Moving house - changing schools

halibut2209

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.

Our family is moving from Lincoln to Gloucester in a month and we need to sort out new schools for the children. This is all new for us and we are unsure how to go about it. Do we contact schools direct, or councils. Do we contact Gloucester or Lincoln. Is it more difficult as it's the school holidays?

Any advice would be gratefully received

emmylou83_2

Hey there, we did it ourselves 2 yrs ago, and was also the summer hols! I just called up the local Education Authority, the number should be online, If that fails, call the council. Do you have any idea what school you want your children to go to? If you arent sure, then you will not be able to look at the schools until a few days before the children go back, as you need the teachers to be on site! We applied through the Local education people for the closest school, and found they could fit our DD2 in, but not our DD1 So went to look at the next closest school whilst an appeal letter went in. " days later had a call to say they could both start at the closet school the next day! I hope that helps you out a bit. Good luck with the move and i hope your children settle in well x

halibut2209

Thank you!

We are moving to be nearer my far better half's family, so she knows the area and the schools. To me, it's just strange words that make no sense!

So you rang the LEA of the place you were moving to?

emmylou83_2

Yes I did. You need to call Gloucester, i didnt do it until we had moved though, as I think i recall them saying they wouldnt accept applications until tenancy had been signed, or mortgage all done, something along those lines. It really is a simple process though. I`m sure if you call them before you move though, they can send you out some info on the schools you are interested in, and give you rough ideas on how many spaces they have for your childrens year group. They will also inform the old school of them leaving i think too.

halibut2209

That rings a bell. I think you're right in that you can't contact Gloucester until you have an official Gloucester address.

clearingout

I moved last year but was living outwith the catchments I was applying to as my house purchase was very, very slow to go through. My solicitor wrote a letter stating the house address I was buying and the local authority accepted that as proof I was going to live in the area - they wouldn't consider an application without it. I contacted the school I wanted the children to go to directly to see if there were places - which there were but I actually had to do an application to the local authority. I am still waiting to hear from them....on the first day of school, the head phoned me and asked where I was! Told her I was still waiting on the local authority (who had told me the day before that they were still processing the application and I would hear 'soon') so she told me she had the places and we should turn up tomorrow. We didn't dare do anything else! Kids have been very happy there, I am pleased to report.

Moral of the story? it's a minefield. Trust no one. Back everything up with phone calls, emails and letters!

aliasojo

We moved/are moving nearly 200 miles away. (We're in the process right now.) The education authority accepted our placement request for a particular school before we had even got a new address in the area. I suspect different councils will have different policies so it's best to call them to clarify.

My biggest concern at the moment is where and how we get a school dinner smart card. I can't for the life of me remember what the year head told me about that.

halibut2209

I just wish I could travel forward in time by a month and it's all sorted!

emmylou83_2

Aliasojo....Why dont u start a thread for the new school name asking if anyone has a child/knows of someone that goes there and if they could fill you in on the details?
We moved 200 miles away, was a huge shock to say the least, even down to school intake, down in Southampton where we were, DD2 was due to start full time school in the Sept after we moved, however up here, she had to wait until the January! Try explaining to a 4 yr old why they cant start school for naother 4 months! x

Savvy_Sue

definitely worth ringing the local authority, but also if you know where you are going to live start researching schools and leave messages with them if you can (there will often be someone coming in over the summer, if not every day!)

It's a long while since we moved, but the church school DS1 ended up at was the only secondary school I could find which would accept an application before we had a definite address. All the others worked on catchment areas.