Moving house - nursery school debacle

[DeltaAutos]

Hi everyone

At risk of showing myself to be a bit of an idiot here, I need some advice.

We've been house-hunting and have just had an offer accepted on a house in a brand new area, miles away from our current location.

We've chopped and changed areas to look in, and in all honesty, this house has come about a lot quicker than we thought it would.

Our elder son (3 and a half) is currently at a private nursery one day a week. We want him to attend a local nursery school once we move, but it is now summer holidays, and the likelihood of us completing by early September is high.

How long are we likely to have to wait until we can potentially get him a place there once they have re-opened and we apply in September? (I realise we can submit an application now, but I guess it won't be actioned until beginning of term).

Hope this makes sense.
Thanks
Fiona

If they have space, then maybe within a few days- weeks?

They will need to see if any children don't turn up. They might know this on first day of term, or it might not become evident until later due to staggered entry. Then will need to see where you fit in terms of admissions priorities.

But it is quite common for a few children not to take up places - so with luck everything should work out for you.

Also, keep trying the phone once 1st Sept comes. Often the office staff are working then.

I wouldn't wait and would email now. Most parents sign up for every day and then let the preschool know during holidays which days they're dropping (as the school sends a bill for next term in last week). Ours warned us if we're not sure, better to sign up and drop then to try to add a day later. They should have waiting lists and will be able to add you on now and contact you during holidays if a place opens up. When we moved, we ended up with paying and losing deposits/extra in two different nurseries (one in our old place in case purchase fell through) and budgeted this as part of moving costs. I'd not give up your current place and give notice (unless you know 100% there will be openings in September) and just "eat" the cost of the notice period, because if your sale falls through - you could be stuck at your old house with no childcare in place.

Thanks so much all. I shall get on this tomorrow morning in that case. (o: x

I think that what the OP is describing is a school nursery class or nursery school which runs slightly differently to a PVI pre-school.

Yes, it might be worth emailing now but (having worked in schools for a long time) I suspect that you might not get a response until early Sept.

If you applied to the nursery where I work, your ds could start the next day with his settling in sessions.

I tend to reply to e-mails over the summer holiday too, so you might find that you are able to contact someone before September.

Yes, I am talking about nursery schools associated with a primary school, as opposed to a private nursery, which he's in at present. I shall email etc regardless and see what response I get.

Yup, that's what I was describing... A term time nursery or "preschool" that runs (usually) morning sessions 9-noon as opposed to a full time private nursery aimed at working parents with hours of 7.30am-6.30pm.

Thanks HeyDuggee, I shall take your advice. Much appreciated, All.

Hi. I would try emailing now and seeing if you get a response. I'm a school business manager for a LA nursery school (though on mat leave at the mo) and I monitor the email during the holidays to see if anyone applies. Often there is some movement at the beginning of term as some kids don't turn up. We offer all our spaces based on distance rather than on a first come first served basis.

A lot of nursery schools or nurseries attached to primaries in my area struggle to fill all their spots before the start of term (and there's some poaching that goes on!!) so we get sort of desperate at the start of term to fill our spaces.

Is your purchase completely chain free then?

I have bought and sold many times. The fastest a sale has ever gone through is 12 weeks- I was a cash buyer, and the house had no occupier.

4 weeks seems very ambitious?

Contact the LA/council who run the nursery school, they might deal with places rather than the nursery itself and they will certainly be open in the summer!

Iggi999 in my LA the Admissions team have nothing to do with the nursery spaces in schools at all. They solely deal with primary and secondary applications. The schools themselves manage the nursery places.