Starting Primary mid-way through year

[ektorpjennylund]

We are moving from the US to Cambridge in October 2011. DS1 will be 4 1/2 when we move. He is currently in preschool here in the US and wouldn't have started Kindergarten until Sept 2012 ( state rules about when his birthday falls etc)
We are not quite sure exactly where we will be living yet. My DH will be working in Addenbrooke's and I might be working in Science Park or else a commute 40 miles south of Cambridge ( have 2 interviews next week)

I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile or even possible to have DS1 start school when we move or would I be better off getting a creche place for him and leave it till the next school year.

I know I can't even apply to the local authority for a place until we have an address in Cambridge. So obviously can't do anything yet.

Would 5 1/2 be too late to start school? Would we have any chance of getting him a place in a state school mid-year and with short notice?

Thanks for your help.

In England he legally has to be in education the term after he turns 5 which presumably would be the summer term (after Easter). The local authority has an obligation to offer him a place but it may not be very local to where you are living or a school of your choice in the area. Check Cambridgeshire County Council website for details of in-year applications procedures. However you can't ask them to allocate a school until you have a confirmed address. Very unlikely a preschool/nursery would take him at his age or even have space now to do so although technically he could spend a term and a half there.

That's what I thought. We had originally not planned on moving till next July (2012) and had planned on getting him set up then. He had been enrolled in Pre-K 4 here which might have been considered equivalent to Reception.

Now we are moving in 2 months there's a lot to be done in a short time.
Do you mean he is unlikely to get a creche place either??

I have done a nanny search and come up with nothing. I thought maybe a creche was my only option. DS2 is 1 so will need a place too.

Aaaargh!!!

If you mean a nursery place they tend to cater up to school age and as places for 3-4yr olds are funded only have a certain number they can take and are booked up early. If you are likely to need full time nursery for your younger child you need to be looking now and ask about before/afterschool care for your elder son. You could ask on the Local or CM section here if anyone could recommend a nanny or cm, or has vacancies.The council again should have a list of nurseries and childminders who you can contact now but to an extent you won't be able to finalise arrangments until you know where your ds1 will be at school - some operate their own extended day .

hi when is your DS birthday - the key date here is the end of august - so I think your DS would be going into reception - ideally I would try and move by the start of the year if was - 5th or 6th september so he started with his class but I guess a month wouldn't make that much difference
if he is 4 already he would be the only child in a nursery of his age and as someone else say he has to start school the term after he is 5 anyway

they will find you a school place -it may not be the ideal school or near your house if the local ones are full -

my DS just started in reception late in year - what I did was when I was house hunting I rang the local authority and asked which schools had places then found a house near one of them - you could ring up now which would give a are very good feel -as there won't be much movement between now and october

nursery for your 1 year old - you could look at the ofsted website to get a list of all the private nurseries and ring them to see if any had places - if you are in cambridge you might be able to set up to view some next week

nanny I would look at agencie or you could advertise on gumtree - or there are some websites like I think nannyjob - but there is more advise on then nanny/childminder board on here

Thanks for your help. DS1's b'day is in March.

It's a complicated story, but as I said we hadn't planned on moving till next year. My job here finishes at the end of September and therefore so does my US visa. The move has been in the works for a while and I had DS all set up to go into Pre-K here so that we could transition more easily when the time came next year.
Unfortunately I now have to move in October ( but not before as my contract still running... and anyhow at this stage it will take 2 months + to coordinate an international move). So a September start would be next to impossible logistically. To throw a further spanner in the works I'll be moving on my own with DS1(4) and DS2 (1) as DH is locked into his contract here till next July

Good idea to call the local authority first. I think I'll do that. Hopefully I'll have a better idea what is happening once I do the interviews next week.

I did advertise for a nanny but basically only got nutters or completely inappropriate replies. I have been thinking that if DS1 is in school and DS2 in a nursery then I could get an au pair - basically for pick ups and drop offs and to keep me company while DH is still in America.
I like the look of the Tinies website. Any experience with them??

Sorry I've gone completely off topic Lots on my mind as you can imagine!

We've found nannies through Tinies twice. Excellent.

umf what is Tinies fee?