Harpenden in year application for primaries

[Paula9999]

Hello,
Posting for the 1st time here!
We're moving to Harpenden from Canada in April and want to try and get both our daughters into years 3 and 6 for the summer term. The oldest would then go onto secondary, i guess.
We husband is forging a trail and will have a house by Feb/March. We will follow (with the furniture!) in April.
Any advice greatly, greatly appreciated!

The best thing to do is to go on the Herts County Council website for info. I think the council keeps lists of which local schools have spaces. You also need to be looking at secondary schools asap, as applications to start year 7 in Sept 2014 closed on 31 October. There is still time to make a "late application" which is will be accepted under extenuating circumstances. Again, the council website gives good information. There are 3 secondary schools in Harpenden, including a faith school. They are all oversubscribed and very successful and motivated children will do well at any of them. The 3 Harpenden secondary schools are mixed, if you are interested in girls only schools , St Albans Girls School is located on the Northern side of St Albans(closest to Harpenden) and Harpenden families have the chance to send their daughters there. Hope this helps, but really the best thing to do is to go to the website without delay!

Should also have mentioned private (fee paying) schools. The obvious choices for Harpenden residents are: St Hilda's School in Harpenden, Beechwood Park in Markyate, and St Albans Girls High School. St Albans goes right through to 18. If you're interested in any of these you should contact the schools direct.

Hertfordshire publishes a list of vacancies at all its primary and secondary school. Your daughter will have missed the deadline for secondary school admisions so will be allocated an unpopular school (probably Townsend Church of England School) for year 7. You can go on a waiting list for a preferred school in the hope that somoene moves.

It wil be hard to find a school with places in both year 3 and year 6. However the local authority can force schools go over numbers.

Although the closing date for secondary applications was 31 October, provided you can give a good reason why your application is late, you have until 6 December to submit it and it will be considered at the same time as the other "on time" applications. You can continue to apply on line until beginning Jan 2014, but your application will be considered "late". After the end of January, you can only apply in writing, not online, and you won't receive your allocation until end of April, as opposed to the "on time" applicants who will hear at the beginning of March. At that point, if you are unhappy with your allocation you can join the "continuing interest" list and keep your fingers crossed. Some of the more "popular" secondary schools currently have spaces in year 7, but I don't know if these are been available since Sept or have become free during the term. However, none of this matters until you have an address to apply from. It might be worth emailing the council admissions team to confirm your plans and find out the best way forward.