How to tell my children that they are changing school?

[neverputasockinatoaster]

DS is 9 and DD is 6.
DS has DX of ASD. DD is being assessed at the moment.
As a result of huge levels of workplace stress and an inability to be a decent teacher, mum to my kids and human being all at the same time I have handed in my notice and will cease to be a teacher in July.
Currently the children go to school in the town I teach in. This will be utterly impossible once I am no longer working and so they will be attending a school within walking distance of my home.
I have yet to tell them all this as we have no official confirmation of a place. Lincs cc have only just started processing our application for a place as they can only hod a place for six academic weeks...... SEN no exception apparently.
As the change gets closer I get more and more nervous about their reaction.
The change will benefit us all in the long run but they are so resistant to change.
Any tips as to how I handle this? We should know next week about places.
If there are no places it is my intention to HE until there are so they will be leaving their current school in July.

Does the school have a brochure or website? Maybe start, once you know they have a place, by showing them that, to see what they think and build up a conversation from there.

New school know we are coming and want to have transition visits etc. I have a brochure and there is a website so lots to look at once the initial moment is done! I am planning a book for each of them - this is my new school, this is my classroom, this is my teacher etc.
We don't know any local families at all - I had very little mat leave with DS and with DD I was caught up in dealing with the beginnings of DS's issues. I am quite isolated here as I socialise very little.
This isolation is one of the reasons we are changing our lives - D's and dd need local friends. They need to socialise with the people they will go to secondary school with.
Both ds and dd detest breakfast club so I tried broaching a possible school change based on them not having to go to breakfast club. It was not well received!

I dreaded telling Dd3 she was moving schools, I felt sick when the time came.

She said "YES!"

I definitely stressed about the whole thing more than her. It was made worse by people telling me she had lots of friends at her old school.

Hmm yeah such good friends , she never asked to see them after she had moved!!

They will be fine, you will have more time and your life will be less stressful.

Good luck

Sometimes we have to do things for the good of "us", so I would approach it this way. Won't it be easier to not have to travel x minutes to school, we can walk or scoot (if that's possible and their interest).

I had to change both of my children in the last year. One asd and one nt. The nt child was more difficult. But I just told her that's the way it was and all the pluses. We did a visit and whenever we drove past we would talk about the school. The asd child the previous school was failing badly so we took photos, a couple of visits and drip fed talk about the school and the taxi ride which was a new thing. That was easier because of the failings. But we did talk about keeping in touch with friends at the old school (not that we have yet but only started after easter.)

Good luck. I do believe though that the good will out weigh the bad and maybe its worth making some fun things in the extra time you have.