Better time to move 5 year old

[TickTockBaby]

Hi all,

Looking for advice/ experiences please.

We are currently trying to move house, and have our search focused on a specific area with a lovely little primary school.

Our DD is 5 and currently in reception at another school in our current village.

At the moment there are no suitable houses for sale in the area we're looking to move so our address remains our current area.

I spoke to the new school head who said their class size could accommodate our daughter in either reception or year 1 (depending on when she would start).

What are your experiences with this, would moving DD ASAP into new schools reception be best so she could familiarise herself with the school and peers before September?

Or wait and let her finish reception year at her current school and then start new school in September?

Any input much appreciated 🙂

How far away is the new school from where you are now? What if you move her and then don't find somewhere to live there? How would that affect things?

I think finishing reception where she is would be better. The summer holidays seem long to a young child and it's a good natural break to help her forget about her old reception and start somewhere new. Moving her now for a short period and then stopping for summer seems more disruptive.

All great points @wintertime6 thank you.

The new village is about 15 minutes away from where we are now, so I could manage the extended school run without to much disruption.

Houses do come up with some regularity but the current hot market is causing some bottlenecking with nobody listing until they see a place they like etc.

I think I had just thought the sooner the better for her but you make a good point about the six weeks so I'll take that on board too.

Will they still have the space in September? I don’t think they can hold it for you from now until then.

What happens if a suitable property doesn’t become available?

The head of the new school was great and said they have a two class/ per year group system and neither reception or year 1 is close to having maximum per class, so she didn't seem concerned that they couldn't accommodate her.

I know the area we're aiming to move to very well so I'm fairly certain a property will come up, but when?

Thanks for the input everyone, all very helpful.

Depends on her temperament. I'd initially be inclined to go for Sept as it is a new start anyway. However my DD is a bit of a worrier, so I wonder if the build up would be worse and she would be better off moving quicker so she returned to a familiar place after the long holidays. I would hope the excitement of new friends would soon balance out missing old friends.

I'd be wary though of how many spaces they have and is there a risk they could be filled if you wait. Conversely are you happy to potentially do the drive for a year or more?

Cross post with your reply. How do the classes work? Is it year 1 and 2 mixed? That would mean in Sept she wouldn't be the only 'new' one.

Probably I would start her there in September as the long summer holiday would act as a natural break point.

However I would start the application process at the very beginning of summer/end of term 3 if that is possible? To try and secure a place in advance of the new school year but not so early that you would be expected to take it up before summer. (Sorry I am fully not up to date with current admissions policies for uk primaries).

If there were any school holiday clubs or summer activities in the new village it could be a good idea to send her a few times so she could meet some of her new peers.

What about moving her the week before the summer holidays - then it won’t be new in September? You could also possibly ask the school to help facilitate you setting some play dates with the children in her new class over the summer

@BendingSpoons sorry my post might have been a bit confusing, there are no mixed tears but each year has two classes, so two reception two year 1 etc.

@CakesOfVersailles
Thank you, very helpful, and great idea about reviewing local classes for her to attend over the summer.

Thank you @Holly60 for the input.

Lots of things to mull over.

I've just moved DS in year 1, we're only 2 days in but so far it's been much easier than expected in terms of friendship transition. I think that's partly that at this age they don't have the deep friendships, and partly that having had most of the winter term off due to lockdown, he hadn't settled back in properly anyway at his old school.

I would be tempted to move sooner rather than later. Different schools approach things like how they teach reading in different ways - I'd have thought the sooner you move to the new way, the easier for your DD (for example, we've discovered different phonics programs teach sounds in a different order, so your DD may well find there's gaps she's not covered).

It's also quite a big step up to year 1 from reception, it's a very different model of teaching. I'd be worried about starting a new school at the same time as making that transition, when you could instead get her settled at the new school first.

If it helps we moved our 5yr old after one term of reception. We were relocating to another part of the UK unexpectedly so she started in reception knowing full well she'd only do 1 term. She was absolutely fine, took it in her stride and made new friends immediately. Do what works for you, she'll be fine I'm sure x

I'd move her asap. With the disruption this term chances are she's not made any particularly strong friends in her current school and there's not point leaving her there for longer to make any!

If you move her to the new school this term she'll also get to know other children there so you can arrange to see them over the summer holidays, or at least she will recognise them if you see them in the park or wherever.

I would also say that schools won't generally hold places open for long, so if you don't grab this place now, there's no guarantee it will still be there in September.

I think any midyear transfer in infant years is completely fine. Any new child will have classmates flocking round to befriend them. I personally don't see much benefit of doing it in Sept, when classmates may be more focussed on catching up with existing friends, but I'm sure that would work out fine too.

However I would be wary of moving her before you've at least had an offer accepted on a house. It could pile on a whole heap of stress for you, and it risks having to move her again. These things can take months, or easily a year.