DD skip a grade - would you hold her back for 11+?

[nonethewiser]

Thanks, Reading Dad. I would definitely speak to the Year 6 teacher to see what sort of work/support she would do if she repeat Yr 6. At the moment, when asked, DD was not too keen about staying back a year and promised to work hard for the 11+ tests. Dilemma

[PB Mum]

My two-pennarth: My DS is currently Y8, but should be year 7, so you can see the choice we (including him) made. I have just asked him if he regrets this, and there is a resounding NO...he feels he would have been bored (his school did not offer to keep him, suggested a gap year ), he does not feel that he is struggling (top 10% of year group across the board), and he does not feel out of place or unsupported within the school (there are 5 younger-than-year, so something this school have dealt with before)

Our options were going to be limited anyway as we were OOC 11+, and as has already been mentioned, not all GS will take them out of year, not all Indies will consider them, and they may only have one bite of the cherry with some. Our DS scored 420 with raw scores over 90%, but we opted to send him to a (very selective) Indie where he is thriving.
All children mature at different rates, girls that faster than boys, so perhaps less of a concern for you. None of them can drive before 18 now, so for most of them that will be beyond school...and how often are they really going to be wanting to get into nightclubs?

The other side of the coin: I passed my 11+ many moons ago, then aged 9, although 10 prior to new year starting. There was no state option. I was bored witless for a year, despite additional maths, script-writing etc. When I started at secondary school I had got used to cruising and did just that. Add in hormones, and well It took me a couple of years to regain the 'drive', by which time setting etc had been done (and education was less flexible, as my parents could not afford fees). In the long run I probably recovered, but I don't remember enjoying it that mcuh!

You have a very bright child : don't stiffle her...none of these paths are ideal or easy.

[mannic]

Are there any statistics on children passing the 11+ a year early ? Are these published ? Perhaps the moderator will know. My son succeeded in passing out-of-year. He's an early October birthday too, so pretty close, but has always gone through his schooling effectively a year ahead. No problems re his social maturity. Very proud of him - just wondered how many others similarly pass early. We had to go through a few hoops on the paperwork side with the local Council when putting his application forward, and the school had to confirm his suitability. I recall that they insist that such children must actually be in a Year 6 Class and indeed, they made it clear that you can't then hold a child back to take the 11+ the following year if they fail. Just one shot !

[JaneEyre]

My two-pennarth: My DS is currently Y8, but should be year 7, so you can see the choice we (including him) made. I have just asked him if he regrets this, and there is a resounding NO...he feels he would have been bored (his school did not offer to keep him, suggested a gap year ), he does not feel that he is struggling (top 10% of year group across the board), and he does not feel out of place or unsupported within the school (there are 5 younger-than-year, so something this school have dealt with before)


You have a very bright child : don't stiffle her...none of these paths are ideal or easy.

I really agree with PB mum...

And to support that, I would say that in my DD’s grammar, there was a girl who was one year ahead and she got many A* in GCSE’s with flying colours...

So definitely, check with the GS in your area, without saying that you’re in a dilemma but being sure you wish her to sit the 11+ a year ahead... and see if they allow it or not.

Our own little story: When we arrived from abroad in England, our 10 years old DD was one year ahead and was in the top group in her class. The LEA told us that only GS and indies would consider taking a child a year ahead. So she did sat an entrance exam at a GS who had a place on offer. When the staff at the school saw her DOB, they contacted us, saying she did extremely well but that she was too young (thought we had pointed that when we registered her for her exam). Also, while chatting to us, they noticed that we were foreigners and that our DD didn’t follow a British curriculum before. So the right elements were not on our side!!! Also, they teach German in year 7 in that school and our DD hadn’t done German before. I explained I used to study German at secondary school and that I LOVE this language and that I would help her to catch up. They asked us if we had contacted the other grammars. There was one we had left out as it was far from our home. They recommended us to contact that GS, saying that they would support us as our DD had done very well in her entrance exam for year 8, but they couldn’t offer our DD a place as she didn’t know German...
Well, our daughter sat exams in the other GS... and obtain a place in year 7, which was a good thing in our particular circumstances: that gave her time to settle down in the UK, get used to the Brummie accent... and she did extremely well during all her years at this GS obtaining an offer at the four dental school she applied to ( it is difficult to get a place to read dentistry, so to get 4 offers in that field is an excellent achievement).
Why I am telling you all that? To demonstrate that the schools react according to the case being presented to them. After my daughter was refused in year 8 ‘because she was too young’, I really thought it is impossible to be a year ahead in the UK ( I have already taught - abroad - a child who was TWO years ahead, very bright.. and very mature). And then I heard about this girl in my daughter’s school who was doing extremely well. So you see, there are exceptions...

As for maturity, when a child is used to be with children one year older, they just are used to that and I imagine have the same level of maturity. I did all my schooling one year ahead as did my husband and we never felt ‘the babies’. OK, there might be differences in the sixth form when your DD won’t be able to get into nightclub if she is not 18 but is that a good reason to hold her back when she just wished to go ahead?

Sorry to have been a bit long... and full of mistakes as I don't have time to read my prose properly again and again

Good luck with everything.

PS: this matter of not being able to be a year ahead is really British... In France, a child who is very bright will often be placed in the class above... And a child whose academic level is too poor to go to the next class at the end of a year would be advised to repeat that year. Parents can appeal against that and gain their appeal, but they are responsible to help greatly their DC to succeed.
Really, I feel sometimes sorry for the teachers in England as they have a very hard job to deal with very different levels of abilities in their class and there is hardly no homework in states schools (we have daily homework in France).
However, I think at the same time that this ‘British policy’ gives everybody the chance to be valued and not feel as ‘failures’