When to sign baby up for Preschool / School?

Minatauro

Hi all,

Im not sure if this is the right section to post this question(s) but we have a 3 month old and we have recently been asked if we have put the childs name down for the free year in preschool (ECCE Scheme) and also for a local primary school.

Now I know there is a baby boom at moment and there will eventually be a scramble for places. It is our first child so we are just looking to know if it is too early to put her name down now for both? and could anybody recommend a preschool and school around the foxborough area or surrounding areas in lucan?

Im a bit clueless about this at the moment and would appreciate any advice or recommendations to get a good start in education for our daughter.

many thanks.

lynski

it is not too early if you have a preference - but bear in mind that siblings will usually overtake you in any waiting list so maybe have 2 schools.
I signed up my son for primary when he was 6mths old as ET was the only school I wanted and I am glad I did as now my other 2 can go there as well

Winnie

I pre-enrolled my 2 month old son in our local school and im glad i did as there is already a waiting list for that year in 2016! I would do it now, can certainly do no harm that's for sure.

Moonbeam

If you want him to go to a particular school then get his name down now.
My little girl was 9 months old before I put her name down and we are way down the waiting list.

Chesty LaRue

It's not too early especially for Dublin. I actually went to creche for my son when I was pregnant (it was my first), and said to the lady "You probably think I am mad but I was looking for a spot for my baby" due in 6mths. She actually said to me "Not at all, our waiting list is quite long, I will need to check and see if we have availability"....thankfully my son got a place. It was Park Academy Creche, he loved it...was there for 4yrs. Not sure if they have one in your area but I would recommend them....

part time punk

As I understand it some schools are changing their enrollment policies so that it is no longer first come first served and they can changes their enrollment policies at will. E.g Our local Educate Together from 2013 (when our duaghter would be about 4.5) have said that apart from siblings, the order will be determined by age. Minimum 4 years old but perference to older children first. Don't know if this is the case across all ET schools. Obviously choosing schools is a huge decision for parents to make but this idea of putting kids names down for schools when just out of the maternity hospital is in my view madness. It's like the overnight camping to buy houses in new developments back in the bubble days. It can't end well. There has to be a better fairer way of allocating places at schools according to various criteria, whether it's age, sibilings in school, distance of your home from the school etc. (Rant over..)

Minatauro

Hi,

Thanks for the replies so far. We had a bit of time to make it round to one of the local schools. I asked about putting her name down now for the school but the lady just smiled and said no it was not possible. We could only put her name down from the start of february in the year she would be starting (2015). So Im guessing it could be a case of being there with a sleeping bag in order to get close to the top of the line on Feb 1.

We then went to a pre school and asked the same question. Again we received a smile and told not possible and come back the year before she is due to start. So I guess Ill have to try a few more as plan b, c, d etc. as being so close to starting date Ill probably have a better chance of getting a HP Touchpad than getting a spot in preferred school

I wonder is this a new policy in most places or are we just unfortunate in the ones we tried so far?

Moonbeam

Different schools have different policies.

We spoke to the creche before she was born due to waiting lists and she did get a place but there was a waiting list.