Primary Process Post Place

[Tir3dToddl3rMum]

Now that we have our place at our first choice school, anyone who has been through this before, what happens now?

When does the school go and observe my child at his preschool? When do they contact us?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you 😊

Hello. It will completely depend on your area and specific school. Most importantly, do you have to accept the place or is the default an assumption you will take it?

If you're happy to name area or school, people may be able to give more specific answers.

In our case, once the acceptance deadline had passed, we received an email from the school about one week later setting out all of the dates, forms and so on which would happen. Nursery obs were done in early June, with classes decided at the end of June.

The main thing is don't badger the school or expect to hear anything immediately. But don't let that worry you!

In our area there is a transition day later on in the summer when all the new starters go for a visit at the school (and in turn all the other years go to see their new teacher and classroom) and a parents session when you get a big pack of info with all uniform list, wraparound info, term dates and forms to complete. The teacher did visits to nurseries to meet the DC.

Observe at preschool? Did on y2 and we didn't get that or a home visit. Think Covid changed a lot of the processes

Just know what day to turn up and they will communicate all that to you

We are in Derbyshire, and the letter says I need to tell them if I DON'T accept it, so I take it I don't need to accept it as it is automatic. The letter says the school will be in contact, but I don't know when.

Our primary school contacts parents in late May/early June with dates. They do a parents' meeting and opportunity to visit the classroom in early July then a home visit in Sept. Others do things much earlier.

Really is down to the school and the county council on how these things happen but mainly school.

See if someone has created a new starters group on Facebook or join the school Facebook page there are usually parents who have been through it in the last few years that can give you an idea on how it works

Also the pre school worker may also be able to help you using previous year's knowledge

In the UK, our nursery children (3 and 4year olds) attend their chosen school on a specific day in July, before the summer holidays, to see who their teacher is and what the classroom/canteen etc is like. All the older children in the other years have their moving up day on the same day too.

If you look on the school calendar, the transition day may be on it. In our area, the Yr6s visit secondary, the younger children visit their new teachers, and the incoming Reception to their intro days simultaneously (as each move up creates space). Its in July.

You will most likely hear nothing for months now, which is totally normal and fine.

If it's anything like my school, there will be a new parents meeting and transition days in the summer, before the end of the current school year. But you won't hear much in the meantime until they contact you about those.

See if you can find a school/parents fb group, but honestly don't worry if you don't hear anything for a while.

I'm also in Derbyshire, but honestly each school will do things their own way. They have your address/email etc from your application, so stuff will get sent to you one way or another when you need it.

Derbyshire parent here and the above applied. I do remember there being a teacher visiting playgroup as well. We had a home visit, but I don’t think many do these anymore.

Had the same anxieties, even contacted the school to double check we weren't missed off any communication. Ours was very slow. Eventually got a letter with some information about a meeting in the school. At that meeting we got information about the next step which was a stay and play. It was basically a drip feed of information. It may well be around May/June before things progress

Its a case of... this is a major event for the parents of the new class. Its a regular thing for the school. They have more pressing matters to deal with currently (SATs next month for example). Plus waiting lists will move for a while yet, so the class lists aren't yet accurate. So they wait until nearer the time to send out information.

It usually takes a few weeks as I believe they do a second round once everyone has accepted and declined.

you usually then get a letter and school information.

then what happens is completely different for every school
some do play and stays, some do home visits before the summer. some may visit the preschool or just get a report

unfortunately it’s waiting game
can ask on your local fb group see if anyone knows

We sent out a letter today to all those who have accepted a place, it gave details on the parents information evening, transition days ( we have 3) where children come with parents if available, with nursery key workers and then on their own, and requesting email addresses so we can contact using our communication platform. That means new parents can see what is going on in the rest of the school to give them a flavour before their child starts in September ( we give details about special days, events etc) and also ask and get answers to questions about the transition process.

It’s very unlikely that your child will be visited in pre-school, in my experience. No spare staff to do this.

We had an email today from our primary detailing the transitions events, confirming first day arrangements etc with a new parents handbook.

DD gets a series of things in late June/early July. There is:
-an afternoon in school with parents meeting
-a walk and picnic with the rest of the school (it’s a tiny rural school)
-a morning in school
-invitation to sports day

We also get access to Dojo soon.

The first two days of school are morning only (they start on a Thursday), then they are full time from Monday. But there’s only 5 starters in reception so not difficult to manage!

My only unanswered question is when and how to register for the wraparound. But it’s not limited so no panic.

They do here, but we have tiny school sizes in the area (PAN of 5-15) so not very difficult to do.

I imagine it is very difficult if you have intakes of 30+ though.