Finding a New School for Your Children

Finding a New School for Your Children

One of the big concerns when moving house as a family with school age children is that you usually need to find a new school for your children. Sometimes parents choose to move simply to get their children into a certain catchment area for a desirable school but a lot of the time the move happens for other reasons like a parent’s job, needing a bigger house for a growing family or because the family wants to live somewhere different.

If you haven’t already found a new school for your children, it is a big task to do so and it can sometimes be quite challenging.

When we moved house a few years ago, we had to move our eldest daughter from her first school that she had only been at for a few months to a new school in our new area.

The first thing you need to do to start the process is to go online and search for which schools are available in your catchment area. Simply type in “secondary schools in Leicester” or the applicable for your circumstances and area.

Then it’s time to start the research process! On each school’s website, you can usually easily access all the information that you need as there are lots of things that are mandatory for schools to publish. For each potential school on your short list, read their most recent Ofsted reports and check out their school performance tables. If possible, talk to other parents in the area to see what they think and say about the schools.

Also check any admission criteria for the schools that you are interested in to ensure that you’re not disappointed.

The best way to know if a school the right choice for you and your children is to arrange to visit the school. Most schools have open days arranged for visitors to come and see the school but if it’s an in-year admission, you will most likely need to contact the school to arrange a private visit.

If you haven’t already moved or don’t have a set moving date, this can be a bit complicated but it’s doable! If this is your scenario, then you usually need to be able to provide evidence of your new address to secure your new school place. This is what we had to do and, because we didn’t have a set moving date, we ended up having to travel to and from the new school for two weeks.

When you know which schools you want to apply for, you do this using your council’s application form online. You use your current local council even if you are moving to a different one. If you have any questions at all, contact them and they’ll be able to assist you with the procedure.

Finding a new school for you children can feel overwhelming but hopefully this quick guide has put your mind at ease about the process to help make it all feel a bit easier.

Whatever the reason for your move, choosing the right school for your children is a big and important decision but the application itself should hopefully be straightforward and smooth.

Collaboration.