keeping a child back a year

[panickymum]

keeping a child back a year. we have a child aged 9 in year 5 who is the youngest in her year, who is also very young in maturity. although teacher is saying that they work their hardest they are performing very below average. has anyone had a similar experience what have you done??? b**y sats and testing!!!

[lovingmy2]

don't understand your post. Is the teacher suggesting keep her back a year or you? I don't know of any school who would keep a child of Y5 back a year tbh. Why would you put your dc through leaving her friends and peers only to have to leave at the end of y6 anyway. If your child is that far behind then the school will have them on SA+ with a view to statementing.

[Littlefish]

I agree with lovingmy2.

It is almost impossible in England to get a child held back a year. In the one case I know of, the child was then forced to jump from Year 6 up to Year 8 to return to their correct yeargroup.

Even if your dd could be held back a year, she would still do her SATS at the same time as the rest of her chronological peers, even if she was in a different year group.

[CarGirl]

I have friend whose daughter was allowed to repeat a year and stay back for the rest of school - not because she was summer born, not becaused she has SN and at a MLD where the school believed it would really help her but because she missed her first 3 years of education as she was institionlised abroad - it took 3 appeals and our mps involvement to achieve that.

[DyslexiaTeach]

I wish it were easier. I posted a few days ago asking for help with appeals for this, but got no responses, presumably because it's so rare.

I have a pupil who is working about 3-4 years below her chronological age, and is behaviourally and emotionally 1-2 years behind. The mum has been asking since reception to hold her back a year, and every professional involved with her agrees that would be the sensible solution. The child herself wants it, and prefers the younger children. She's just moved to a new village, where there are no places available in her year, but there are in the younger year (in fact a split class with the year below that, which would offer her the chance to work with children somewhat closer to her academic age). New school, fewer social problems moving years. She's already having problems socially anyway, given that she's at such a different level. But applications for deferral have been refused, with no right of appeal. It's frustrating, because she is being pushed on, when she is getting almost nothing out of being in her current year. She'd have problems whatever year she was in, but she has the maturity now to get something out of the phonics teaching that happens in the earlier years, that she missed back then, and the gap woudln't widen as quickly as it would if she were kept in the current year.

There are lots of children that would have benefited from a later start, or the chance to repeat a year, but it just seems so impossible.

I only know of one child who managed it, but he'd had meningitis in Reception, missed quite a lot of school, and had hearing problems, so he was allowed to repeat Reception the following year, and stay down for the rest of his schooling.

[CarGirl]

presumably if you could afford private schooling you could choose?

[lovingmy2]

At our school we have done this wice in te 10 yrs i have taught. the first was 9 years ago and repeated reception but was reintergrated into her normal age group in year 3 (missing out year 2) although going down to year 2 for Lit and num. Eventually she was statemented in year 4 and receievd enough hrs for her to be supported fully in her crrect age group. The other child has severe complex needs physically and adademically and has been kept back in Reception for a year to give her a bit more height, strength and confidence and consolidate her phonics and basic num skills. She is already statemented and the idea is that she will move to y1 in Sept and have lots of Y2 opportunties and agaian move to Y3 with her peers.

[lovingmy2]

sorry for typos

[BudaisintheZONE]

We have DS who will be 9 in august and weare in an nternational school in Hungary. He will do yr 5 here and then prob repeat it as we moveback to uk next year.

Reasons are that he is struggling with certain things - maths in particular. Has been having occupational therapy for handwriting and co- ordination issues for 2 years. He knows all this and it has affected his confidence a lot.

He is mature in lots of ways but I still feel he would benefit from dropping back. We are very lucky in that we are in private sector so there is more flexibility. Also moving from here back to uk is perfect timing for us.

It's a crying shame that the uk system is so regimented. I do sometimes wonder if those at the top have any sodding brains at all.

[ZZZenAgain]

I agree Buda, why the inflexibility?

[Feenie]

We routinely have children starting in Reception whose parents have held them back a year. Btw, Littlefish, they do SATs when they get to Y6, not when their chronological age is Y6. We have 2 children this year who would have done the tests (had we not boycotted) who should be in Y7.

From the ARA 2010:
"6.1 Pupils older or younger than 11 at the end of key stage 2
Pupils older than 11 who have not taken the key stage 2 tests must be entered to do
so at the end of the year in which they complete the key stage 2 programmes of study."

But we would never hold a child back further up the school. I don't think it would send a good message to the child, tbh, and would almost certainly knock their self esteem further.

[panickymum]

Sorry, yes i should have made it clearer, WE would like to keep her back not the school. Thank you for all your posts. Our school tests every year against the sat grades and it makes it very pressured. She is not statemented and is in that difficult position of not being behind enough for more help but struggling to keep up. You're right it really is such a regimented set up.

[panickymum]

Thats really helpful Feenie, particularly the part about self esteem!! Thanx

[ThatVikRinA22]

my dd was the youngest in her year when she started school, i knew she wasnt ready. id asked about deferring her starting school and was told no.

her teacher realised at the end of reception year that she wasnt ready for school, so along with 7 others, they kept her in the same class with the same teacher even though she was classed as a year 1 student - it did the trick and gave her bags more confidence. by the end of that year she was caught up.

could this be a solution for you op?

[mrz]

Out of interest Feenie what happens when they move to secondary?

In my area it is very unusual for children to remain in primary after the age of 11

[Feenie]

They just stay with the year group they were in. It's quite common round here.

[mrz]

We had a child a few years ago transfer into our school from another LA where she had started a year bellow her age. We had a major debate at the end of Y5 when by age she should have transferred to secondary. The LA couldn't decide whether she should transfer at the end of Y5 so missing out Y6 or whether she should transfer to Y8 after she completed Y6 with us

[mrz]

Sorry I meant to say thanks

[Feenie]

You're welcome! [smile}

What was decided in the end for her?

[sunnydelight]

I spent a lot of DS1s UK schooling (we left when he was in Y9) trying to have him kept back a year to no avail. It's really common in Ireland where I'm from so I just couldn't see why it was such a big deal in England. He is a Summer birthday and was eventually assessed as dyslexic in Y6 after years of hearing "oh, he'll catch up he's a Summer born boy"! When we moved to Oz it happened naturally as the cut off date is 31st July and his birthday is 1st August. It was, as I knew it would be, the absolute making of him. He went in halfway through Y8 and has really thrived, he is now in Y11 and on track to get reasonable results for his HSC which he will sit next year in Y 12 (A level equivalent). If you think it would be the right thing for him you're probably right. Good luck though, it won't be easy.

[mrz]

She stayed with us until the end of Y6 then transferred to a Special school into Y8

[paddingtonbear1]

I wanted dd to be held back a year in yr 1 as she's young in the year and was really struggling - socially and academically. I was told no, it wasn't possible without a statement - and she's not behind enough for that (she's about 1 year behind). She goes up to juniors in sept and is no way ready

[BudaisintheZONE]

The system in the UK makes me SO angry. Have the 'powers that be' (idiots one and all) never heard of flexibility. And I thought "Every Child Matters". Bah.

[Littlefish]

Feenie - well I never! Thank you for the info about Y6 SATs. I've been spouting rubbish again!

[strawberrycake]

Every borough can have different rules. We were forced to send a sn child who was a year behind to yr 7 after he completed yr 5 as borough did not allow over 11s in primary. Think insurance was primary reason.

[Feenie]

Not at all, Littlefish. Am worried though that I may actually have swallowed an ARA booklet, because I seem to quote it so much lately.