Help! What to do about schools in September (moving)

[Sittingonasale]

Ok, in a bit of a shit situation.

Our house completed last week and currently staying in temp accommodation (holiday lodge to be precise).

We haven't exchanged yet and I'm worried the process might not be done before September now.

Moving location (Wales back to England) and kids were at school (2 in secondary and 1 primary) in Wales.

I start work in new location on the 1st. I also work in school.

Most of the schools in the area are academies. How on earth can I apply without at least exchanging and what can we do about schooling until then?

We don't have somewhere to stay back in Wales so what can I do?
I had thought we'd be exchanged by now or very soon but it's taking forever.

How have you completed without exchanging? Or do you mean you completed on your sale but have yet to exchange on your purchase?

When you have an address, you can contact schools and the LA to see where there are spaces. What years are your dc going into?

I completed on the sale of my house as the buyers needed to move in.

DD1 - year 9
DD2 - year 7
DS1 - year 5

All our local secondaries and many of our primaries are academies, the LA still manages admissions for them.

Partner will be home working so can they home school until then or do they have to have a place in school?
I mean, if they home schooled until we get a place would we get into trouble for them not attending school or would they have to attend their old schools in Wales until we get places?

Ah I get you. Well those are not the worst years to move into anyway. Apply when you have an address and till then, kids will have to learn from home. Not the end of the world for a couple of weeks. Do you have a date for the new house?

No you wouldn’t be in trouble for home schooling while waiting for a place.

Thank you Clary.

Their previous schools have been dire tbh and they'd be so upset if they had to go back after the holidays as they are looking forward to starting here ( we were previously in the area so it's not 'new' entirely to them).

I don't yet have a date. I keep on at them all to get on with it!

If a school has space they can accept you? You don't have to go to your nearest school after all.

That's true. Would they allow a temp address then?
TBH I doubt the older two will get into the nearest (to the new house) as it's very oversubscribed and an 'outstanding'.

I just wish I'd done this a year or two ago. I feel bad for moving them now (especially dd2 going into year 7) but they were all unhappy in their former schools so they are all up for the change. If they'd have been happy staying in their old schools we'd have probably stayed.
I'm just hoping dd1 can settle in well before her GCSEs start.

Why wouldn't they accept a temporary address?

What about when families are housed in refuges or B&Bs.

Get your names on the waiting lists of the local schools so they can start in September at the start of the year.

You are currently living at your current address. That's all that's necessary to apply for a school place. The fact that it's temporary is not relevant atm especially as you don't have any real control over when you might move.

You might be surprised about your eldest two and the nearby outstanding school. Can't hurt to get on the waiting list, or to find out which schools actually have current spaces.

Well, my new job in in one of the secondaries there so we might end up in the same place ( how embarrassing for them! 😂).

That's true of course, your temp address is still your address. Sorry I inferred it was near where you were moving from, no idea why I thought that. So you can apply asap.

Apply from the temporary address, and you should get something, although the usual August hiatus may mean it's not sorted until term has started. If it's not going to be the best fit from the new house, get them on the waitlists for those schools. When you do move, let the schools know and you will move up the waitlists accordingly. In the meantime, you might get lucky - sometimes spaces arise a couple of weeks in: when a child doesn't turn up, they'll need to check out what's happened, but once they've established that they've moved away during the holidays, the space will be created, and some people ahead on the waiting list may decide they'd rather stick with the school their child has just started.

Thank you both. I'll try and get them on waiting lists. I am nearly an hour away from old house and about 20 mins from new one.

Do I just call the schools to get them on waiting lists?

Sorry, been a TA for years and still don't know about this. 😂

You need to make an in-year application for each of the dc with your preference of schools. If they have a space for the correct year and no waiting list, address is irrelevant. If none of those are available the LA still has to make an offer somewhere. However the offered school may not be as highly regarded or more distant.

You need to apply via the local authority not directly with the school. However I did get a place for my daughter to start in year 9 at a school and called school up to ask if they had spaces. So I would also email school as admin staff will be working on a rota over the holiday period.