Down a Year?

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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nell
Posts: 44
Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 1:31 pm
Location: south

Down a Year?

Post by nell »

Some of you may remember our story - it is long so i won't go over it again! My question now is whether anybody has any experience of keeping a child down a year. If so when is the right time to do it ? My DS is 12 and at the end of year 8 . We think keeping him down a year would be a perfect solution to his struggling academically. He has just done CE and is still a little short of where he should be. His Headmaster is 100% confident that keeping him at prep another year now would ensure that he reaches and exceeds the standard required for our chosen school. We are worried however about the effect this will have on his confidence and self esteem. He is in the middle of a Leavers Programme at the moment trips out , camping ,hoodies and lots of chat about moving on so the idea of staying on is not very appealing to him right now! In many ways, however, although it is not an ideal scenario , it could solve many problems . We have a place for him at another school for September but we are not happy about sending him there as it is a specilaist dyslexic school. Having just had him re-assessed but an ED Psych, the recommendation is that he does not need this, he would thrive in a mainstream school with good learning support dept. Our chosen school is not known for its Learning Support particularly although its recent inspection gives it a glowing report however he has 4 siblings there.

Any advice opinions or experiences would be gratefully received :)
zorro
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Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:27 am
Location: Barnet, Herts

Re: Down a Year?

Post by zorro »

He must be a summer birthday so this must have some bearing on the issue as he will be almost an academic year younger than some of his classmates.
I kept my DD down a year but that was in primary school and she has learning difficulties. Is the new school Egerton Rothesay out of interest? I don't think sending a child to the same school as their siblings is a good idea if they are likely to have problems as they do tend to be compared and also sometimes the more able ones get embarrassed- children can unfortunately be very cruel. Also if the Head of his current school thinks repeating the year will be beneficial then that should also be taken into consideration.
Good luck with your decision.
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Down a Year?

Post by Amber »

My experience is only very marginally relevant but I will throw it in anyway. I kept my daughter (June born) out of school when she was 4 so she started Reception a year late. She then did Year 1 with younger children but it became clear then that she was too far ahead academically to remain with the younger group, so she missed Year 2 and went straight to Year 3. All I can say is that we are very glad we trusted our instincts and that I am confident we did the right thing for DD. Not many people were supportive of our decision at the time and we felt sometimes as if others thought we were being really cruel to her. You know your child best and if you feel that this would be the best thing, then go for it. What does he think himself?

Regarding the choice of school: I would want the learning support in place if he were mine, and if this is what the Ed Psych has recommended then it might be unwise to send him somewhere else, even if that is where his siblings are. My experience in SEN suggests that children often manage to muddle through OK at primary school, but the differences open up at secondary and children can quickly start to flounder. This comes at a time when hormones are flying around too, and the effect on confidence can be great.

Bottom line: parents generally know their children better than anyone else. Trust your instincts.
zorro
Posts: 2076
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:27 am
Location: Barnet, Herts

Re: Down a Year?

Post by zorro »

I agree- definitely make sure the learning support is set up and will be adequate. A friend of mine was told prior to her child leaving primary school( he also has dyslexia) that the support would be there in the mainstream secondary school he would be going to. After six months when it was obvious that the support was nowhere near adequate, she removed him and now home schools him as she is a teacher.
zee
Posts: 360
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:43 am

Re: Down a Year?

Post by zee »

One other thought: some senior schools (indie and state) are reluctant to take children who are young for the year because it lowers the number of 16 year olds who have GCSEs. Or rather, I know two families who had this problem about 5 years ago; it might be less of an issue now, but it's something to bear in mind.
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