Relocating to Oxford from overseas - enrolment into schools

[shwott]

Dear all,

I'll start working at Oxford Uni in September this year and I'll be moving with my two kids (aged 5 and 2) to the area in August. I'm looking for state primary schools if possible with a nursery attached. We're not religious at all, are not baptised, so I think our chance of being accepted into a C of E school is quite low.

As I understand, it seems quite hard to find a place in a good school in August (with ofsted reports either 1 or 2 - with no chance to visit schools at this stage, this is unfortunately the only criteria I can consider) for a September start. Would you advise me perhaps to look into places like Abington where schools are generally good and there might be more spaces? That means of course that I'll be commuting to university for around 40 min. Or otherwise if we arrive to Oxford (I was looking into Jericho, Summertown, Headington, Marston) in August, does that mean we'll have to enrol my older one into an inadequate school.

I've been quite perplexed/nervous about this school enrolment issues, so any advice would be extremely valuable! So many thanks.

Also, ideally I'm looking into schools that have after school care - I'm not sure if this is common in Oxford. Where we live atm (Australia) not all schools have after school care or those that have may be full, so there is a long waiting list. I had chosen my daughter's school here according to its academic level (good reports) and after school care availability, as I've been working full time. But this will be a secondary issue of course. The main thing atm is just to be able to enrol her into a school in August.

Would your eldest be going into yr1 in September? If so you really don’t need to worry about the usual criteria as you would be an in year application - if a school has a place at the time you apply then they have to offer it to you.
Contact the LEA and ask them whether they have a list of all the primary schools with spaces in the current yr R group and then check them out online as best you can.

Also is there any chance of you getting here a little earlier? English schools break up towards the end of July - if you can be here before then it would be much easier to actually view potential schools and talk to teachers before they are all on holiday for 6 weeks. Some schools have excellent reports but aren’t as good as they should be, others have poorer Ofsted but are actually brilliant. The school down the road from me has gone from outstanding to RI and back to good in 4 years. It really doesn’t appear to have changed much to the parents who have children there.
Sorry I can’t help with Oxford specifically.

Many thanks 3boys2dogshelp!

Indeed, I'm very certain the reports don't say much, at the end of the day these assessments are often very general and subjective. It's the same issue where we currently live in Australia, but unfortunately these reports are the only comprehensive reviews I can find on internet. I'll be visiting oxford in the middle of July but I doubt I'll be able to visit all schools in an area then, as they must be quite busy with preparing for the end of the year.

I was planning to rent a small flat in an area with good schools and hope to have a place in one of them, but when I look for houses/schools on right move.co.uk, it shows that most good schools are oversubscribed. Does that mean I'd have very little chance to enrol my daughter (into year 1) as an in year application into a good school? The ones that are not oversubscribed often seem to be inadequate.

Although I I completely agree with your point on the inadequacy of ofsted reports.

I'm in Oxfordshire.

Most of the Dons' kids go to Phil and Jim's in Summertown: philandjim.org.uk

Primary school entry is done by catchment area and isn't based on whether or not you're religious, so don't worry about not being CofE.

Thank you so much ShackUp! Provided that I can find a house right near to the school, do you think she could get in as an in year application for Year 1? Like most good schools Phil and Jim's is also oversubscribed.

There's some info on in-Year applications here:

m.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/childreneducationandfamilies/educationandlearning/schools/admissionpolicies/3835_1718.pdf

Even if a school is oversubscribed at the start of reception there will still be places coming up occasionally. Oversubscription just means that more than 60 families named the school as one of their 3 choices (assuming 60 places) so obviously a completely average school will always be categorised as oversubscribed and only the very worst reputations will lead to undersubscription. Nevertheless once all the place allocation hoo har dies down the oversubscribed school still has 60 children in its 60 places - it is very rare for them to be forced to take 61 or 62 though it can theoretically happen. Then during reception year life moves on. Chances are that one of the kids in your child's age cohort is the child of another academic on a temporary contract at Oxford uni who will get a contract in Australia or california or Japan from September and a place will become available. That place will go to whichever child is registered as waiting for a place and lives closest to that school, regardless of how long they have been waiting.

Thank you so so much! I suppose the first thing to do now is to find a place and then apply and see the results. I hope it'll be fine. It's really hard to find a school, it looks like!

There is a decent amount of movement in Oxford. Phil and Jims effectively has a tiny catchment but has had a great reputation for a long time. Is your younger one 3 before September therefore going into a preschool year, or still 2? I'm not sure how many of the school nurseries take them for more than 1 year. The university has several linked nurseries and may be able to help with that. (I'm out of date though as my youngest is 12!).

School places have become quite tight in Oxford as in other parts of the country. Headington and Marston are lovely areas that I can recommend; know a little bit about the schools but 2nd hand as I admit we went private. Feel free to pm me if you like.

Finally, when you get here, make sure you look up the university newcomer's club if you have time.

I think you are putting to much weight on that 'oversubscribed' note next to schools on Rightmove. Or misinterpreting what it means.

All it means is that if it had 30 places for Reception intake, there were more than 30 people who put it as one of their preferences. Seeing as everyone lists several preferences (don't know how many in Oxford - let's say three as that's the minimum) then on average each 30 intake school should be named 90 times... and thus be oversubscribed. But 70 of those 90 might be second or third choices, and these people might get their first choice, so only 20 children actually start, leaving 10 free spaces... There is no way really of telling, what 'oversubscribed' means in reality.

What you can do:

• E-mail the LEA asking which schools currently have spaces in Reception. They cannot hold any spaces between now and September, and cannot guarantee what it will be like for September, but still, if a school currently has an available space, it clearly isn't as 'oversubscribed' as it sounds, and chances are you would get a space there, sooner or later.

If you apply for a space, say, 4 weeks before the end of the school year, they would have to give it to you and wouldn't expect your child to start before September (thinking here that they'd offer within a week or two of your formal application, then you'd have a week or two to accept the place, and they wouldn't need your child to start for the last week or two of the school year). Some LEAs require you to have a UK address in order to apply, some are happy for you to apply from abroad (with certain conditions). Applying from abroad you'd be bottom of any waitlist, however if there is a space available and nobody wanting it, it is yours.

• Look at reception places allocations for the past few years; specifically at the 'furthest distance offered'. If you move to within that distance, you'd be high up on the waiting list, even if no places currently available. Also, I'd expect that schools that have a very small 'furthest distance offered' are less likely to have lots of movement/places becoming available. Schools that have offered a long way afield, there is a good chance that several of the kids are on waiting lists to get into other, nearer-to-them schools, and especially at the end of YR/beginning of Y1 I'd expect quite some movement; hence spaces becoming available.

Can definitely recommend Abingdon. Both my kids are at primary in Abingdon and I work in Oxford. I cycle in and it takes 20-25mins. Or there is a bus every 5-7 minutes. Schools are good and the school we use has a before and after school club, so care from 7.30-6pm.

We used to live in East Oxford and that took longer to cycle / drive into town than from north Abingdon.

Thank you so much! These are extremely helpful! I'll look into Abingdon schools as well. Before/after school club will be quite essential. Many many thanks!

To add, driving to central oxford (not during rush hour) takes me just over 10 minutes from north abingdon. Having lived in various places around and in oxford, I would certainly recommend Abingdon as one of the best - has a nice centre, adequate supermarkets and a lovely river side play area, splash park, outdoor pool etc. Lots of other nice parks and areas too. Lots of community stuff going on too.

To add again, the most suitable primaries in North Abingdon (and you'd want to be north to avoid crossing the river which is a traffic blackspot) are the two form entry ones (so two classes a year) as they'll be more likely to have space and movement. So,

Rush Common (non denominational) - has before and after school
Dunmore Primary (non denominational) - has before and after school
St Nicholas Primary (CofE) - has after school

Another area to consider is Kennington, between Abingdon and Oxford, so only 2-3 miles to the city centre. Their primary is St Swithuns (CofE) and has before and after care. Personally, I prefer Abingdon to Kennington as a place to live and Kennington does suffer as a rat run for morning and afternoon rush hours.

If you don't get a place in before/after school then there may also be local childminders that will pick up/drop off.

Summertown is very expensive to live in I seem to remember.

Also bear in mind that the children going into Y1 in the UK will have had a full year of phonics education whereas I assume yours won't (half a year if that, and probably not full on synthetic phonics given it's Australia). School will happily work with that but something to bear in mind.

Thank you so so so much @stabilolikeaboss! I'll look into houses around these three schools! Thank you indeed! This was so helpful. I'm just trying to figure out the best options for my husband's commute too. He's not an academic himself and the places he can work are often either in Abingdon (which would be great!), Reading or even more likely in London. He'll obviously try to find something as close as possible to us, but if he can't find anything, he might have quite of a distance to commute. Anyway these are still unknown things for us and I really liked Abingdon from what I saw through videos on Youtube :)

@drspouse yes you're very right! My DD will have finished only half a year of Kindergarten/reception in Australia. She's doing well here but is nowhere near being able to read and write yet, which makes me also a little nervous as I think she'll need to go to Year 1 in September because of her age. She was born in January 2013. I definitely wouldn't mind her to start from Reception but I suppose legally that's not possible. I don't know how I can help her best in this - I guess I'll have to work closely with her school especially in her first year.

Can you tell I'm at work and have time to reply? Radley station (just outside Abingdon) is great for commutes into Reading or London, there's a direct train or you can change at Didcot for the fast service.

If you contact the LA, they should be able to tell you if any of the schools above have spaces (or are likely to) in yr 1 from Sep 2018.

With a Jan birthday I'm afraid you are looking at Y1 - it's only from April-Aug that they can be in a lower year. I think it wouldn't hurt to start on a proper phonics scheme now, as I doubt they'd be doing it in her current school.

I wouldn't over-sell Radley station as an option. Bit too erratic to rely on. However, Didcot (12 minute drive from Abingdon and plentiful parking) is fine - fast trains (well GWR so often not that fast) to London in 42 mins (more like 42-60) and Reading 15 mins. End of next year Crossrail will open up Reading to a very easy commute into central/east London. Commute into Oxford form Abingdon has to be timed. 7.30 a breeze. 7.45-8.45 = nightmare. 9 am = breeze. Lots of sport and kids stuff on offer in Abingdon...market town feel so not wildly exciting - the Waitrose is great though.

I'm not familiar with Oxford but don't discount CofE schools.

We live in a town with oversubscribed schools and DS has just been allocated a place at a very good CofE school. We put it on the form to fill up preferences, not expecting to have a chance of him getting in but he didz