Please help me understand UK education system

Kimitatsu

Sunny_Angel wrote: »

Please can someone clarify if there is just one intake during the school year, or is there a second intake?,

can she start school mid term if that is when we move??(providing there is a place available obviously).

Or does it vary from school to school???

TIA
Sunny Angel

It varies from school to school unfortunately! I would say that if you are planning to rent then you should have an idea fairly quickly as to where you are going to be. Personally I would enquire at every school in the catchment area you are looking to see who has available space. You can always turn them down afterwards, and until you fill out the forms nothing is formal. I found that many school operated an informal reservation list, if you rang up and were interested then they would "reserve" a place for you until the forms came in.

And it is the most stressful part of moving!! The rest was fairly easy, hubby's job, house move but worrying about the kids was by far the worst!

Let us know how you get on

Nenen

Sunny_Angel wrote: »

Please can someone clarify if there is just one intake during the school year, or is there a second intake?,

can she start school mid term if that is when we move??(providing there is a place available obviously).

Or does it vary from school to school???

TIA
Sunny Angel

Hi Sunnyangel
Different areas have different policies on when 4-5 year olds start school. These vary and include: one intake per year whereby all children start in the September following their 4th Birthday; 2 intakes per year, sept for autumn birthdays and Jan for spring/summer birthdays; 3 intakes per year and children start in at the beginning of the term in which they will be five. Different counties have different policies regarding whether all children start off part-time and gradually eased in to full-time or not too!

Just to complicate things still further, legally, your child does not have to start school (or be otherwise educated) until the beginning of the term after s/he is five. Looking at Northampton's website it appears that all schools there take children in September: "In Northamptonshire your child is eligible to start school in the September following their 4th birthday."

However, when you move into an area, even halfway through a term, if your child is the appropriate age they should be able to start straight away (assuming the school has a place). So, if your move is delayed and you don't arrive in NH until October say, your child should start within a few days of your arrival. When I taught in London it was not unusual for a family to appear one day and start school the next. A good school should be doing everything possible to make you feel welcome and to help settle your child as quickly as possible.

If your dh knows the better areas of Northampton then you are already at an advantage. Does he have any friends or family living in the area who can give you any inside information about good primary schools?

In your situation, when you come to view some houses next week, I'd try and fit in a couple of appointments to go and talk to likely headteachers. If possible make the appointments at the beginning or end of the school day so that you see children/parents arriving or leaving. You might even be able to chat to a couple of parents and get a 'feel' for the school that way. Even if you just drive round and have a look at the outside of the school it might help a bit. Having said that, of course it can look beautiful on the outside but have an awful ethos (or vice versa)... so never be tempted to go on facilities alone!

The other thing you might not know is, once your child has a place and has started at the school the place cannot be taken away if you then move out of the immediate catchment area, as long as you provide and pay for any transport costs youself. Therefore, it would be well worth you renting a house in the area of a good school even if you later move a little further away. Of course that does mean that you have further to take your child to school (with associated time and costs) plus it is more difficult for socialising with schoolfriends outside school times.

Finally, if you don't get your child into your first choice school on first application and you feel strongly about it, you can appeal and have quite a good chance in many cases of getting in on appeal.
Good luck

flossy_splodge

Sunny Angel. The local education authority is obliged by law to find a place for a child of an appropriate age moving into their area - this applies at ANY point in the school year! So your child will not be without access to a school whenever you move. You on the other hand are NOT obliged to take your child to school - contrary to popular opinion and what you read in the press! You are merely required to ensure your child is receiving an appropriate education! This means that if, for some reason, you have not resolved everything by the time you move, you do not have to make a rushed decision. Your child will not suffer lasting damage if they are not in the school system for a while.!! What you would however need to do is show YOU are providing the education. Not that difficult, especially at that age. A few field trips, some written work at home ( write a letter to your friend to tell them what you like here....etc will count as an English lesson! Count with Mummy to see we have everything off our shopping list.... will count as maths. I am not trivialising school but you can be much more creative in your approach one to one to your own child and get good results. It's called child centred learning!! Remember when that was all that was talked about in Education but it rarely happened? So what I am offering you as a thought is [EMAIL="DON@T"]DON'T[/EMAIL] PANIC! You have plenty of time if you follow commonsense and want the best for your child. There are many many books out there to give you info on home educating and your responsibilities. I did it (said child now has a good degree and is living and working successfully in Italy) and look back with great fondness to those days. We had such fun! Didn't keep child out for years because of the social needs but it served a purpose at the time. Good Luck. :T

Savvy_Sue

There is no obligation to send your child to school before they are 5. I think that state education (by attendance at school or OTHERWISE) has to start in September AFTER their 5th birthday. However, my understanding is that most schools now have ONE intake in September, and parents who want their child to start later in the year (January or Easter) may have a battle to keep the place open.

So I wouldn't see why your daughter couldn't start mid term - IF there is a place available - although it may make more sense to wait until the start of a new term if there's a lot going on at the end of term which she would come in in the middle of, christmas plays etc.

Now, the BIG problem with primary schools is the edict that class sizes must not exceed 30. Secondary schools have a bit more leeway. Unless the school does mixed year teaching then the 31st child in a year group is a real problem for them.

I think what I would try and do is get back to the UK for a week to visit schools which you know have places, BEFORE the end of term. Maybe not all of you, although bringing your daughter might be good for her. Meet the head, class teachers, look at the children at play, see the facilities. If there are places, then it may not matter if you're strictly within the Area of Preferred Admission or whatever name it's given these days. But you could start looking for accommodation convenient to that school.

We moved across country nearly 8 years ago: fortunately half-terms were in different weeks so I brought the boys down at half term and we went looking at schools. The head at the oversubscribed school everyone assumed I'd want to send the boys to got RIGHT up my nose, so we didn't bother to appeal but chose one which raised a few eyebrows. However the school had lots of space, and I liked the atmosphere. Never regretted it: they did my (bright) boys proud.

The school was 2 minutes from the house we were trying to buy. We were gazumped in August, and the ONLY thing I had to hold on to was that they had school places THERE. So we looked for houses which made going to that school sensible. That made life a lot simpler too ...

And the other thing to say is that schools change. Your DH may know which schools had good or bad reputations a few years ago: his opinion may not be accurate any more. If he can't come on this trip with you, then YOU make the decisions, and he can live with them ...

Sorry I posted this before reading all threads, and others have covered bits of this better than me. However I'd agree with flossy_splodge, your daughter doesn't HAVE to be in school as soon as you move, so don't panic!

Zziggi

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

There is no obligation to send your child to school before they are 5. I think that state education (by attendance at school or OTHERWISE) has to start in September AFTER their 5th birthday. However, my understanding is that most schools now have ONE intake in September, and parents who want their child to start later in the year (January or Easter) may have a battle to keep the place open.

I believe this USED to be the case. School used to tell parents that they couldn't keep the place open until january/easter i.e. take the place now or else you might not get in to our wonderful school.

However i believe the law changed in the last couple of years. Now, if you have been awarded a place and you wish your child to start at january/easter then the school is legally obliged to keep that place open to you until the january/easter. However you must let the school know in writing that this is your intention. I am sorry but i do not have to hand the specific law/directive etc which applies to this. My DS started school in sept 2006 and I was thinking of persuing this avenue which is why i found out that this is the case.