the new house in about 3 weeks to get the kids school sorted sooner.

1. do we ring the actual school personally and ask if they have places and ask for a tour? (we haven't done that yet as live 200 miles away at mo and I don't drive and husband works all weekdays, we were planning on renting in our old area until our new house was ready but rents are stupid money) or do we just go through the on line transfer and see what the outcome is?

1. One of our dc is at nursery and going to reception in Sept and we put a place for our local primary school as didn't know about the move then. Rang up about how to re apply for them and said the dead line has gone to change it and not sure if they would change it before we move. Thinking it might be easier to wait until we have moved and apply for the new county to sort it out as a transfer iyswim?

1. Do we just put the school we want on our application or should we put choices?

Thanks for anyone who can help and for reading my newspaper!!!! Just feel so out of control and feel like we have done everything wrong reg schools, the move has happened so quickly I haven't had time to get organised x x x x

I'd make a quick phone call to the admissions office in your new council. They will be able to tell you exactly what to do in your new area.

Thank you, will do :) kids all so settled here and it seems so daunting all these forms etc... worried we will move and our kids won't have a school to go to :(( Thanks for replying x x

I agree you need to ring council. If it's s popular / oversubscribed school you are very unlikely to get places. The council will offer you places at the schools they have space (it might even be different schools). You might need to provide evidence of your new purchase / sale of your old house (if it's a short tenancy in new area, that may not be enough for them to use for a change of address) so have all that to hand.

Sometimes schools handle their own in-year admissions, sometimes the council do, so yes you would need to find out which was the case here - the school website may well tell you.

If they have a space, then they have to give it to you regardless of where you live, but you would be expected to take the place up within a couple of weeks - you can't hold onto it - but it sounds as if that would be fine if you are moving soon.

Things get more complicated if the school is full, and also for your child who is due to start in Sept. If the school is full, then the LEA have to find you a place somewhere, but it doesn't need to be in a school of your choice and could be some distance away. You could appeal for your local school, but your chances of success will depend on how many children there are in a class already and which year your child is in. Which year is your eldest in?

Applications for places for reception in September closed months ago, as you know, and any application now will be treated as late. That essentially means you'll get what is left over at the end once the on-time applications have been processed. It may well be the case that you end up with places in 2 different schools. Again, you can appeal, but if the reception classes have 30 in them then your chances of winning are very small. You can go on waiting lists though, and will be ranked in terms of the admissions criteria (usually distance) not when you applied.

In terms of addresses, yes, you need to have the paperwork to hand to prove the sale/rental/purchase timings for the reception allocation at least; a short term lease of a couple of months may not be accepted as a permanent address, but councils do differ on what they will and won't accept.

thanks PatriciaHolm and namechangedtoday15, not good news, nearest 6 primary schools haven't got any places and I spoke to someone about the reception situation and they said I could try and put in a new placement if I explain the situation and scan things and email loads of people but it sounded so complicated, a friend of mine was in the same boat and waited until they had moved and applied and just started a few weeks late in reception as a transfer so think I will do that with little one.

If the older two have to go to different schools I will see which one is better and go on waiting list for other child as that is what happened to a neighbour of mine and they were given priority because a sibling was in the school so should get them in the same school after couple of months.

As if moving wasn't hard enough, I'm just glad we had to move for work and not just picked somewhere otherwise I would feel really guilty now! Sure it will all work out, thanks for replying everyone x x x

I'm not sure what you think will be different when you've moved - the reception classes will still be full for the closest schools. There may be people who don't take up their places (maybe opt to go private perhaps) before the start of term, and presumably the LEA will fill those places as soon as they know there is a space. I'd think therefore that the earlier you get your children on the radar so to speak the better? It might be a faff but it'll be worth it - your friend might have just been extremely lucky. If you get one child in any of the more local schools, your youngest will leap frog up the waiting list (I think) if the schools have a sibling policy.

You would need to check the schools have a sibling policy; most do, but not all. In some areas of low mobility you could still be on a waiting list for a long time! In DDs year I think 4 kids have left in 6.5 years....

hiya namechangedtoday15 its the older two that I'm having trouble with places at the same schools, its just that if I apply now for reception it will be a late one (ive just rang again) but if I wait until we are living there and I apply I will get high priority as I live in the next street. So will probably get a better place waiting than going as "late" and getting the odd left out place anywhere, I'm happy to do a bit of home schooling, getting a tutor for a couple of weeks if we have to wait a couple of weeks for reception class :)

Feeling a lot more relaxed now the second person I spoke to was much more helpful, they do it by closeness to schools where were going not how long you have been waiting.

Thanks PatriciaHolm :) did check with the schools I rang and all the ones I phoned do have sibling policy as well as closeness to school, can sleep easy tonight, have a plan now x

If you apply now you will get onto the waiting list. When you tell them you have moved you will be moved up the waiting list but you won't get a place unless one is available. I can't see any advantage in waiting.

Hi prh47bridge they explained it as a "late" will get bottom priority and if refused choice of schools then I would have to appeal but if I wait and go straight through the new council when we move as a transfer it wouldn't go through as "bottom of the pile" and would have the advantages of priority for living so close (there are 3 schools really close to our new house) when a place comes up, or if I like the one that my other children get I can use the sibling priority to get the little one into that when a space comes up.

I can go on the waiting list for schools yes, and I will do that :) but its not the same as a late application or transfer through councils that's what I was talking about in earlier post :)

I know obviously spaces aren't going to magically appear :) but just wanted to know the best way to get all my dc in the same school, have now phoned up the right people and now have their opinions on the best way to do it :) Thanks everyone x

I don't think the council can have explained it very well.

Applying as a transfer and applying now as a late applicant are not fundamentally different, and there is no advantage to waiting.

You apply now - you are treated as late and get whatever is left. If that is not in a school of your choosing, you can go on waiting lists, and as soon as you move you will move up the lists dependent on distance. As soon as your other children have spaces - so potentially in the next few weeks- you will also move up the lists because of sibling priority. The council do have to find you e somewhere.

This is exactly what will happen in September if you apply as a transfer. Only now it's happening 6 months later, and spaces that will arise in the next few months (as people move, or take up private school places) will go to other people on the waiting lists, when you could be on them. Waiting until September means you are waiting for a reception child to leave their school once they have started. In areas of low mobility, this could be years (we currently have 20 children on our wait list for year 3, most of which have been there since reception).

There is no benefit to waiting.

I agree that the council have not explained it very well.

As PatriciaHolm says you can go on the waiting lists as soon as offers have been made. Right now you will probably be some way down the list. However, as soon as you move and tell the LA your new address you will get priority based on your new address. They cannot legally continue to base your waiting list position on your old address. So once you have moved your position on the waiting list will be the same regardless of whether you apply now or leave it until later.