Missed the boat again - primary school

[Kaz33]

A whine really, DS1 will be 4 in August and our local primary school takes applications after 4th birthday and he would start in January next year.

We are in the process of trying to sell our flat and relocate in order to give ourselves and our kids a better standard of living outside of London. Just decided where we want to move to and thought that I would start looking at primary schools on Ofsted.

But in Surrey, where we want to move to, 4 year olds start in September whenever you were born and we would have had to make an application last October ( almost a year before he would start ). Just checked and same in Sussex.

Sitting here fuming at how yet again I have managed to muck things up

Are all LEA's the same - anywhere else where they do delayed admission in January ??

Derbyshire still does Janaury admission. In fact one school, when I googled said that each year two places will be reserved until Spring Bank half term (May 31) for children who may move into the area.

Surely late applications would be accepted if you're moving into the area?

Message withdrawn

I am going to have to ring the primary school that I was interested in and have a chat to them. Just feel a bit of a failure, that I have come to this whole school malarkey a bit late and DS1 will suffer. I suppose we might have got it right by the time we get to DS2

I live in Surrey and they still have September and January admissions. maybe it depends on where in Surrey.

im in east sussex & we also only have one intake for primary schools in the september. however the admissions deadline here was only a few weeks ago, & in kent i dont think its until march. still it doesnt make a difference unless you have at least exchanged contracts on a property or signed a tenancy agreement as they will still go by your current address. i know how you feel, we are also hoping to be moved in time for my dd starting reception in september, of course we will of missed admissions & have to go with whatevers left (luckily all schools in the area we plan on moving to are pretty good) i also have an elder dd who will be going into year two, just to make it doubly difficult.
as your ds isnt going to be 5 until august next year, he wont legally have to attend until that september. im sure you will of got something organized by then.

Very interesting - we are hoping to move to Guildford but will check and see if it depends on the school.

The date of intake may well vary by school, or some will go part time from September until the term they turn 5 (ie. Easter for your ds). As you don't have an address yet you wouldn't have been eligible for the Surrey application process in October anyway but you could ring up schools you are interested in and register your interest to see if they have any cancellations before September - some parents may be currently holding an LEA place whilst awaiting the outcome of private school applications, for example, or may move away in the interim.

Good thought, had second viewing on saturday so fingers crossed for an offer . Then all we have to do is to find somewhere to live, haven't decided whether to rent first or buy immediately..

Surrey doesn't reserve places for families moving into the area (I know, couldn't get my son a Year 7 place when we found out we were moving mid-year).

After the closing date, you can contact the primary schools directly and they can easily offer you a place if they have one, or put you on their waiting list.

There is a Admissions Officer (not sure of the exact title) in Surrey County Hall who has details of which schools have vacancies - but it is up to you to make your own arrangements with the schools. The LEA website for Surrey is fairly good.

If you're lucky, you may find it a real advantage to move your child straight into Year 1. We moved out of London when our dd was reception age and visited a few schools. The one we liked best was full but over the summer term 4 children left so we were offered a place. We also got a phone call from our 2nd choice saying someone had left. After moving her there we discovered this school was one of the most sought after and over subscribed schools in the city and there's no way we'd have got her in from the house we moved to if we'd tried getting into reception. That year there were 23 siblings so only 7 new places.
My advice is to look at the schools you like the sound of and ask to go on the waiting lists - then keep your fingers crossed. Obviously the nearer you live to the school, the better the chance.

sheffield does admissions in sept and jan, but you have to apply at the same time iyswim. ie ds starts sept 05, hi friend starts jan 06 but we both had to apply by jan 31st 05.

My Ds2 will be 4 in june but doesn't start school until Jan......and our postcode is a Surrey one.

So are there more year one places than reception places ? Or, I suppose if someone hasn't got into there favourite school for reception they will go to another one and won't be on the waiting list for year 1 so maybe it is actually a good thing!!!

Thanks.

Yes - that's right. I've just reread my previous post and it doesn't make much sense! Our dd (then 4) was able to stay in her nursery in London because they took children up to 7 years, so she effectively did her Reception year in nursery school. We started looking at schools where we wanted to move to half way through that year and then, only because children fortunately for us left the primary schools we liked, was she able to get a place for the start of Yr 1. As you say, by this time all the people who were on the waiting lists at the beginning of Reception Year were settled in other schools and not wanting to take up these places. There are always some children who leave during Year R, but of course the timing has to be right for you. If you do set your heart on one particular school, keep ringing them to remind them that you're waiting. Although Reception places are allocated by the local authority so you have no influence there, schools hold the waiting lists for any places that become available for Yr 1 up (in our area anyway).