All children in all year groups are now back in school after months of missing out on mainstream education. One saving grace of the virus is the strange phenomenon of how it doesn’t seem to affect children as much – which has exacerbated the debate about whether the return of schools is safe.
Teachers and parents have expressed a mix of relief and apprehension at the compulsory move while COVID-19 is still being transmitted daily throughout the country.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said it is a “moral duty” to get children back into school, with fears this generation of children could end up far behind in their education.
As life slowly returns to something like normal, parents will be looking forward to moving on with their lives and jobs and they send their children back to school.
Children in the UK start primary school in the September after their fourth birthday.
While it’s a little while off in 2021 that your child will be going to primary school – it’s important to get your application in on time to secure the best place possible for your child.
Even if the school you want your child to go to is outside of that borough, you should still do it through the council where you currently live.
When you apply, you will need to list schools in order of preference, number one being the one you would like your child to attend the most.
The admissions process in Scotland is different to that for England and Wales in several ways.
In many local authority areas, the council will send out a letter offering your child a primary school place, all you need to do is send a reply confirming you want to accept the place.
In other areas, you need to enroll your child with the local council in the year before they are due to start school.
The local council decides which school your child will attend based on the catchment area of each school – that is the defined area around the school.
What about private schools?
If you wish to apply to a fee-paying school, you will need to contact the school directly.
Most of these schools have a deposit you can put down when applying.
