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Topic: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?  (Read 3138 times)

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How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« on: February 17, 2012, 07:40:53 AM »
Does anyone know the process of how to register your kids for school when coming from US to UK? I'm going to get a copy of their vaccinations from the docs before I go over but that's as far as my thought process goes. We should be arriving around the first week of April and I was hoping I could register them over the break and then they would start school...is it that easy? Plus how long do you have to be in UK before qualify for medical. Both myself and kids are dual citizens, I'm originally from the UK but have not lived in the country for over 22+ years and we are not sure how long we will be staying for...my Dad's health is failing. My kids are 7 and 11 and I have no idea what grade they will be in, plus we kept our son back a grade as he has dyslexia and ADHD so he is currently in 5th grade in US. It's all kind of overwhelming as I have to do this on my own, as my husband is staying in the US at the moment till we know what is actually happening with my Dad. Any help and advice we really be appreciated.
Thanks 


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2012, 07:59:54 AM »
Why don't you contact the local authority for the area you are moving to so they can advise you of the process? Hopefully, you will be able to get the ball rolling in the US so they can start school quickly once you arrive.
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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2012, 08:59:27 AM »
Does anyone know the process of how to register your kids for school when coming from US to UK?
First you'll need a UK address where you will be living, then you can start contacting the schools in the area to find out if they have any available places (some schools are oversubscribed and have waiting lists). I think you may need to make a general application to the local council for a school place rather than applying to the schools themselves.

Unlike in the US, you are not guaranteed to get your child into a school in the local area, so depending on where there are available places, you may have to send them to a school a little bit further away or a school that isn't your first choice.

This link might have some useful information: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/ChoosingASchool/DG_10038421

Individual local councils will have more specific information about how to apply for schools in their area though.

 
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I'm going to get a copy of their vaccinations from the docs before I go over but that's as far as my thought process goes.
I don't think that vaccination records are required by UK schools (although that may depend on the school) - at least I haven't heard of it, but it's been over 20 years since I started school in the UK, so maybe someone else can clarify with more up-to-date info.

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We should be arriving around the first week of April and I was hoping I could register them over the break and then they would start school...is it that easy?
As I said, it's going to depend on whether or not the schools have places for your children - you'll need to find this out from the local authority/schools themselves and I think you'll need to apply to the council to get them into a school.

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Plus how long do you have to be in UK before qualify for medical. Both myself and kids are dual citizens,
I believe that as long as you are intending to live in the UK permanently/long term you and your kids will qualify from the day you arrive in the UK.

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My kids are 7 and 11 and I have no idea what grade they will be in, plus we kept our son back a grade as he has dyslexia and ADHD so he is currently in 5th grade in US.
Going by ages alone (which is what UK schools usually do), if your youngest was 6 at the beginning of the school year, then they should be in Year 3 in the UK (2nd grade in the US?), or if they were 7 at the beginning of the school they should be in Year 4 (3rd grade in the US?).

In the UK, I think 5th Grade is equivalent to Year 6, which is the last year of UK primary school, but it sounds like going by his age, he would have been in 6th grade (Year 7) which is the first year of UK secondary/high school. I think it would be best to determine with the local schools whether or not he should be in primary or secondary school - as you will be arriving 2/3 of the way through the school year, it might be a case of him to going into Year 6 now and then starting secondary school in September.


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2012, 09:49:55 AM »
Yes, if you know the address where you will be living then contact the local council and they will tell you the process.

I've recently filled out the form for my daughter to start reception and they didn't ask for any immunization info so I don't believe you'll need that (unless that Local Educational Authority is different from Coventry in that regard).
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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2012, 04:25:52 PM »
plus we kept our son back a grade as he has dyslexia and ADHD
If your child receives any type of special educational assistance in the States you will need to bring over all documentation (such as an IEP). 
Depending on your child's needs they may receive a Statement of Special Education Needs.  However, it is a long process to obtain a statement, and from what I've heard they are getting more and more difficult to obtain. 
I live in Hampshire and have a child with special needs-feel free to PM me if you will be moving to Hants and would like additional information. 


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2012, 05:49:05 PM »
It took my niece about 2 months to get a place in her school.  ::)

But she loves it now.  :)


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2012, 06:12:15 PM »
No advice on schools (been awhile since mine were school age) but sorry about your father. I had the opposite -- returned to US when my father was ill.
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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2012, 06:31:46 PM »
I work in a school for children with social, emotional and behaviour difficulties--- many of them have ADHD (as well as other things). At least in this area, they very much place students by age only- so they will be very reluctant, if not unwilling to place your son in a lower year.

If your children happen to be baptised Catholic- it opens up other possibilities of easier places sometimes at local catholic schools (still free). Everyone is right though-- the starting point is your LEA (Local Education Authority) What area will you be living in?


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2012, 10:18:47 PM »
My son is ADHD as well and had an IEP in the states. Because we knew it would be hard to get the school we wanted, my DH & DS moved here last June in preparation for school at the end of August. Thankfully we got him into the school we wanted (a great school for ADHD kids).

My son is 11 so he started as a Year 7 (high schooler).

My DD is 7 and would've been starting 2nd grade in the fall so she was a year 3 in "junior" school.

Not sure how coming here in April will affect your kids' school year. As others have said, you can sometimes have a hard time getting into the school you want. My advice to is to find the school you want, visit right away, get your UK address right away and if at all possible, live REALLY close to the school of your choice. I don't know if that had any bearing on our getting my son into his school or not, but we live 5 minute walk away and the nearest other schools are 6 miles & more (but kids to bus in from that town to his school!).

We also visited with the the school the year before & had been writing to their SEN department for months before moving here.

On the plus side, he has been doing SO much better in the UK school than he ever was in the US school. He was a C & D student in the US & is not getting the equivalent of As & Bs & the SEN department hasn't even needed to intervene in ANY of his classes! He's off his ADD meds but still takes meds for anxiety. We LOVE it here!

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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2012, 06:01:48 PM »
Thank you to everyone who replied   :)
My update for schools is not looking too great and I'm worried about the time they may miss with trying to find the school. Spoke to two of the three borough councils who deal with the schools in the Essex area where I will be staying. Apparently the Essex LEA only covers the Castle Point area, where my father lives but it's hard to find a rental in a decent price range for month to month or with a minimum of 3 month lease. The other two areas outside of this are Basildon LEA which covers Wickford (my friend has offered her house to me for 2-3 weeks in that location) and other surrounding areas. The other is Southend council LEA which covers Leigh on Sea (where my brother lives), Westcliff and Southend. They have all told me that it will take about 10 business days once I find a school, for paperwork to go through. But no one will be working in the schools over the Easter, so I either need to get something by mid March (which is becoming an impossible task because I need an address where will be living) or wait until the schools go back and hope that within the three schools on the application, one of them will be accepting students.   :o
I'm not going to be really in a position to homeschool the kids, and seeing as hubby is still back in US awaiting the decision for him whether this is a permanent or temp move. I need to accomplish a lot of things before our lease runs out on the US apartment in July.

Does anyone know if they have study books for the grades over there, similar to what we have here. I thought if they had something like that I could have them shipped to my Brother. Then my kids could at least be doing some of the classwork, and get an idea of what the curriculum was about while we were waiting for schools.

On a positive note because we were able to offload our house in short sale and downsize to what half our mortgage payment was. We have been saving like crazy for 10 months and I can pay for at least 6 months rent in advance, which I just found out yesterday from a realtor in UK will cut out references.  :)

 


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2012, 06:10:16 PM »


Does anyone know if they have study books for the grades over there, similar to what we have here. I thought if they had something like that I could have them shipped to my Brother. Then my kids could at least be doing some of the classwork, and get an idea of what the curriculum was about while we were waiting for schools.


 
I think what you might want to look at are National Curriculum materials for the Keystages (?) Have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/national_curriculum_key_stages for an introduction.
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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2012, 07:25:18 PM »
Thank you BostonDiner, I just took a quick look at the site and there appears to be lots of info. I feel a little less overwhelmed   :)   


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #12 on: February 29, 2012, 01:31:05 PM »
Someone who is currently in education in the UK may jump in here with more up-to-date info (I catalogued education materials in a Poly library some years back). But there are a lot of schools programmes broadcast on TV and radio during the day. So your kids would be able to pick up some stuff at home while waiting for a school assignment. If you live in an area where there is a teacher training college you might be able to have a look at their school practice collection to see what they have for textbooks your kids might be using. They would certainly have National Curriculum publications, as would the public libraries (or should).
« Last Edit: February 29, 2012, 01:34:46 PM by BostonDiner »
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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2012, 03:51:52 AM »
If your children happen to be baptised Catholic- it opens up other possibilities of easier places sometimes at local catholic schools (still free). Everyone is right though-- the starting point is your LEA (Local Education Authority) What area will you be living in?

I am in the same boat, looking to move to the UK this summer, during break.
I couldn't help but notice your comment.
My kids ARE baptised Catholic and I have the records to prove it, which schools would require.
My kids are ages 10 and 13.

Over here, in the U.S., Catholic schools are expensive but often offer a more quality education.  Is that the case over there as well?

Thank you for your assistance.


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Re: How do I register children for school when coming from US to UK?
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2012, 05:48:19 PM »
We are moving this summer and our children will be starting at one of the RC primary schools.  We just applied through the local council, put that they were Catholic and had to provide their baptism certificates to prove it after they were admitted. 

I am from US but my husband is UKC and went to Catholic schools himself, he definitely wanted our children to go to the Catholic school as he believes they are better quality education. 

Joy what area are you moving to?  Check with the local council as for school information, as others said above some schools may be full/waiting listed for the fall.  The application process for Fall 2012 closed in Jan 2012 and we were told what school the kids got into in April of this year. 
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