Yr 8 blip

[Wobblypig]

Headmaster recently raised the issue of the yr 8 blip as a reason to stay at prep school til 13 rather than leave at 11.
He stated that this was a recognised phenomenon in education circles and when a child start secondary school at 11 they spend the first year settling in and the next yr , yr8 has no particular focus so is often spent treading water and that behavioural problems were worse in this year.

He went on to say that transferring at 13 means that you maintain academic momentum getting through common entrance and then launch into goes options when you get to secondary school.

Has anyone heard of this or this a ploy to get pupils to stay on at prep rather than xiong 11+?

[scaevola]

It's utter bollocks, unless the destination school is not very good.

[invicta]

I have heard that year 8 is where pupils can loose academic interest.

[JugglingChaotically]

DC1 did not enjoy year 8 and I was told by many that it was a fairly hard year as settling in in year 7, starting to focus on GCSE choices in year 9, but that year 8 could be a horror.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

DS1 has just had a Y9 blip (drop in motivation, falling behind in a couple of subjects). I'm very glad he has already been at the school for two years, that the staff understand him and know what he is capable of.

[Wobblypig]

It was made to sound as if this was a well known secret amongst teachers. Sounds more like a ploy to stop a yr7 defection then.

[watfordmummy]

Ds1 transferred at yr 9 from prep school, have to say best decision we made, youngest will also transfer at same age. As the prep school system is set up for yr 9 transfer I would go with it. Yrs 7&8 are when prep schools come into their own in my opinion

[Ladymuck]

Our senior school have certainly mentioned the year 8 blip, but no mention of a CE type approach to combat it! The school has its largest intake at 13 but that is due to it being a common boarding entry point, etc. So yes it has been mentioned as a key feature of a journey through senior school life, but not as a reason to stay at prep school. If anything the school seems to emphasis cocurricular involvement during this year as it is also the year where it is cool to drop music and clubs.

[Wobblypig]

Watfordmummy, that is part of what the school is claiming, that years 7 and 8 are very different in prep than in secondary schools .

[Wobblypig]

Sorry, meant to add, so interesting for you to say that too.

[LIZS]

I've had dc do both and tbh it depends on the child . Some children find Year 9 entry really hard going and take a year or so to feel comfortable as friendship groups are established and their cosy prep school group gets spilt up over several schools, with some boarding. Prep schools are in business to get 13+/CE results, they want bums on seats and to keep enough sporty children to sustain their teams for example. Fees are often pitched slightly lower than senior schools to try to maintain numbers. The atmosphere is different in year 7 and 8 and the academics rigorous for those who do not perform well either academically or extra curricular it can be demoralising. And it feels really odd having adult sized children among a prep school.

LM surely they take less than half again at 13+, ds' intake at year 9 was about 35 on top of 90-ish existing, many of which were boarders. Some do the other way round but all the local ones I know of take majority at 11 or are 13+ only.

[LIZS]

And if the senior school uses its own exams or pre-tests for offers, CE becomes less relevant to that child, so you can still get a blip .

[monet3]

Year 8 in a prep school !!! The first half of term is spent revising for entrance tests and the second half is spent revising for common entrance. The children are fed up and exhausted.
I really think year 7 and 8 have killed my DS love of learning.

[Ladymuck]

LIZS, thought the numbers could go up to 140 from 80/85 but again depends on what other schools are doing/interest from overseas.

[summerends]

monet that is likely to reflect your DS's prep school than be generally true. We had the opposite experience and those who took CE just seemed to be working steadily and had a lot of fun with other activities at the same time. I think it depends on how restrictive and unexciting the prep school is for the older children, if there are no new opportunities for them and has been grown-out of then it is a waste of time.

[LIZS]

We found they didn't learn anything new in year 8 at prep school. It was a lot of revision and practice papers. There were trips and events too but some of these are to compete with senior schools and cost accordingly.

[summerends]

That's a shame LIZS re learning nothing new in year 8, again that must depend on the school. Revision just before the school exams and after the Easter holidays for CE , late scholarships seems not unreasonable but not the whole year! You don't need trips either, just the usual mix of extracurricular activities and extended learning off syllabus.
Seems from what you and others say that it is a worthwhile for parents considering a prep school to ask what is done in year 8 to keep the children interested.

[teacherwith2kids]

State secondary, starting at 11 - Year 8 seems to be brilliant for DS so far.

They are all settled in, and are set for most subjects. Everyone has a common base on which to build (the pupils come from a large number of primaries) so in subjects such as MFL there is no longer any need to cover material that some children did not cover in primary (DAS had 4 years of quality French teaching in his state primary, others will have had a much smaller amount of teaching from a non-specialist).

The curriculum is still broad, no choices except second MFL having been made, so even for academic DS there is a nice sprinkling of 'hands on' practical subjects that he is unlikely to take for GCSE. Extension for the able seems to be by a mixture of acceleration (early GCSE planned in Music) and by broadening (challenge through some really tricky source work in history).

There is continuous pressure from staff to do well and to try their hardest (and significant knowledge of each pupil in order to detect slacking), but with no high-pressure end point it is about learning much more for its own sake, and academic curiousity is hugely encouraged rather than being greeted by 'we don't have time for that, we have to revse / cover the syllabus / do this exam-style question to check your technique'.

Social groups are established and comfortable, and most pupils have found their niche in the school's extra-curricular activities.

If in a school that prepares for both 11+ and 13+, isn't there a chance that two years get wasted in exam prep / coaching / revision? At least with an 11+ entry point, or conversely a school that only does 13+, only 1 year can possibly be wasted in this way.... (as it happens, DS's sptate primary doesn't 'do' SATs prep in any particular way, so even his Year 6 was absolutely normal with lots of interesting new stuff to learn, with a week of tests followed by lots of extra cross-curtricular stuff in the final half term - but I appreciate that this approach is fairly rare.)

[PointyChristmasFairyWand]

DD1 is really enjoying Yr8 in her state school. She is part of an established friendship group of about 10 girls (she thinks 12yo boys are a waste of space though she has some friends who are boys) all of whom are highly academic and very sporty. She is in what the school call a superset, which is an elite set above set 1 for very high achievers. They push them very, very hard and are definitely into GCSE territory in most subjects, but she relishes the challenge. Not a wasted year at all, more like solid foundations for the future.

[Branunion]

I sent mine to private secondary in year 7 rather than do 7 and 8 at a prep. They've enjoyed settling and doing lots of sports and music rather than the intensive CE grindstone of the last week years in a prep

By year 10 they all seem to be the same academically, whether they've entered at year 7 or 9