1 year old son, thinking about reception/school place.

isotonic_uk

Hi fellow Money savers.

I have a question which I have asked a number of friends with everyone giving a different answer so thought I would ask the same question on this lovely forum!

I have a son who is 1 years old, he is due to attend nursery early next year. Me and my husband have been discussing the local schools near our home and have chosen the school we want our son to go to when he is eligible. tbh we chose it before we even brought the house

The issue is it a popular school which means its also oversubscribed, fortunately we come under the schools catchment area but I understand that if the school is oversubscribed there is no guarantee that my son could get a place (it's less than a mile from the house). So we wish to start everything now if it to make any difference to ensure we do everything in our power to ensure we can get him a place there.

We only recently secured our child's nursery place after a lot of work. We made the mistake of looking at nurseries, choosing the one we thought was best, took months to make the decision only to go back to confirm and we had lost the dates we wanted him to start. Having the learnt the lesson the hard way we want to try to not make the same mistake with reception/school.

I have heard some stories (unsure of these are true) where parents even contact the school before the child is even born! We thought that was quite premature but at the same time we want to learn from the nursery mistake and do what needs to be done even at this early stage which will be another 2/3 years before he starts.

The school offer reception, infants and juniors so we want to ensure he's in from the start. We haven't made contact with the school that is of interest yet.

As full time parents and with the cost of full time nursery not cheap, any advice on how we can best make use of the government support would be helpful. We aware we can't get any additional financial help because of salary band but want to leverage any support we can get, so once we can make use of the 15/30 free hours we want to do that asap.

We also thinking of baby no 2 in the near future....

Any advice on this would be most appreciated.

elsien

In another 3 years the school couid have changed beyond recognition - either gone downhill or changed its ethos so it's no longer a good fit for him.
I'd worry about it a bit closer to the time.

peachyprice

Firstly, as Elsien has said, schools change rapidly. What is good or outstanding school now could easily be in special measure in a year or two from now.

Secondly, if you are in England you cannot apply for a primary school place until the autumn term before the year your child starts school for entry into reception the following year.

You cannot 'put your name down' for a 1 yo for a place in 3 years time, all applications are done through the council So no, you can't start everything now. Those days are long gone.

If you go to your council website there will be a section on how to apply for a primary school place.

suejb2

........and breathe! You cannot do anything yet, enjoy your preschool years.
My children's school was the 'outstanding'"school it now requires improvement so ratings can and do change. The school doesn't have a catchment area but you need to fulfill other criteria. You may live near but not have the necessary to attend.

maman

To echo what others have said. Unlike schools like Eton, you can't put your name down for a state school. I'm assuming the nursery is private so it's first come first served there as it's a business they're running.


You've done what you can by living in the school catchment area of your preferred school. Other than moving even closer to the school building there's nothing more you can do about securing a place.


I'm not hugely familiar with childcare but AFAIK you'll have to wait until he's 3 for 15 free hours a week. There has been talk of making it younger but I think that's just politicking at the moment.

kingfisherblue

As others have said, it's far too early to put down your son's name, and the school may no longer be outstanding when the time comes for him to attend. However, I would also like to add that an outstanding school is not necessarily the best school for your child. What about pastoral care? The ethos of the school? What about their work with higher or lower achievers, if your child should become either? What if you child has special needs and requires extra support?

One school that was outstanding for many years was actually a poor choice for pupils with special needs - several parents over a number of years have had bad experiences. The same school suddenly failed it's OFSTED, which surprised many local people.

One school that I visited had a reasonable reputation and had been rated Good. The atmosphere was not a happy one when I visited, at least in my opinion.

You need to visit schools closer to the time, and make a decision then. If it is oversubscribed, then it is likely to always be at maximum numbers. A less popular school may have smaller classes, which is better for many children.

chelseablue

My son is 4 and started school last month

As others have said, gone are the days when you could go into the school and put their name down whenever (my Mum put my name down at the school when I was 2)

You have to apply via your local council now, this is how it went for us (son born May 2014):

Autumn 2017, had tours of the schools we were interested in

November 2017, application portal online opens to apply for your choice of up to 3 schools (1st choice, 2nd, 3rd)

15 Jan 2018 closing date for application

16 April 2018 find out via email what school place our son got (its called National Offer Day, everyone finds out their school place on this day)

September 2018 starts school

jfdi

I’d just add.....if it’s a church school then get to the relevant church, start attending every week and get involved in all their activities.

pinkshoes

I don't think the school get any say over who they can and cannot take if it is over subscribed.

The council will have their own logical way of doing it.

Even going to the preschool doesn't guarantee you a place!

Move closer if you are worried!!

A lot can change in 4 years.

shiny76

There isn't a waiting list for schools but there could be for breakfast/after-school clubs. If these are over subscribed you may be able to get your child(ren)s name down so they secure a place when they start school.

Our eldest had to wait for a place with us having to juggle working hours. We have our 2nd child on the waiting list despite him only being 2 years old.

shiny76

When we were submitting our preferences, the process was never clearly explained.

We had feared if we had put our favourite school (out of catchment) as 1st choice then this could have counted against him securing a place in catchment if we failed to get in at the first choice. We therefore nominated a school in catchment as our 1st choice.

It was later explained that they treat all your preferences as if they were your 1st choice.