can children go down a year?

[lotty]

I was wondering if children are allowed to repeat a year at school, or do an extra year. we feel our 9 year old would benefit from doing this, i have heard of kids going up a year because there clever, our sons aged 9.5 but in his report for statement they say mental age six, reading age 11.5, he is and always has been behind, thats why hes statemented. do you think he could do an extra year in juniors??? i know i should ask the school, but its saturday and i need to know..

[Zemanski]

yes, children can be held back for a year in some circumstances

 

however, you may need to check thet he can stay back a year through high school, he may still need to sit SATs etc at the age appropriate time so you might need to talk about that now.

 

how will he cope socially with staying back? - if he has a good friend then that may be worth more to him in the long run than the curriculum which should be adjusted to his needs anyway, friends are hard enough to come by when you're on the spectrum, don't let him lose any he's got. Dot would have been socially happier in the year below as she made friends at nursery in that group, if your son plays more comfortably with younger children then staying back may be a good thing all round.

[lotty]

good words, thankyou. he loves school, theres only 20 something in the whole school and his friends are a couple of years younger and in the same classroom. he would love to have an extra year there. i think it would be a great solution to things.

[Canopus]

Kids can't be moved up a year although they can be taught in a higher year class at primary school. My parents tried and tried and tried to get me moved up a year but were told that it isn't possible under the law. Kids can be moved down a year providing there is good reason and the LEA gives the go ahead at the parent's approval. What I want to know is are kids moved down a year allowed to complete Y11 at the age of 17 or must they leave school at the end of Y10?

[lotty]

Kids can't be moved up a year although they can be taught in a higher year class at primary school. My parents tried and tried and tried to get me moved up a year but were told that it isn't possible under the law. Kids can be moved down a year providing there is good reason and the LEA gives the go ahead at the parent's approval. What I want to know is are kids moved down a year allowed to complete Y11 at the age of 17 or must they leave school at the end of Y10?

 

that my question to, when do they have to leave. we were thinking of home educating them when they had both left juniors, there are no suitable schools for them, unless anyone knows of a senior school in chester that would be any good.

[marshmallow]

I was discussing this topic with my DH and he pointed out that some nt people do stay at school until the are 19, for resitting A levels etc. LEAs will argue that they like to keep people with their peers, but what is a peer? In the workplace your peers aren't just the people whose birthdate fall in the same academic year as yours. I think there should be some flexibility to meet individual needs so they can reach their full potential?

[Canopus]

LEAs will argue that they like to keep people with their peers, but what is a peer? In the workplace your peers aren't just the people whose birthdate fall in the same academic year as yours.

 

Exactly. In the workplace you will work with people aged 16 to 65 and are expected to co-operate with them equally. School and university are the only places where you are forced to involve yourself with people of your own age. That's why I have been saying for years that kids who have difficulty relating to other kids at school might not have many problems relating to people of a wide age range in the workplace.

 

I think there should be some flexibility to meet individual needs so they can reach their full potential?

 

I strongly believe that schools should have classes arranged by ability rather than age on a subject by subject basis, and year groups abolished. If a 12 year old can do A Level maths then they should be taught A Level maths alongside kids with an average age of 17. If the same kid struggles with English then they should be taught in a lower ability class with an average age of say 9. Schools should also allow kids to take exams as and when they are ready. This might sound like a radical idea but it's the system most independent schools deployed in the days before compulsory education because at the time it was seen as most logical.

[puffin]

good words, thankyou. he loves school, theres only 20 something in the whole school and his friends are a couple of years younger and in the same classroom. he would love to have an extra year there. i think it would be a great solution to things.

 

You need to check out what the LEA policy is - some LEAs allow an extra year whereas others don't - I think that it causes a problem with league tables if pupils are in a different year. I have heard of some children having to miss a year at secondary - for example go directly to year 8 to rejoin their "proper year group" - missing year 7 altogether - which causes a lot of problems

[Zemanski]

a child can be 'accelerated', Canopus, Com was for the last 2 years of primary.

It is rare and it has to be for the good of the child overall (working in a more mature and worldly wise year group can put extra stress on a child) - Com was lucky that his school ran mixed classes in KS2 so it was easy to do without splitting him off from his friends, two of whom were also accelerated.

 

It can also be done for individual subjects, Com was accelerated for Maths from Y3 and in high school had an hour 1-1 a week and was set work at a higher level for the time he spent in the class (it wasn't possible for him to attend another class due to difficulties with the timetable but this was considered)

 

if Com was still in school he would be doing his AS level Maths next summer, 2 years early, he was also down to do his english language and his IT GCSEs a year early along with the rest of his set.

 

Zemanski

Edited June 26, 2006 by Zemanski

[Flora]

Two of my children are in a year behind. They both started school in the US who don't do formal teaching until a child is 6. When we came back they went to private schools who allowed them both to go into the year below their age group. My daughter has an August birthday so it doesn't matter much with her. She still goes to a private school and they have absolutely no issue with it, there are half a dozen girls in her year who should be in the year above. William started state primary when he was in year 4. There was a huge mix up because he was in mixed class of year 4 and 5. When he came to go into year 5 the HT/SENCo told me that he HAD to go into year 6. I argued the point for a while but they were adamant he had to go with his age group. He has had to repeat year 6 and because of his history of starting school a year later the LEA have agreed to allow him to stay with this year group all the way through secondary. They've said they won't move him again.

 

Lauren

[Canopus]

a child can be 'accelerated', Canopus, Com was for the last 2 years of primary.

It is rare and it has to be for the good of the child overall (working in a more mature and worldly wise year group can put extra stress on a child) - Com was lucky that his school ran mixed classes in KS2 so it was easy to do without splitting him off from his friends, two of whom were also accelerated.

 

It can also be done for individual subjects, Com was accelerated for Maths from Y3 and in high school had an hour 1-1 a week and was set work at a higher level for the time he spent in the class (it wasn't possible for him to attend another class due to difficulties with the timetable but this was considered)

 

I mentioned that clever kids can be placed into a higher year class at primary school but they aren't moved up a year. I had some lessons in a Y6 class when I was in Y4 and Y5. It worked the other way as well as I had PE lessons with a lower year class.

 

if Com was still in school he would be doing his AS level Maths next summer, 2 years early,

 

How is this possible unless it is a personal favour?

 

he was also down to do his english language and his IT GCSEs a year early along with the rest of his set.

 

Is it common practice in Leeds LEA to take some GCSEs at the end of Y10?

[Zemanski]

Com was actually moved into the class above his year group and taught with them, I didn't want him to go to high school early so we didn't look at whether he might go but he did the Y7 curriculum for maths and science in Y6

 

No personal favours - his statement says he must be taught at his level, the school say they can't teach him at his level with his year group so they teach him separately, they can enter any child they like, whatever age, for any exams, Com was not going to bother with GCSE maths at all as the school said it wouldn't suit him and he would be better going straight to AS.

 

several schools here do some of their GCSEs early with the top sets - the one down the road does science early. It's up to individual schools to take the decision on whether or not to do this

 

Zemanski