School?

[Tilly]

I feel so stupid asking this, but how do I know when Bethanie is due to go to playschool/start school? I thought it was between 3-5 years, but

Do I get a letter about finding a school, or??

 

[fifi83]

You need to put her name down at a school, when she is 3 i believe you can do this, give your local school a ring and ask or the one you want her to go to. Then before she is due to start school they will send you a letter to say she has a place, but you need to put her name down.

 

[coccyx]

Schools do not allocate places in our area. Few years ago was taken over by ?district council. Know if you contact school you are interested in they may send you a prospectus with further details.

 

[Tilly]

What age does she start school then? is it 4?

 

[fifi83]

round here, she would got to nursery from age 3 till 4 maybe 5 depend on when her birthday is. and some schools do half days for the smaller ones for so long all depends on area.

If your wanting her to go to nursery you could do with get her name down now.

If you give your local school a quick ring they will tell you the intake dates which is different depending on bday ie some go sept, after xmas and easter.

 

[coccyx]

My daughters school is small so only have 1 intake per year in September, have to be 4 years old. Obviously some are nearly 5 and some would just have turned 4 in the summer, which I think is a big difference at that age.

 

[Amanda]

definitely ring your local school hun - they're usually really helpful. I rang mine because Charlie's birthday is 31st August and we only have one intake a year. The cut-off date is 31st August! So he'll be just turned 4 when he starts. Scarily, he might actually only be 3 because the term might start on 28th August! I'll know more when they release the term dates this September.

 

[Kellz]

In this area there is a nursery that takes babies from 9months to 3 1/2 years,
a play group that takes them from 2 - 3 1/2 years old for 1/2 days (they have to be dry for this playgroup though),
the same playgroup takes 3 1/2 - 5 years full days (again they have to be dry).
They go into the "reception class" the September following their 5th birthday.

The playgroup sends out letters after their 4th birthday reminding us to enroll them with the school in time.

I don't know how other areas work though.

 

[Tilly]

Thanks all, it's a bit bloody confusing as it varies in all areas. Bethanie's birthday is the 19th December. I can't look into the local schools at the moment as we are waiting for a place in Guildford, so I don't want to get her enrolled here and then we move. Still feel a bit confused about it all, but im ok to wait until shes 3 before worrying about it or do I need to ring schools this early on?

Im looking on Directgov at the moment. yawn

 

[Jo]

You really should get her name down somewhere hun, as intakes can be very difficult
At ours i had both mine down from around 3 months as they start the nursery attached at 3-3 1/2 and it can be difficult to get places

For playschool etc.. it is optional if you send them, Emily went to one but that is now closed, don't think i am going to send Jack as he get lots more interaction from playgroups/tots then Emily did
Also you have to pay fees for most playschools

 

[KX]

In my area the Council send you out the application, you dont get to put your name down.

Im keeping Rebecca part Private part Council nursery lol!

And I have to decide whether or not I want to keep her back a year as she is a february birthday (which is the cut off point for school intake!)

 

[lorrilou]

Here they can go to nursery school at 2years and 10 months (just for a couple of mornings a week i think), once they are 3 they can go for longer and then they start school when they are 4, but turn 5 during that school year.

So tilly bethanie would be nearly 5 when she started school. I know i had real problems getting nicole into a nursey school as they had no places left and a massive waiting list. If i was you i would put her name down for nursery school as soon as you can, just in case.

 

[Tilly]

Im confused with all the different terms ahh, pre school, play group, nurseries lol.. all the same thing basically but pre school and play group are based in the school they will be going to?? I feel sooo dumb asking this lol. - *EDIT* - It's ok, i've found a list of what they all mean on Directgov, silly me.

How can I put her name down for a school when I don't know where we're going to live yet?? ahhhhh

 

[Jo]

If you out her nema down now for a school, it will be much easier to get a transfer once you move
She is in the system then if you get what i mean
It is a very headmashing thing to think about!!

 

[hypnorm]

definitely ring your local school hun - they're usually really helpful. I rang mine because Charlie's birthday is 31st August and we only have one intake a year. The cut-off date is 31st August! So he'll be just turned 4 when he starts. Scarily, he might actually only be 3 because the term might start on 28th August! I'll know more when they release the term dates this September.

I know what you mean as Ewans birthday is the 22nd august he will only just be 4. My MIL said that you can apply to defer them starting till the next year so that he would just be 5, But i will see how ewan is nearer to the date, he might be ready he might not.

Here we get a letter about school and you have to choose three, Ewan starts playgroup 2 days a week after easter - most usually start around 2.5yrs old. I asked about phoning a school and putting your name down, she said it was a waste of time as nothing was on a first come first served basis, every one at that stage applys at the same time.

We have problems that because the schools have such good ofstead results there are kids coming to the school who live 10 miles away! so all the locals miss out!

 

[Tilly]

If you out her nema down now for a school, it will be much easier to get a transfer once you move
She is in the system then if you get what i mean
It is a very headmashing thing to think about!!

Oh, so you mean that if I put her name down now for a school near to where we THINK we will be.. we will be able to contact them if we change our mind (and need a school nearer), but because we're in the system it will be much easier? I hope thats the case, and I didn't think we'd need to think about schooling so soon. It's so simple, but it's all these rules etc.

hypnorm - I think that might be how it works here, I was looking on the local council site and im sure it said something like that. I was so tired the other night though, so I could have been on any site.. im going to check though.

 

[Jo]

Oh, so you mean that if I put her name down now for a school near to where we THINK we will be.. we will be able to contact them if we change our mind (and need a school nearer), but because we're in the system it will be much easier? I hope thats the case, and I didn't think we'd need to think about schooling so soon. It's so simple, but it's all these rules etc.
.

Yeah thats how it would work around here, but i see from all the replies it is different in areas
Maybe make a call to your LEA, they'll be able to advise you better

 

[nikky0907]

I did some research and it turns out that over here(in US) you can ut your baby in a nursery from 1 1/2 years old but it's not mandatory but they start preschool at 4 and elementary school at 6.

Just call the school you want het to go and they'll explain everything and it wouldn't hurt for you to get her a spot sooner...

 

[Tilly]

Thanks for the help everyone.