Primary Schools late start / applying in year

[MrsG2017]

Hi All

I was just wondering if anyone else has had a child that you have had to apply in year for their first school?

We are currently overseas, our return from NZ delayed due to covid which now means my son has turned four last week and we have no idea where we will be living or when we will be back in England let alone applied for any school places. Starting to panic a little bit there isn't much we can do about it.

I have read legally he doesn't have to start school until he's five but I don't want him to miss out.

Has anyone else moved in the early years of preschool?

Thanks all

We didn’t do an in year admission for a first school, but we did move schools when DC2 was in Reception if that helps?

We spoke to the admissions section of our local council to identify which local schools were likely to have spaces, went to look at a few schools and submitted an application form with our preferences.
It all went through very smoothly, but we live in an area where it’s unusual for all the schools to be oversubscribed, and we put our first preference down as a school which definitely had spare spaces the week we applied. Things would have been more complicated if all the nearby schools were oversubscribed, but we’d still have been able to put our DC on waiting lists.

DC2 settled very well into Reception - the school move was in February or March, and he’d completely settled into the new school after about half a term.

Thank you so much for that x

We moved back to the UK after living the USA the summer before DS turned 6, so about to go into year 1. We knew where we’d be living, but the council of the London borough we were heading for wouldn’t let us apply until we’d actually arrived back in the country, which was August. It was a bit nerve wracking, but a few days before term started we finally got a place at a school which wasn’t great but was at least nearby. We accepted the place and made sure he was on the waiting list for the school we really wanted. We were worried about him being behind as he hadn’t started “proper” school in the US, only pre-kindergarten so hadn’t done any literacy or anything, but he actually caught up really quickly and was flying by the spring term. We did manage to get a place at our preferred school in the summer, so he moved for year 2 and has been happy there ever since.

It depends on where you end up in the UK, but the big cities tend to have a lot of “churn” with people moving in and out, so children coming and going frequently. The schools cope with it well and it means that even if you don’t get a place at your first choice school, one will probably come up eventually. Good luck!

Yes, we applied in year for Reception from overseas.

Once I knew where we would be moving to, I phoned all the local schools to get an idea of where places were available, then phoned the council to apply for one which said they had spaces about a month before we moved.

I didn't get to look round the school, we just took what was available but luckily it worked out well.

We didn't have proof of a UK address at that point, so I think DH's employer sent them a letter saying we were moving to the area and date his contract started.

Dc started school in the spring term a few days after we moved, we didn't even have furniture yet.
I wouldn't say he missed out at all, it was all very positive.

If there hadn't been school spaces available it might have been different though.

We have moved a lot!
Starting Reception... DD missed first month as we moved in the September. Settling in wasn't an issue (she actually started the same week as the rest of class went full time). She was behind,but that was undiagnosed SEN not the late start as such.

In year applications. I've done them twice now (first two schools were international schools abroad). It can be luck of the draw. Last time one child got a place (two miles away, nearest school with a place but one we were ok with) but elder DD didn't, it took two months to sort. This move it took less than a week, after a nerve racking couple of days when the school I can see from my door saying they had space for both but the council saying there wasn't.

The annoying thing is the nothing happening in school holidays.

My tip is to be realistic. Accept the space in a further away school or the ok but not brilliant school. Most schools are actually ok. Ofsted doesn't tell the whole story, results don't tell the whole story.

Realistically until you are back into the UK and have a home address, even if temporary, the LAs will not accept any application for a school. Obviously when you get here any application will be for a reception year place and it will be all about which school actually has a place available. You should apply for the schools that you prefer local to where you are living but expect that most of the schools will be full. Appealing for a reception place, in-year when most of the schools will have full infant classes of 30 will mean that it is unlikely you would be successful if you appealed for a place at your preference school.