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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

School absence - house move

12 replies

catswhisker1 · 04/06/2019 14:08

We have two DC aged 7 and 9. We are planning to move over the summer to a different area. Our house on the market now but we reckon it probably won't all be finalised until mid-Sept.

Does anyone know if there are any penalties for taking kids out of school for a couple of weeks in term time to move house? They will be moving from one school to another but we reckon that transition might take up to three weeks due to a variety of reasons. Any help appreciated!

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Hollowvictory · 04/06/2019 14:11

You can't take them out for a couple weeks but why don't you just take them off the roll at their current school and they then join the roll at new school a couple weeks later?

Original poster

catswhisker1 · 04/06/2019 14:13

Thanks for your reply - is that allowed? So it will still mean that they are not in education for three weeks. I'm a bit of a novice at this - they have been at the same school since they started!

OP posts:

DuploRelatedInjury · 04/06/2019 14:20

Where I work as far as I know we don't remove a child from roll until the receiving school confirms they have started there or unless the child is now being home educated.

Hollowvictory · 04/06/2019 14:25

Yes so the op home educates for 3 weeks.

Myusernameismud · 04/06/2019 14:28

We did this last year and it was fine. We just had to inform the school we were leaving that I was home educating for the interim period. In reality of course I didn't, they did some work just to keep things fresh in their mind, but it was mostly times tables and reading, usually 3 out of 5 days.
They went back to school first week of October and didn't suffer as a result!

Original poster

catswhisker1 · 04/06/2019 14:43

That's really helpful - so myusername - did you take them out for the whole of September? Now got to get used to having them with me for another month after six weeks school hols...

OP posts:

TeenTimesTwo · 04/06/2019 15:25

I don't understand really.

You keep them on roll at the current school until you move house. If you don't move until end Sept then they start the school year at their current school.
Once you do actually move house you apply to your new LA for a place, and if you need to, you keep them at home until a place comes up.
You don't want to declare you are capable of home educating as it takes the pressure off the LA to find a place if they are in short supply.

Unless of course you positively want to have 2 children getting under your feet while you are packing, cleaning, unpacking etc?

Myusernameismud · 05/06/2019 10:35

The reason I didn't keep them on roll was because DD was starting secondary, and there was no way I was sending her to a brand new school, with all the associated uniform costs and travel costs for a month, only to do it all again in October. She would have made new friends in that school and then have to leave them again, and make new ones.
I had planned for DS to move primary schools before we'd moved anyway, his school had not long received an inadequate ofsted report and was being taken over by an academy. I worked in the school and didn't like the direction it was taking, so I knew DS wouldn't be going back in September. So it was an easy decision for me.

I was lucky that my mum had both DCs for 2 weeks while I did all the packing and moving. They had an amazing fortnight at grandma's house, while all the other kids were at school!

Myusernameismud · 05/06/2019 10:36

And yes cats the whole of September. They started school on Monday 1st October

emilycl · 06/06/2019 14:36

You are allowed to educate your children at home. There is no law saying they have to be in school. But I don't fully understand how far that can be stretched (i.e. you can't take them for a holiday in term time even if you will be doing homework with them during that time as far as I know). However, maybe you could say you would home school them during the small break between schools?

Yommyt · 08/03/2023 01:45

I'm having a similar issue presently.
My situation is, am presently having an accommodation problem and we have to move from our present place in London to Birmingham temporarily. I sent a mail to inform my son's school about our problem and situation of things. Some hours later after sending the email. The school administrator called me to inform that I should try and get another school in our present location for my son or they declare him missing in school.

I was so disturb bcos am actually new in the UK.

SheilaFentiman · 10/03/2023 10:49

@Yommyt this is a zombie thread, better to start your own

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