Coming home - how to sort out schools when you don't have an address!!!?

[Littlemisschanges]

Hi - can anyone help me with this. We've been out of the UK for around 10 years now and are due to return in about 12 months. Both our children will be of school age by that time and of course we want to get them settled as soon as we can. But how do you apply for a school if you don't have an address and only have a vague idea of the area in which we will live.

We didn't keep our house in the UK so will rent for a while and buy again once we've worked out where we can afford etc.

I just can't get my head around how I will sort out schools for the kids until we have at least found a rental place - but can I only apply once we are in the country?

Should I think about home schooling for a couple of months until we have a proper home sorted?

You do need to have an address to apply form but some LEA's make specific provision for those moving into the area. Best idea is to contact the schools you may be interested in first to see whether they are already full, have lists etc. How old are the children ? Could you consider going private initially as they won't worry about a local address.

Wow, thanks LIZS that was a super-fast reply!

They will be reception and year 2 I think by the time we get back. I guess the problem is that we really only have a very vague idea of where to settle - West sussex/Surrey/Kent being the favs due to family proximity vs commuting distance to work. So finding a school seems a bit of a needle in a haystack.

So if you pay for a private school they don't have any kind of catchment area? If we went private and later applied to a state school would we still have a chance of getting in, as to be honest we don't really have the cash for two in private schools.

Thanks again!

You need to start firming up your plans regarding area to live. Don't you have any idea (eg does your employer have a base?)?

Once you have a short-list of places to live, you can contact potential schools individually to find the lay of the land. You can't be offered a place without an address, though.

If your children are in certain years - Reception, Y3 or Y7, you pretty much have to go through the local education authority, and comply with certain dates for getting your application in. Details will be on their websites.

You can apply from outside the country.

As ST says the application procedure for Reception would differ from year 2 (when your dc would join an existing class). In Surrey applications for R, Yr 3 and Yr7 are usually made in October so if you can have an address by then you would be treated like the others applying, but later and their places would be allocated first and your younger one would be offered a remaining vacancy. Going private initially could buy you time to sort out a state place, there is movement between the two systems. Depending when your younger dc turns 5 she may not have to be in Full time education until September 09 anyway , but may miss out Reception and enter at Year 1.

Thanks again guys. So basically my best bet is to try and narrow down where we will be living as much as I possibly can?

I can see a huge headache coming on, and me spending a lot of time on the internet!

Yep - you need to do this before finding a school (even ignoring bureacracy, it is still the logical first move).

So generally speaking, if I want to apply as a normal resident, I need to make sure we have the address where we will settle sorted out by the preceeding October.

Scary! After having been out of the country for almost 10 years we are completely clueless as to where to live, and have no real ties to anywhere!

If you want to have the same "choice", yes, but there still may not be a space immediately at year 2 in same one as those children are already in situ. There are usually places available mid year or further up, just not necessarily at schools you would prefer. Demand depends on birthrate too, Your elder dc's year group (assuming is 6 before 31/8/08) is oversubscribed at ours but dd's Year (current Year 2) less so.

I think you do have to have an address at that time. The system is pants for people coming from abroad. Here in Surrey, they do not reserve places for families moving into the area after the October cut-off.

We had no acceptable choice but independent when we moved here - and once in, it is very difficult to get out.

We were fortunate to have kept our house so could apply, they may allow an immediate relative's address in your circumstances (speak to LEA) but that wodul commit you to living very local to them.

The problem is we can't live very local to either side of the family because they aren't commuting distance to my husbands office (at least we know where that is!). So we were going to try for something an hour or so drive from each, and on a train line to his London office. But that is a pretty broad sweep of area to stick a pin in. Plus of course, the distances mean that we can't just apply from one of our parent's addresses.

It looks like we'll have to try to rent/buy a place before we get back - because all other preferences aside it would be annoying if they weren't at the same school at least.

I feel that headache coming on ;)

Okay, so say for example we are lucky enough to move to a village with a little primary school, and we are in the catchment for that school. The move would likely be in the middle of the school year. If we weren't able to apply for the school in time, and that school was full, would the LEA just allocate a place in the next nearest school (presumably driving distance)? Would we then be on a waitinglist for a place in the school which was acually local and within walking distance? How does it work if you don't get in to your nearby school. Is that it for ever, or is there recourse to change if a place becomes available?

You can always go on a waiting/continued interest list, sometimes they are rejigged each year so you have to restate your interest. In practice many go on the lsit initially, when they don't get in straightaway, but find their kids become so settled elsewhere they don't take up a place when offered later on. Normally you'd be allocated nearest available alternative.

Thanks so much everyone for all your help. Very much appreciate it!