Confused

Ruby31

My son's on a waiting list for our chosen school. I really don't know if he'll be offered a place for this September, so I will then have to defer him until September 2018.

If, on the off-chance, someone drops out of junior infants, for whatever reason and a place becomes available, will I be able to take my son out of his pre-school and slot him into Junior Infants? I would imagine it would be possible if a place came up early in the first term, say sept/oct, but the school might not take new kids further into the school year?

Would any teachers be able to tell me? Or parents who've experienced this?

Thanks in advance.

stickman22

Have they offered the places yet? What no is he on the waiting list & is there a siblings first policy? Also how many JI infants classes does the school have?

Have you spoken to the school?

Ruby31

stickman22 wrote: »

Have they offered the places yet? What no is he on the waiting list & is there a siblings first policy? Also how many JI infants classes does the school have?

Have you spoken to the school?

Yes, places have been offered. He's no. 8 on the waiting list. A siblings policy was introduced last year, but they are still running it with the old, first come, first served policy. He has an older sibling in the school.

I spoke to the school, but they just explained about the crossover with the policies which I was not aware of. I think he would've gotten a place if his birthday was earlier in the year. I had his name down 2 days after he was born so I'm really disappointed.

Ruby31

Ruby31 wrote: »

Yes, places have been offered. He's no. 8 on the waiting list. A siblings policy was introduced last year, but they are still running it with the old, first come, first served policy. He has an older sibling in the school.

I spoke to the school, but they just explained about the crossover with the policies which I was not aware of. I think he would've gotten a place if his birthday was earlier in the year. I had his name down 2 days after he was born so I'm really disappointed.

Meant to add, only one JI of 30 children.

stickman22

Maybe a couple of other kids before him on the waiting list will decide to take places in other schools or else closer to the time decide to avail of the second preschool year, it's early days yet...
Will be watching this thread with interest & hopefully another few posters will come on with their experiences, my dd is due to start next year, we will be moving next to a gaelscoil in which there is a siblings policy & 2 JI classes however she is no 69 on the list of new families so at the moment it looks like a long shot but the secretary was quite positive that it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility however this year they have 40 siblings so that only leaves 20 places for new families...

byhookorbycrook

It would be exceptionally rare for a child to drop out after September and I don't think starting another child from a pre-school after term has commenced isn't great anyhow. Children will already have become familiar with the routine and made friends and unless a child is very, very socially mature it would be very tough on them.

Many parents accept places in different schools and some don't have the decency to let the other schools know they won't take the place- the first the school knows is when they don't start in September. This, thnakfully is not very common but again, it would usually just free a place at the very start of the year, not a month in.

8th isn't too far down the line. When do those who got the "first round offers" have to accept them?

Ruby31

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

It would be exceptionally rare for a child to drop out after September and I don't think starting another child from a pre-school after term has commenced isn't great anyhow. Children will already have become familiar with the routine and made friends and unless a child is very, very socially mature it would be very tough on them.

Many parents accept places in different schools and some don't have the decency to let the other schools know they won't take the place- the first the school knows is when they don't start in September. This, thnakfully is not very common but again, it would usually just free a place at the very start of the year, not a month in.

8th isn't too far down the line. When do those who got the "first round offers" have to accept them?

Offers have to be accepted by the 18th Jan.

I would never have considered moving my older child around due to their shy and anxious nature, but my youngest is extremely confident and actively seeks out friends and other children really take to him.

I will just keep my fingers crossed that a place comes up for him before September. It's all very stressful! I could contacted some nearby schools yesterday and have been informed that they have spaces available so at least there's other options there. I don't fancy doing two drop-offs every morning though!

Moonbeam

what month is his birthday?
Sometimes kids do not turn up on the 1st day or get a late offer from their school of choice.
What is their enrollment policy? surely if he was only a few days old he should have an offer despite birth month?

Ruby31

Moonbeam wrote: »

what month is his birthday?
Sometimes kids do not turn up on the 1st day or get a late offer from their school of choice.
What is their enrollment policy? surely if he was only a few days old he should have an offer despite birth month?

His birthday is November.

The school is in huge demand and there's only one class of 30. There is an unusually large number of siblings this year and their birthdays are before my sons, so they are ahead of him on the list.

Moonbeam

so they don't operate on a 1st come 1st served basis? but oldest child to youngest child?
Are there other schools in your area?

Ruby31

Approximately half the class spaces are allocated on a first come, first serve basis, the other half are allocated to siblings. The parents of the older siblings would've gotten their application forms in months before mine, I'd say their child was born in January. My application wasn't in for a further 11 months as my son was born in the November.

Moonbeam

ah ok, Ours allocates sibling spaces 1st then 1st come 1st served.
Once sibling applications are in on time then they get the 1st preference of places then after that offers are made to anyone else.

Ruby31

From next year it will be siblings first, as long as their names are down within 6 months of birth. I stupidly didn't check this and that's why I'm a complete stressball now! I didn't realise that they were still partly going by the old first come, first served policy.