Changing schools when relocating

[Gotalottodo]

Please help!

We are relocating 300 miles for dp work, and will require our (summer born) 4 year old ds to change schools.

I already understand that I cannot yet apply for his new school placement via the new council - not until we officially exchange at the earliest.

We are due to exchange any day now.

I also understand, that because this is a school change still at the start of the academic year, we will be at the mercy of what school places are available …

The area we are moving to, has x6 local primary schools.

My questions are … (that i am stressing on!) -

• Instead of doing the new school placement application at exchanging, would I be allowed to do school application ONCE moved house?

• Would I be allowed a reasonable timeframe (ie 1-2 weeks maximum??) from moving date to then immediately view the applicable schools (depending on schools allowing & their availability of course), but to at least explore the walking routes to each of the schools, view from outside at least etc … before we submit our school application?

• Once we have done the change of school application within the new council, how long is usually the timeframe you hear back?

• If the change of school application was done swiftly after our move, how long between us accepting the placement, would the school allow us time to be able to organise new school uniform etc before they expect him to start?

So that I am not drip feeding …

There are reasons why I am not able to do change of school application at point of exchange.

1st reason, I’m completely stressed on what order to choose which schools.
We are relocating to the complete other side of the UK - we have never lived there before, have no other family / contacts there to help with knowledge / recommendations.
I will be doing school runs by foot, so the walking journey is important factor.
Equally though, the school itself is a massive factor!

I have spent all my nights instead of sleeping, analysing all the school websites & their OFSTED reports etc … but I need to visually see the schools (if can) or at least see them from the outside & work out realistic journey routes.
Then I can form with schools in what order on my sons application.

Of course I know I am at the mercy of what school(s) have availability …

BUT what IF all x6 schools have a space? Or at least x2 or more schools have a space - and I would like to choose best option instead of council automatically choosing.
I want the school transition for my 4 year old to be smooth as possible - in the right school (if availability is there).

2nd reason, due to circumstances we have not been able to travel the 300 miles before the relocation.
On top of that, our chain is pushing for a very quick exchange to completion.
This leaves us no time.

Please can anyone advise!
I am pregnant too, and I am just stressing so much when trying to do a lot.

Yes you can apply after moving. You can take as long as you want, especially as he's not compulsory school age.

It can a few weeks to process, depends on space. You list the schools in order of preference.

You have 10 days to accept I believe. Although my younger DD started one school in her ilds school uniform as we couldn't get Navy cardigans anywhere.

Do resources like Google street view not help
visualise the walk ? (I'm assuming that you are concerned about lack of pavements if it's rural etc)

You can apply to the schools after you move. Nobody is going to ask if your son isn't at school for a few weeks.

It is fine to wait until you have moved to apply. Especially as your DS doesn't have to be in education yet anyway.

Once you move I would prioritise contacting the schools to visit and ask about spaces. You will get a place quicker if you are applying to schools with spaces. Just be mindful that LAs are often still sorting final Reception spaces for children, which can delay things a bit, and can mean where there are spaces may change.

Thank you for your replies - this has helped my stress levels a great deal !!
Everyone in chain is wanting such a quick turn around time of exchange to completion … which is lovely … all except everyone apart from us is moving locally, our buyers for example already live in our road!

Therefore for us, it’s not simply putting a mega speed on packing our stuff to move round the corner… it’s organising new our works and new school … in area that will be completely different … list goes on!

Being pregnant and with ds only started school this month & adjusting to routine is just adding to stress levels.

Yes I will prioritise new school applicant immediately once moved.
The hard work been putting into our current school routine I do not want to start at the beginning again!

Thank you x

BUT what IF all x6 schools have a space? Or at least x2 or more schools have a space - and I would like to choose best option instead of council automatically choosing

The council will offer you your highest preference that has a place available. They will only choose for you if none of the schools you apply for have places. If, say, preferences 2, 5 and 6 have places, they must offer you preference 2.

You can ring the schools and ask who has a place and if you can visit before you apply. Also after you accept the place it takes a few days to register the child, so you have time to buy uniform if its from a venue where you can walk in. If it has to be mail ordered the school will understand why you don't have it in time.

I would email them and ask if they have spaces at the moment, may be worth asking if they have video tours as all the local schools near me did this during lockdown and they are still available on the website to view. Might help you get an idea.

I’ll tell you what I did in a similar long-distance move, in case that helps.

Whilst waiting for house sale/purchase to go through I took 2 days off work and travelled to the new area and stayed over. I made appointments to visit all the schools nearby on those 2 days, and was shown round them all. This also gave me the opportunity to ask about whether their classes were currently full or if they had places.

A couple of the nearest schools didn’t have places in EYFS/KS1 and didn’t expect to have any movement any time soon. That narrowed down my options! One of the schools I could discount as absolutely not an option for us. That left me with a good idea which ones I’d be applying for once we had moved.

You're fine to wait, especially if he's under 5 but obviously the longer you leave it the longer he'd be out of school as it takes a few weeks to process the application.

We moves when Ds was in reception. We could only apply once we moved as we needed proof of our new address. Then there were about 2 weeks when we visited 3 schools who had places . The new Head was lovely and suggested he started 2 days before the upcoming Easter holidays to give him a mini taster session . He slotted in like a dream ( now year 2) with lots of friends . Little ones are very adaptable. Good luck with the move x

I think it is fine to wait until you move if that suits you better. Your child is going to have enough change happening with the move and a bit of time settling into the new house unpacking all their bits and bobs, getting used to their new bedroom etc will be fine. Of course if you need a school place because of work commitments then that is another matter, but if you can take it slowly then it might be easier than jumping from one school straight into another without a break.