Moving house and school applications

[aimee-lou]

My eldest is due to start school in September 2014. We're expected to have his application in by the middle of January and the chances are he'll be taken in at the local infant school (99% of the kids around here go there).

Problem is - my hubby is a full time student and is supposed to be graduating this June. He hopes to continue on to do his PGCE at the same uni (UEA in Norwich). However, there's a big big chance that we will move over the summer - our house is tiny, and we may have to move should hubby not get in at UEA, to attend another Uni for example. At the moment we wont know until February what's going to happen.

I know I HAVE to apply for his local school place, and of course should we not move for some reason he'll attend there for at least a year, but I'm wondering what I'll need to do later on/once moved to change his place ready for September. Has anyone done anything similar or know what procedure.

If we stay in Norfolk, we'll stay under Norfolk county council so I'm assuming that will be easier than if we move further afield.

Just curious. There's a lot of 'what if's' and 'maybe's' to sort through in the next few months. It's just a tad frustrating that the 2 deadlines are so close yet miles apart

 

[alicecooper]

We moved house in July 2010 and DD was due to start primary school in September 2010.

Basically we used to live in Leeds. We put our house up on the market in November 2009, but obviously we didn't know how long it would take to sell, so we put her name down for a school in Leeds, which got accepted.

Then in May 2010 we got an offer on the house, and so we put an offer on a house in Barnsley which was accepted.

So I contacted Barnsley education services and asked if we could apply for a place in a school there for DD, but they said no, we would only be allowed to do it once the new house completed, and we became official residents of Barnsley.

So we completed on 1st July, and moved on 2nd July. Immediately on 3rd July I rang the education services in Barnsley back up and asked if we could now apply for DD to go to a school in Barnsley as a matter of urgency.
They sent out the application form and we filled it in with 3 choices.

Choice 1 was the local Catholic school (we're Catholic). A good school.
Choice 2 was a tiny bit further from the house, but it too is a good school (even a tad better than choice 1).
Choice 3 was our last resort option. Closest to the house but a crap school.

Oh and I contacted the school in Leeds, and Leeds education services, to tell them we had moved so she no longer required her place there.

Anyway, Barnsley education services got back to us and said that, given that we had made a late application (which we had no choice about!), both our first and second choices for schools were full. So she was offered a place at school 3.

We were disappointed but we had to accept.

She started at that school in Sept 2014. She had been there a fortnight, when I received a call from Barnsley education authorities saying that a place had become available in school 2, and would we like to take it?

So we went to have a look at school 2 and decided it was worth the upheaval of switching schools. So a week later DD switched schools and started attending school 2.

And that's where she's been ever since. DS 1 also goes there now, and I've just recently applied for DS2 to start there in September 2014.

So that's my story of coping with moving house and school applications.

Hope that answers your questions a bit x