Can my child stay back a year for good

[Bellyjellee]

My DS is 6. When he was in reception he had dreadful year, a combination of a terrible teacher, a full boisterous class, being summer (August) born, and he missed a lot of school due to illness. He was really far behind and lost all his confidence. we ended up relocating in the summer so asked if he could be kept back a year at his new school and they were happy with that. Due to covid we have now relocated back again and he has gone back to his original school but in the year below so he's currently in year 1. He is now absolutely flying, has a lovely nurturing teacher and a smaller class. We've just had parents evening and his teacher has suggested he could go back up to year 2. We are worried moving back to that class would knock him right back again. Does anybody know the law on this? Can he stay back a year forever or will he have to catch up at some point because he's already had his full funding? If he has to go up we think he'd be better moving as soon as possible but would be happy to keep him where he is if possible. Any advice would be appreciated.

[MistletoeandMoccasins]

Depends on head and LEA - sometimes it can cause issues for secondary transition. It shouldn't, as funding can be to 19 but many schools insist the kids are in their 'age' cohort, drives me mad. I, too, have a Summer born, who was behind, but was forced to go into the year group for his year - it has worked out but I had no real say in it.

[AnnieKennyfanclub]

Hi, as far as I am aware the school can’t just move him back up. They would have to prove that it would be in his best interests to basically miss a year of school.

My DD is also down a year group ( although she started a year later with the support of the school) and I although she is none doing well I am sure ( as are school) that she is in the right group. She will stay with her adopted cohort all the way through school- although we will have to reapply for an out of year place at secondary.

Unless you want your DS to be moved he should stay where he is.

I would try asking on the Facebook group - Flexible Admissions for Summer Borns as they have a wealth of experience and knowledge of these kind of issues.

[Bellyjellee]

@MistletoeandMoccasins this is what I'm worried about. If he's going to be forced to go back up I don't want to find out just before he's due to start secondary school. I'd rather he has a gradual transition earlier on. But how do I find out? I've already asked the school and they don't seem to know. They have said they will look into it for me but I don't know how long that will take.

[Bellyjellee]

@AnnieKennyfanclub thank you I will check out the Facebook group. I just worry that because he started when he was supposed to and I asked to have him held back they may say he has had his full funding and can't do an extra year.

[Soontobe60]

It may well be that he will go to secondary school at 11 from Y5, as many secondary schools would automatically put him in the correct year group. Having him 1 year behind in secondary school could also be a bit of a stigma for him. I’d het him into Y2 asap so that he is with his chronological peers.

[Wowcherarestalkingme]

In my experience (about 5 or 6 children) they have never had to move up but I always say to the parents to speak to secondaries about their policies as it may be different from ours. They all went to different schools and were allowed to remain with their current year group

[Bellyjellee]

@Soontobe60 this is exactly what I'm worried about.

@Wowcherarestalkingme do you think it would be too early to contact secondary schools now. I could try asking at my eldests school but could their policy change in the next 5 years?

[AldiAisleofCrap]

Yes many children start reception at csa and stay in the same cohort.

[AnnieKennyfanclub]

I think the secondary issue will be less of a problem in future than it might be now as, since the rules changed in 2014, starting school out of cohort in much more common.

[Justmeandtwokids]

DS is educated out of year after starting with his chronological age group. The position for these children is slightly different to those that start Reception at CSA (ie have always been in the year below). I was told that whilst in primary it is up to the Head which year group the child is educated in "informal backclassing" but to permanently do this and move to secondary a year later "formal backclassing" it needs agreement from the LA as it requires an additional year's funding.

We got this formally agreed for DS, but it wasn't straightforward as the LA's view was that he should have returned to his correct year with support. We have also been formally told that he will only qualify for two years post 16 funding not 3 as this is related to birth date not school year.

DS is late summer born, with significant school absence and SEN.

[Bellyjellee]

@Justmeandtwokids this is what I suspected may be the problem. Can I ask how old he was when you agreed the 'formal backclassing' for secondary? I don't know if it would make a difference that we moved out of area for a year or not but otherwise I suspect as he is now doing well we would struggle to get it agreed for him to be held back permanently.

[Justmeandtwokids]

He was in year 2 officially but in a mixed year class, so stayed in the same class but on paper went down to year 1. We also had full support from both his current and previous schools as well as lots of supporting evidence.

[Wowcherarestalkingme]

I dont think it is too early to enquire. I’m sure they get asked it quite often and at least then you are informed

[Wowcherarestalkingme]

And yes policies could change but I would imagine this to be unlikely to be fair

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

GCSE results statistics are based on the cohort in their correct year group, so a pupil out of year doesn’t count towards their results. That can make quite a difference sometimes. It’s not a problem for you, but it might be for a secondary school you choose.

[CyanBee]

My son finished year 6 in July and was not ready for secondary transfer in our opinion. We got the LA to agree to delay for a year. The policy is different for every LA so check your local LA policy online for 'education out of chronological age'. There is also a National white paper which we used ' (Schools admission code 2014), LAs are required by law to take the best interests of the child into consideration when deciding whether to grant this request or not so be prepared to show evidence. We submitted a ton of reports (he has dyspraxia, born prem late August). We decided to home educate him this year as he has alot of catching up to do so the funding issue is not relevant to us. Good luck