Moving before starting and after applying?

[daysoftheweek]

Hi Not sure if this is the right place but hoping someone can help me here. We are certainly going to have to move before the application cut off date for primary schools (Jan 07 for us) and then again before the start date. This is likely to involve moving between Wandsworth and Lambeth. Does anyone know what happens to our school application do we stay at the school local to the application date address or do we have to go in as a (very) late application for the school closest to the final address? Thanks for your help.

Bump for myself.
Someone must know what happens if you move between applying for a school and starting!

We moved to our new house three months before DS1 started reception - we couldn't put his name down before we exchanged and then needed a solicitors letter confirming. We were first on the waiting list as lived very close and got into it, found out at the end of the summer term.

Not sure if that answers your question as not sure if your son is 7 or 4. What happens if you have already applied and been granted a place I dont know. Although I would imagine that your are dealing with different LEA's who will have there own application processes - so no problem with applying twice.

The important thing is that no appliciation will be taken seriously unless you have exchanged or have a rental contract - had to be for a year where we are.

Thaks Kaz33. I guess what I'm really worried about is ending up school less and therefore getting the worst. Keep hearing stories about children being turned away at the gate on the first day of term because they don't live where they said they did! We will be moving up to three times but all within 1/2 mile so would quite happily leave him at the school fitting with the address just worried we will end up with nothing. My son is 4. I also thought (in London) that you could now only fill in 1 form not one for each LEA but think I may be wrong about that now. Did try and ask the council but they were very unhelpful!

Could you rent somewhere in the right catchment after you've pushed the sale through quickly for your house so you meet the deadline ? I wouldn't take any chances if you know which school you want.

AngelaChill After your thread of Sunday I wouldn't be quite so cheeky. We are moving because there are soon to be 5 of us in a (samll) 2 bedroomed flat and 2 of us are/will be too young to walk upstairs! The flat is a) rented and b) both freezing and very damp (the mould has stopped spreading along the outside wall due to the (relative) summer heat but will no doubt start again as the weather changes. Despite working very hard we don't all earn 750 pounds a day for a four day week whilst wishing to stop our nanny/childminder from seeing a Doctor about her possible cancer. (I will go to bed now before I say something rude)

Daysoftheweek - your comments about Angelachill intrigued me so much I had to go and read the whole thread!! Great laugh, she must be a west londoner !!

Once you have been granted a place at a school, even if you move, they are not going to take it away from you. So I would apply just before the cut off date and get your space. I assume your child starts next september.

When you move to final destination, contact the nearest school (school that you want) and explain you have moved. Provide a copy of the rental contract. You will get on the waiting list, and dependent on criteria should be topish of the list.

I went top of our waiting list. My friend moved this summer to new house and was third on waiting list and found out they got in end of summer term - her DS starts tommorrow!! Lots of people are moving like you, so hopefully you should end up with the right school.

When you have got your new place then contact other school and decline place. They will then open it up to someone else.

Also as your son is 4, he doesn;t need to start until 5 so if no place in new school you could always wait until a place becomes avaliable. In my sons year of 60 kids - three children left last year so we had three new kids.

Days of the week, the money my other half earns is nothing to do with working hard but everything to do with working smart, which is what you'll have to do to avoid being left with the place at the school nobody else wants to go to.

AngelaChill - what?

I think that I live a very easy middle class life but really you don't live in the real world do you?

I have a very good understanding of how the system works and luck favours the prepared. It sounds like they are living in awful conditions, didn't want to be patronising by stating the obvious.

Kaz33 Thanks for replying, havn't heard of any children turned away at the school gate so far this year! so that's more reassuring. I guess we will just have to see what happens when we apply. Hadn't really thought about the wait until 5 option either so that's a possibility

Not quite the same but we moved half way through DD's reception year. Once we exchanged I phoned the local schools and they were all full! The next day one phoned me back to say someone was leaving and the would give me the space. Initially this is not the school I would have chosen (from looking at it on paper) However, once I looked around I realsied it was a lovely school. Since DD started there a few months ago she has been really happy and is doing very well...

So sometimes things do work out foro the best.