In year admissions. Help please

[absolutelyknackeredcow]

Hello - we are moving house and trying to transfer our children (currently in year 1 and year 3). It is such a nightmare because even though we are moving between places in London, is proving a logistical nightmare..
We know that we can't apply until we exchange contracts and the school currently have places in Year 3 but not in Year 1.
Could anyone help me word a covering letter that helps us:
Accept but not start the Year 3 (then year 4) place until September 2019. Exchange will he in next couple of weeks but completion will not be until end of summer term.
Argue that the year 1 (soon to be year 2) child should also be accepted at the same time on the basis that it will be almost impossible to deal logistically with keeping them at their old school and we don't want them to start another school in the area. It's a large school ( 3 form entry) so I am very confident about places becoming available by sept.
The children are very close - apart of the enormous logistical challenges - the idea of them starting a new school separately doesn't bare thinking about.
Help wise mumsnetters

If by a three form entry school you mean '3 classes of 30', then you really don't have a chance of just getting a place for your year 1, as class sizes in years R, 1 and 2 are restricted under Infant Class Size legislation. Are there definitely no schools within a reasonable distance which have places in both year groups?

When you accept an in-year school place, the school will usually ask when you would like the children to start. They'll know about the logistics, saying goodbyes, buying uniforms etc. As it is almost the end of the school year, they won't get any money for the child so it shouldn't bother them if you choose to take the place up in September. With the Year 1 DC, just put her name down on the waiting list. They may find her a place before September. Even if they don't, you'll find that by the first week of October the school will suddenly find her a space. That child is moolah to them. The more children, the more moolah. And school censuses take place between the first and second week of October. Every school wants to be at maximum capacity then to take advantage of funding especially in London.

If the school is 3 form entry they are almost certainly running classes of 30 in Reception, Y1 and Y2. That means they cannot legally offer your Y1 child a place. You may be right that a place will become available by September but they can't offer the place before it is available. If and when a place does become available, if there is a waiting list it must be offered to whoever has highest priority in accordance with their admission criteria. That is the law.

If the existing school is more than 45 minutes journey from home the local authority must come up with a place for your youngest, but it doesn't have to be at the same school as your older child.

Ah this is all really helpful.
If I defer my child til start of Year 4 ( there is a place), then my youngest child will be in Year 2 and then arguably they would be able to go over the 30 class limit. In reality I don't think they will have to go over the 30 limit because always have children leave over the summer but don't tell the council.
No other schools that are suitable- mainly for religious reasons

Thank so much

No, they can't go over the limit of 30 until year 3.

They cannot offer her a place until one is available. No matter how much you want one. They can put you on the waiting list and may be able to give you an idea of how likely it is one will open up based on previous years.

However, be aware you may not be a first on the waiting list. You should be, in theory, but you may not be if another sibling is waiting for a place.

So you need to know where on the waiting list you are.

Ah shit - I had thought it was year 2.
I'm just going to have to hope that a year 1/2 place becomes available. The logistics don't bare thinking about. But we do have several months it they allow a sept start and London schools have a lot of movement

Definitely ask the school where you would be on the waiting list as this may help you make a decision. When we moved house we needed 2 places in Y2 for our youngest (DTs). The nearest school told us they had no places in Y2 and already had a number of children on the waiting list for that year group and all of these also had older siblings in the school and lived nearby (so in the same situation as us.) We couldn't take the risk - mainly as we needed 2 places. We ended up at another school a 5-10 minute drive away as they could accommodate all 3 DCs.

Where we are, you can only be offered a place for September from 1st July onwards. It might not be the same where you are, but if it is, then please don't make the mistake of thinking you are 'deferring' the place if you say you don't want it yet; you're not, you're effectively rejecting it (even though you might stay on the waiting list). The school won't be allowed to 'save' the space for you - if someone else comes along in the meantime wanting the space, they will be given it over you. And yes, you can't be given a year 2 space if it takes them over 30. Remember the school has no control over any of this - they have to follow the rules of their own admissions criteria, by law. If you really want to join the school, it sounds likely that you'll have to take one place now and go on the waiting list for the other. It's hard, but unfortunately that's the way it is with oversubscribed schools.

Thanks this is helpful. We are not yet at exchange - so will be mid June by application. I can cope for a few weeks with them at different schools but anymore and it will start to impact.
Best thing is to apply and accept place and see where we land