Can I delay school? (Moving)

[Pearls18]

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself but basically we will be moving to a completely new area September/October ish time and we probably won't have a date (or address) until August. My eldest is due to start school this year, he has a place at our local school.

I really don't want to have to start him at the school here to uproot him only a few weeks later (not to mention buying uniforms, settling in days etc etc) he currently goes to nursery 4 days a week. Would I be allowed to not send him to school and just wait until we move? Will the nursery hang on to him if they have the space do you think? He is 5 on Sept 22 if that makes a difference. I will be working until sept 18th no matter when we move, after that I can keep him home until we move.

How long would you wait, if it was going to be a month would you send him to the local school anyway and then move him? Am I legally obligated?

 

[aimee-lou]

Done a bit of research - According to the law children in England must be in education by he start of the term following their fifth birthday - in your sons case he has to be full time by the January.

It seems perfectly reasonable to me to not have him just do a matter of weeks in one place and then move him. I would speak to the nursery and make sure that they have a space for him (they may have already filled his space?) and I would inform the school too. Legally he doesn't need to be in school.

 

[choc]

Nursery places have already been allocated so it's very likely they won't have any now. You could home school until January.

 

[Lucy139]

I think most nurserys only take children up untill there 5th birthday? This could be different in different areas.. So you may have to check the age requirements x

 

[Pearls18]

I will be working so won't be home schooling (wouldn't have a clue what to do anyway lol!)

Yeah I wondered if he would be ok until he was 5 (which would cover my contract) and that after that it may become an insurance/legal thing? We've been sent around letters asking what we would like the date of our last day to be which I only did very recently so I will ask if I can extend it slightly, I had no issues increasing both boys' hours with only a week's notice just recently so I don't think they're full at the moment but with military nurseries it'll be a high turnaround so could be quiet one month and full the next, I will ask as I'm not sure what I will do for childcare otherwise, so frustrating not knowing when we move!

Thank you Aimee it's good to know I'm not legally obligated until January, we will definitely be in by then, I'm sure it wouldn't be later than October.