some (more or less) stupd questions about primary schools..

[ScandinavianMummy]

We are moving to the UK,next year.. our dd will then be turning 6, so she would have to start year one (or am I mistaken? she is born in october 2010, so she would start reception year in september 2015? right?)

We want to move to Bristol, and I am realising that Bristol schools are hard to get into - but would this mean it is even more diffcult getting into a decent school since she is starting a year after everyone else?

We are thinking we would rent somewhere first, so establish where we really want to buy a house. But if we move, would she be able to stay in the same school? or can you be kicked out for moving out of the catchment area??

sorry about all the stupid questions, but this is all new to me
(completely different system in the county we now live in..)

Do schools prioritise kids with older siblings who's got a place? So that if we focus on getting DD into a good school, it should be fairly straightforward getting DS (who's two years younger) into the same school the year after?

I've just thought of another thing that isn't necessarily obvious and which hasn't been mentioned on this thread...

The order of the waiting list is worked out in the same way as for the normal applications (not in order of who has been waiting the longest). So, for example, you can get in near the top if you move next door to a school that uses distance as its tie-breaker, and you can go down the list if someone gets a sibling into a different year in a school which prioritises siblings.

I think maybe we just need to decide on a few schools we would like, and then find a house for rent really really close..

There are very few schools in Bristol that will have a space in Year 1, or any time after Reception applications - and certainly not good schools in nice areas. Could you live somewhere outside Bristol?

OP, what is the very earliest you could move?

we both have 3 months notice here + we have a house to sell etc, so realistically march/april..

but we are considering trying to find a place to rent before the deadline, and then do a bit of 'living in two places at once' - making the move gradually.. but at least then we will have an address to put down on the application form..

You risk having the LEA declare your application as fraudulent - if you did what you are proposing to do with a house in the UK, they certainly could.

If you are honest with the LEA from the outset, make sure you have any assurances from them in writing, even if that is an email from you to them describing what has been said in a phone call.