Remind me again, primary school in england. What age do the children start reception?

[nevergoogle]

What age are the childen who will start reception in september?

DS2 was 4 in May. Would he start this year?

i knew i should have namechanged.
Pav, Shhhhhh, you never saw me here right.

who? what? not sure what you are talking about? i posted on the wrong thread clearly...

Ah. That makes sense now. I hadn't spotted that you are in Scotland. Sorry. So yes, you need to figure out where you will live before you can apply. Note that most LAs won't allocate a place until you have exchanged contracts or signed the tenancy agreement. Some won't even tell you which schools have vacancies until then.

The school age population has been going up and many primary schools are oversubscribed. I'm afraid you probably will have little or no choice but you may be lucky.

Hope it all works out for you.

I'd stay in Scotland if I were you. Never heard such a load of nonsense in all my life.

do elaborate.

are you still making mosaics?

Sorry- great non-sequitur there...

i haven't done anything spectacular mosaic wise since i returned to full time work. grr.

"Your son is due to start school in September and you haven't got a place for him. Leaving it until later will not make a place magically appear. The schools will still all be full. If you apply now at least you can get on the waiting list for your local schools so you will get a place if one comes up. If you leave it until later you won't even be on the list."

Who would want to live somewhere with a system like this? It's bad enough expecting them to start school at five plus never mind at just turned four.

because there's always more to consider when choosing where to live isn't there. school is only one part of that.

If/when you decide to move, if you don't like the school the LA is able to offer you, you could put your son into nursery next year instead. He remains eligible for the 5 half-day government-funded nursery sessions per week until he reaches compulsory education age in September 2012. That gives you as much as a year extra to wait and see whether others will move out of the area in order to free up a space for your child at a school you prefer.

sounds like a sensible plan saracen

nevergoogle - it's worth going online to the county council of the area you are planning to move to and looking at all the school admission info they have published (many will have put it online) to get some idea of how good or bad the situation is, eg many parts of London and Surrey oversubscribed, Dorset good, is the current word on the ground. Also, it's worth making sure your accommodation is very near (I mean like quarter of a mile!) the school you want! And maybe visiting the area if you have the time and funds to do so and making an appointment for a quick tour round school/s. Lots to think about from public transport, accommodation, local amenities like shops, etc. Just to add that state nurseries fill up very very quickly too (just like applying for primary schools), but if you can afford private nursery, the early years funding will cover some of the cost and you pay the rest. Ring the nursery you want and they will give you a rough idea of how much. Also, check that the schools you want to apply to have things like breakfast club and after school club if you need him to stay in school before 8.45am (approx) and after 3.15pm (approx), for eg if you can't get out of work to pick him up, because some schools provide this and others don't.

ah, now i spent a long time checking out the schools in that area before we moved away from it. i'm going to concentrate on the interview first.

Best of luck for the interview!