Moving to UK from HK

[Avafromhk]

Hello everyone, i am going to move to Sheffield with my hubby, my 3 years old son in October 2022. As my understanding, he will go to reception at year he reaches 4.

I have been doing lots of researches on education, schools, crime rates, rental cost. We have targeted two or three primary schools looks suitable for him.

So my question is, generally speaking, how far would it be between your home and the school? Like if the distance too far, i m afraid we will not be able to enrol. If the distance is too short, i read some comments that it may be quite noisy.

And thank you for everyone that would stop and read and or reply.

When his is birthday? How old will he be in October 2022?

Which area of Sheffield are you thinking of moving to?

When he turns four depends when you apply for reception places.

Applications for September 2022 start close at the end of this month and offers are made April.
Any applications made after the closing date are considered as late applications and are allocated places after the applications are made on time.

If you arrive to the uk when he would be in reception you will need to make a mid term application. If the school is full you will be placed on the waiting list. The local authority are obliged to offer you a school place, but it isn't necessarily your local or preferred school.

If he is 4 October 2022, you would be submitting your application between October 22 and mid Jan 23.

You make three selections and then you are allocated a place for the school you meet the criteria for in April 23.

You must pick local schools you fall in the catchment for. Otherwise the local authority will allocate you a school anywhere in the authority that has places.

It depends on whether you get your preferred school place or not. In the UK there is a legal requirement for every school aged child to go to school but there is no requirement for that school to be close - you will get the nearest school with a place & it will be up to you to apply to be on waiting lists for closer schools.

@Ozanj

It depends on whether you get your preferred school place or not. In the UK there is a legal requirement for every school aged child to go to school but there is no requirement for that school to be close - you will get the nearest school with a place & it will be up to you to apply to be on waiting lists for closer schools.

To be on education, not necessarily school. Compulsory school age is term after turning five but in practice most start in the September after fourth birthday. You can choose up to 3 schools. The recommendation is to review the admissions criteria for each school (Additional Needs, siblings, distance, faith etc) , how places were previously allocated and list three, at least one of which you are highly likely to qualify for a place at, in order of preference.

@LIZS the process is different for people coming into the UK in-Year - they aren’t limited to just 3 schools. They can apply to be on the waiting list for any school they want that is oversubscribed - and in a place like Sheffield the best schools will be. I know kids of some Indian IT consultants who were ferried from Sheffield to Loughborough Grammar for a year because they didn’t get their choice of public or private schools immediately.

If he is still 3 in October 2022 it is not an in year application, just the Reception one for September 2023.

You have missed the allocation date

@Avafromhk
Can you confirm when your son will be 4? It will make quite a big difference.
If he is 4 when you arrive in October, you will get a school with a space. Distance won't really be a factor.

If he is still 3 when you arrive (or turned 4 in September 2022) you will need to apply before Jan 2023. The distance depends on how popular the school is, along with how densly populated the area is. Some schools may only take kids from a couple of 100meters away. Some schools may take from several miles.

Each school will have a cachement area that will mean you have a better chance of getting in if you live in that area. The closer the better. Some schools in the UK are so oversubscribed that you need to almost live across the street to get.

[quote MaizeAmaze]@Avafromhk
Can you confirm when your son will be 4? It will make quite a big difference.
If he is 4 when you arrive in October, you will get a school with a space. Distance won't really be a factor.

If he is still 3 when you arrive (or turned 4 in September 2022) you will need to apply before Jan 2023. The distance depends on how popular the school is, along with how densly populated the area is. Some schools may only take kids from a couple of 100meters away. Some schools may take from several miles.[/quote]
Thanks a lot Maize.
He will turn 4 before September of 2023, so we planned to apply before January 2023.

Just for fallback plan, if i cannot rent a place before January 2023. Does it mean i have to wait till September to see which school still have vacancy?

@dilettante73

Each school will have a cachement area that will mean you have a better chance of getting in if you live in that area. The closer the better. Some schools in the UK are so oversubscribed that you need to almost live across the street to get.

Thanks for your reply Dilet! Yeah, i have heard about that. We will try to rent a place that close to school. But not so sure if there will be house to rent at that time. We will do our best. Thanks a lot

The school or the council should have the last distance allocated for the past few years. Look at the allocation criteria as well... its often Looked After Children, Siblings, Distance but there's many schools with extra criteria including church attendance, priority admission areas etc.

www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/schools-childcare/school-catchment-checker

For the council website... the admission zone for Sheffield schools.

Just for fallback plan, if i cannot rent a place before January 2023

If you are in the Uk, you will have an address, as you will be living here.
If you are still in Hong Kong, you cannot apply - you need to be resident (with a couple of exceptions such as military and diplomats, I think). We were asked for proof of when we moved to the uk when we applied to schools having lived abroad.

You can apply at any point after you arrive, and after about 11 months before you want a Reception place. But if you miss the January deadline, your application is looked at after everyone who applied on time - so if the school you live nextdor to is full, you won't get a space.

@IzzyD0ra

Which area of Sheffield are you thinking of moving to?

We are thinking about S10 and S11. Thinking about Westway Primary School, i saw the pupils there are 30% english not first language. It looks quite suitable for us, Asian.

@Forfamily123

When his is birthday? How old will he be in October 2022?

His birth date is Jan 2019. So probably we will go to nursery first, and apply for reception before Jan 2023. Thanks for your reply.

@Citygirl2019

If he is 4 October 2022, you would be submitting your application between October 22 and mid Jan 23.

You make three selections and then you are allocated a place for the school you meet the criteria for in April 23.

You must pick local schools you fall in the catchment for. Otherwise the local authority will allocate you a school anywhere in the authority that has places.

Thanks a lot, i will do some research of primary schools in S10, S11 first🙏🏻

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/schools-childcare/school-catchment-checker

For the council website... the admission zone for Sheffield schools.

This is very useful. Billion thanks for your help!