School??

[Tiredprobably]

How does the school process work? I'm in the uk, London. I have a 14 month old and a couple of people have mentioned schools and nursery to me recently. I'm a sahm at the moment am I supposed to be putting his name on a list somewhere? There's some awful schools round here so don't want to mess this up! Thanks.

Nursery or preschool varies in the age they admit, but worth putting your name down early for those which you like. Free places currently are available from the term after they turn 3.

For state schools you need to apply usually around Nov/Dec time to start the following september, so if your LO was born feb 2011, they are due to start sept 2015, so you need to apply Nov onwards 2014. The only things you can do now to help get into a prefered school are move next door to it, and if appropriate attend the correct church every week (sometimes for up to 3yrs before)! You could seek out information on admissions for your preferred schools, but things like head teachers, intake etc may change. Try posting again on primary education, or mumsnet local for some more specific info on your area.