Moving back from abroad but not allowed to apply for schools until back in uk in June....

[heyelp]

Moving back in June. Visited uk yesterday. Went to local council. They will not let me apply until we are back in June. Feel sick. Will never get a good place at schools in June. Have DS age 6 and DD age 5. They will be year 1 and year 2 in sept 2013. Plus I need them both at same school - I am a working mum and cannot cope with 2 school drop offs. What can I do?

Hi Tiggy

I didn't think it would be used for any of those things, just meaning that under FAP OP would at least get a space for each child within the summer term. Given it's Wimbledon and all the postings about london school overcrowding,, there could be a big radius of full schools...?

If DS is 6 and you have been away 3 years how did he go to a school when he was 3 years old. Do you mean nursery

Hello

Thanks for all your posts. To answer questions. Yes DS went to the nursery at the primary school age 3 for 6 months before leaving the uk. Regarding child are, my husband is going to do it over the summer. He needs to change jobs anyway so he will restart in Sept so we are fully covered for child care. Regarding being in the same school if they were privately educated, I would choose a school that would take them both. There is one on Wimbledon Common.

So many strategies and what ifs. I think I will phone private school tmrw and try and secure them both a space there. Then in June will come back and apply for schools in uk. When does term end? Mid July? I am so out of it cos in Italy it finishes mid June. Then I can try and get them a space in state school straightaway - see how we go.

It does seem from all your help though that there's nothing more I can do now....

Thanks all...

The private school may ask you to either pay a deposit, or the term up front, to secure a space.

Ah the Rowans? I kind of discounted that as it is pre-prep and selective after reception.

Check with your LEA about the rule about whether you need to be physically back in the country - we have just moved back from Australia to S Yorks and were able to apply for places whilst we were still in Australia as we had an address (we had already bought a house). We found out we had been allocated our second choice school as we were about to board our flight! The LEA have never asked to see any proof of address either. So definitely worth checking with them.
Best of luck with it - it's hard not to get stressed about it, and I certainly did, but we found it worked out fine in the end, and I hope it does for you too.