Moving 1 month after daughter should start school!

[Hayleyred]

My 4 year old is due to start school this September and we are moving to a new house in the next town in October. We applied for her to go to the primary school nearest to our new address. The local authority refused and she was given a school in the town we are moving from. They seem to expect her to start at one school and then within a month start again at a new school.

Do we have to wait until we move to arrange for her to start a new school or is there anything we can do. Has anyone else been through a similar situation?

Unless you have exchanged contracts on the property you are moving too - or a confirmed rental contract- it's very unlikely they will give you a place in the next town. You need to be able to prove that you will be living there - lots could happen between now and October! Are you buying or renting?

We are renting from a housing association. The house is on a small new estate that is in the process of being built at the moment with completion due in October. The local authority and schools are all aware of it. We do have written proof that we have been offered and have accepted the house.

The only way to get a place prior to the move is if a school happens to have places free (and no therefore no waiting list), then they have to take you regardless of where you live now.

As PatriciaH said, they need proof of your new address to get a place in the "normal" admissions rounds based on living there, or they will use your current address to apply their over-subscription criteria and you will most probably fail (as you have found) on being too far from school.

You need to prepare for the possibility that all the local schools may be full when you move, so will not be able to offer a place. What sort of distance of move are we talking here?

It's only around 6 miles. We had thought about leaving our daughter at the school that she's been given but what about when her sister starts school, will they both end up in different schools in different towns?

We have talked to the schools that we have applied to and they are all full now, however they have said that children do come and go so we could go on a waiting list but only AFTER all the local authority processes have finished. We really don't want to have to send our daughter to two schools within as many months.

If it will only be a month and there are places at the schools near the new house why not just wait and ask for her to start after half term - 1st November. I can't see any sense in starting just for a month. she can stay at nursery until then. No legal requirement to start school in September.

What's the latest that she can start school, she will be 5 in November.

You can delay intil Jan at the latest (term after they turn 5)

Also check out where siblings come in priority at the allocated school - just so you understand the consequences of all options. In some areas siblings get priority full stop, in others it is catchment siblings, catchment children, non-catchment siblings etc. Obviously if it's the latter then your second child may not get a "sibling" place as they will presumably be out of catchment, making it more important to move your first child, to get them at the same school.

That's great - thanks for the information, it makes sense to leave her at nursery until we can get her into a school near to us.

Just one more question though, does anyone know how the school waiting lists are worked out, is it first come first served or how close you are to the school?

waiting lists are based on same order as the sdmissions criteria (you will be slotted in at the appropriate place when you apply - you aren't "penalised" for being later than others already on the list)

So if you are on the lists for schools in the new town now I'm guessing you will be somewhere near the bottom (based on distance) but as soon as you move you will move up the lists (based on distance from new address)

The thing to remember with waiting lists though is you can go down as well as up!

Many thanks, I appreciate all your help and advice. Hopefully we will get this sorted out soon.