Moving from New Zealand to London

[janspinna]

Hi!
I'm moving to London in late july with my family from New Zealand.
My son will turn 5 on the 11th of September this year.
We don't know exactly where we will live but we are keen on the Barnes, Mortlake, Sheen area.
I understand that places for the schools in these areas are all allocated? So if my son must legally start school how do we get him into one?

I'm not very familiar with the British education system.

Thanks for your help!
Steve

already for September yes. I am not familiar with this area (though I am in London) but it is possible that some schools may still have vacancies. Ones without vacancies hold waiting lists and may have places come up between now and September or even in the first few weeks after term starts.
The bad news is that you can't get onto waiting lists or have a place offered until you have moved and have a local address. The good news is that waiting lists are held according to the admissions criteria and not length of time on them, so if you moved close to a good community school you could jump others on the waiting list. The borough would need to offer your child a place somewhere, it's just that it may not be a convenient or "good" school at the moment as they may all be full.

What to do now: identify local schools in the borough (and perhaps surrounding boroughs) of where you will be living and decide which ones you like, the borough websites will give you info on local primary schools. You can research schools on their own websites, the OFSTED website (which inspects schools), SATs results on the Department of Education website and ask about specific schools on here. When you arrive and have an address contact your borough and ask which schools have a place. Accept an offer somewhere, but if you aren't happy with what is left ask to be placed on waiting lists for all your preferred schools. Unfortunately you won't be able to do visits at this stage at it will be school holidays. Your DC will need to legally start school by January (though most children start in the September) so it may be possible to get a place at a more preferred school in early September.

If it helps you some, most British people I know don't seem to understand the schools allocation procedure until they have a child of 4 and need to know how it works! (and even then I know quite a few people who applied this year and still don't seem to get it). Friends of mine typically say things like "Why are you looking at all these schools for littleMango? Won't she just go to your local school?" Ummm, no because she would be highly unlikely to get a place there since we don't live close enough!

^lost the beginning of my post. It meant to say:

If you mean state schools, then offers have already gone out for September, yes.

Hi Steve,

Good luck with your move. I am sure you and your family will love living in London and the areas you are looking at are great. The local education authority for these areas is Richmond. If you look at their website www.richmond.gov.uk you will find lots of information about the schools in the area and also admissions procedures.

Some Local Education Authorities (LEAs) will allocate a provisional place based on your intended address...usually held for around 6-8 weeks and withdrawn if the address is not 'proved' within the time limit. Not sure what Richmond borough do so best to find a contact through their website and ask directly.

Good news is that Richmond schools tend to be considered good/very good and there are few that people wouldn't be happy to send their child to. No doubt the estate agents will be aware of highly desirable schools, but you can guarantee these will already be full and there is not much flexibility in adding extra children!

Mango is right that he doesn't legally need to start until January, so you might want to go on a few waiting lists for your desired schools as there can be movement in the first term or so. The borough are legally obliged to find a school place for your son, and it is always advisable to take what is offered and remain on waiting lists for other schools. That, or go private.

Feel free to PM if you want any more advice and Ill do my best. As a fellow Antipodean expat I sympathise with the process you are going through!

Thanks guys for the reply.
I called the LA and they just confirmed what you have said. There's not much we can do until we get a physical address in the borough.
So that will be the next step.
Two weeks to go until we arrive in UK...

Thanks again!
Steve

It still makes sense to move close to a good school even if all places are allocated bc if you're nearest you'll immediately go to number 1 on the waiting list. Try a bigger school like marshgate, once you're number 1 on the waiting list i would expect things to move quite quickly!