Moving school to a new area

[Amywmcg]

Hello 👋
I am hoping to hear some reassuring stories as I am worrying. We need to relocate to a different county (80 miles away) for work and family reasons, which means taking our 7 and 4 year old out of their primary school which we all love. They have been offered places at a fab school where we are moving to, but I’m worrying about them settling in and making new friends. They are so happy and settled where we are so I feel cut up about having to move. I’m sure others have done this so am just hoping to hear positive experiences to put my mind at ease! Any tips for helping them settle in would be appreciated. Thank you. X

If you’re happy with the school they’ve been offered I think you’ve overcome the hardest part!

Kids are so adaptable, and at primary school the new kids are always fussed over and have plenty of opportunity to make friends. I’d try not to worry too much about friends, even though I know I’d be upset about moving my child away from his current friends so know it’s not as easy as I’m making it sound!

Mainly I’d just be trying to be positive around the kids (new school, exciting etc) but also not downplay any concerns they have if they mention them - after all, it’s a huge change for them.

We were a military family when my child was in primary school, and they ended up attending 4 different schools (one move - the worst one for me - was after the first half term of reception).

My child was always absolutely fine - kids are adaptable, and a new child at primary school tends to be a novelty so making new friends is quite easy. I always tried to invite lots of children back for tea as soon as I could to encourage friendships, and also maintained contact with friends at old schools so I could teach the benefit of having friends in different places.

Good luck.

We moved in lockdown with a KS2 and reception age child. It was hard the first few months while they settled but the school were great and they are really happy now.

Which year groups?

DDs have moved schools several times. You've done the hardest bit... school places! On their first day, mine were always allocated a "buddy". Sometimes.es this turned into a firm friend, other times they made other friends. But they were made to feel very welcome. Try to get them into extra curricular clubs too.

One thing to be prepared for is they may repeat work they've already done... DD1 did the same topic three times at different schools. And learnt four different foreign languages in the MFL bit, whereas I've had to fill in some maths gaps for DD2 when it became obvious she missed a how section.

They are much more resilient than you think. I moved a lot when a child due to my dad's work. And we moved our daughter half way through reception as the school she started as wasn't a great fit (me being polite!) and she has flourished at her new school. They will be fine with the move.

Thank you all for the positive stories! Really helps hearing other experiences. Hopefully all will be fine. They are year 3 and reception.