Do school catchment areas apply if you already attend?

lucywillow

My 5 yr old daughter attends our local primary school. She is very happy there & has settled in well. I have just inherited a house which is only 3 miles away but is in a different county and under a different local authority. If we move to the house, can the school ask her to leave as she no longer resides within the school catchment area?
Any advice appreciated before I approach the school. Thanks

stef240377

I dont think they can unless it is an overly popular school with very long waiting lists. I know many of the children whom my kids hang around with at school have lived on the schools door step then parents moved but school didnt change. Ok most still live in the same town but one lad who is friends with my son lives 5 miles from the high school he attends yet there is another one less than half a mile away from his house.

xmaslolly76

I live outside my school catchment area after moving ( we are actually in a completley different education area run by a different council) but the kids still go to the same schools as before it doesnt seem to be a problem as they were already attending. You may find it difficult to get them into the the secondary school that all their friends are going to though if you are outside its catchment area.

Obviously i dont know the legal ins and outs and can only comment on my experience. Hopefully someone with some knowledge of the rules will be along soon :-)

Jo_R_2

I asked a similar question to DD1's first primary school when we were looking at moving out of catchment when she was in reception and were thinking of keeping her where she was. They told me once she had her place, it was her place and she would keep that. Sounds silly but I had some idea in my head that if we moved out of catchment we'd have to automatically change her school:o

However we didn't move out of county; not sure how much of a difference that makes?

elektra-2007

I have heard of schools doing this, i moved 7 miles from my lads school, and they have never said anything, BUT there are still spaces in his year.
Does your school have a website with their prospectus, it might have rules written by school or governers about this situation. f not you could ask a school governor or head teacher.

Surfbabe

If you already have a place then that places is yours. Just because you move house doesn;t mean your child has to move schools. However if you have younger children they may not be offered a place at the school depending on the admissions criteria at the time.

The school that I work at (I'm the admissions officer) has children that started off living in catchment and that have now moved up to 15 miles away. Just check the admissions criteria for any problems you may have with younger siblings

Caroline73_2

In our area siblings have first priority, then catchment is second.

Jo_R_2

Caroline73 - not sure where you are, what you say used to be the case where I am but changed a little while ago, here generally siblings have first priority only if living in catchment. That is, if the older child gained their place through living in the catchment area, then the family moved out of catchment, where I am this would then mean that sibling priority moves down the list to after looked after children, siblings in catchment and children in catchment iyswim.

Something to consider when moving out of catchment.

John_Chard

lucywillow wrote: »

My 5 yr old daughter attends our local primary school. She is very happy there & has settled in well. I have just inherited a house which is only 3 miles away but is in a different county and under a different local authority. If we move to the house, can the school ask her to leave as she no longer resides within the school catchment area?
Any advice appreciated before I approach the school. Thanks

If you move away after having a place accepted then the place will not be taken away. However, if you have any younger children, then their applicaiton will be based on your new address and not your former address, which may give you lower priority after in catchment applications.

tori.k

Also one to bear in mind if its primary school is where they will end up come secondary school, could cause some upset if all there friends are in one school and they have to start at another

patchwork_cat

No, if your DD already attends it is fine. As to secondary school in my area attendance of a feeder school is higher on the list of criteria than distance from secondary school, but that may be different in different authorities.