When to move Schools?

[Ros58]

Hi! I'm new to MN so I hope this is in the right place!

We are moving in the next 18 months to York. My youngest (DS) is in Y5 at the moment. We are not sure if it would be better to move at the end of his Y6 so he gets a clean break with Schools & Area.

The alternative is to move while he is in Y6 so that he makes some friends and then will see familiar faces when he moves up to the 'big school'. He is loking forward to the move and doesn't seem to worry about missing his current friends.

What do people think - Clean break or spend 6-12 months at new primary?

The deadline for applying for secondary school is usually about 31st October so to have a choice of secondary school you will need to move before October 2012.

Thank you for that advice, I did know but might not have!

We actually are able to buy the house, but can wait to move in. Someone from the LEA there told us that as long as we had an address, even if we hadn't completed the sale it would be ok. Fingers crossed that's true.

Can you get a place in a primary that feeds into the Secondary that you want? If not then it probably won't make so much difference. In other words if half his primary class were all going to your preferred secondary then it might be worth moving earlier but if only 2 or 3 go on to that secondary then a move at the end of Y6 may be better because he only has to adjust to one change of school.

I'm pretty sure we can do that, but we'll need to check carefully I guess.

It doesn't matter. Letting him finish Y6 with his current lot, then moving for the start of secondary is the least disruptive. But either way, it's a big disruption and he'll just have to get on with it. I'd say as it's impossible to call either way, you should focus on other factors to decide the time of your move.