Year 7 in year transfer, urgent help and advice needed pls!

[DadknowsBest]

Hi Parents,
Hope your little stars are settling in.

Please can you help me, I am knew to mumsnet.

My Son has started school, the school in question was his last choice on eAdmissions, now we originally only selected 3 schools all outstanding by ofsted, I read all the reports for each. My Son was happy with those.

A week or so later I get a reminder from eadmissions saying its a good idea to select more schools in case my son does not get any offers. I felt forced into choosing a school, as we couldnt think of any other, top 5 on my list were all ‘outstanding’, the very last has ‘requires improvement’ 5 years running!

Low and behold my son gets an acceptance email for that last choice and then they advise to accept it as he may not get another offer though we will go on the waiting list for others. Still we have had no calls backs and my son was forced into a school by the council, a school that has seen its highest years of exclusions due to ‘really bad behavior’ (god only knows what these kids did to get kicked out!) there was in class bad behavior where teachers were unable to control them (or couldnt be bothered), and teachers not aligned across classes!

My Son is super bright, for e.g he knows algebra, fractions at GCSE level, upto 35 times tables off by heart, he is very smart however is very soft hearted and fragile.

I saw him come out the school gate, bottle knecked in a tiny gate with older years pushing through, he was so scared my heart sank!

He told me in his first maths class they went over the 12x tables! I was like EXCUSE ME! What the hell is that! Of course my son knew it all but reiterated to me he knew 12x tables back in early primary school! What sort if education is that!

I really am shocked, the council forced my child into a school we did not want, the very last on our list and one with the worst result! Additionally I can sense the hostile enviroment, the school is agressive, there is bullying even though the school states a policy, I can see my sons education going down hill very fast and getting bullied!

I have written a letter of complaint to the council advising all of this, going on to discuss peer pressure to select the given school!

Does anyone know how I can go about in year transfer? how best to approah and attack this appeal? I couldnt sleep a wink last night worried. I know many of you are or may have been in similar positions and may be able to share your success!

I will move homes if I have to, thats how extreme it is, I simply cannot let my childs education go to waste.

Bullying is a life changing experience, ive suffered it myself so I can see the early signs.

Thank you all in advance

J

[SassitudeandSparkle]

OP, I understand how stressful it is when you don't get the school you want but you are massively over-reacting to one incident at a busy gate! Your son is not you and may not experience the same as you.

Why didn't you get any of the other schools - was it distance, did you put down schools a long way from your home? Did you go on the waiting list for any of those schools? If they don't have spaces then it's probably not possible to move him at the moment. You can ask schools you are interested in if they have a space, that would be the first thing.

[TeenTimesTwo]

Deep breath.

1. If you hadn't put that 6th school down, he still wouldn't have got any of the other 5 you listed, that's not how it works. He might have ended up at a 'worse' school even further away.
   
   
2. Jostling at the school gate at the end of the day is not bullying. The big kids look scary because they are big, but in all likelihood they will take no notice of the y7s. Don't project your experience onto normal behaviour.
   
   
3. In the first week or so they will be identifying what the kids know and what they don't in maths. they won't want to be scaring any of them. many will be rusty after the long gap between SATs and September having done little maths. Are they set for maths yet? If not do you know when? Once they get going properly there should always be the chance to ask for extension work.
   
   
   So, to answer your question/issues re in year transfers.
   
   a) Are you on the waiting lists for any school you consider to be more acceptable than the current one. If not then do this. But depending where you are on the waiting list (set by order of admission criteria) this might not help. However, once kids are in school, many are reluctant to move so you could be quite far down and still get offered a place if one comes up.
   
   b) Did you appeal for any of your preferred schools, making the case as to why your son would be more disadvantaged by not attending than by them having to take an extra pupil? If you didn't then you can still do so. You can make 1 appeal per school each school year. But you can't appeal based on rubbish education or poor Ofsteds. You have to find things the preferred schools offer that the exisiting doesn't. (e.g. chances to enter maths kangaroo / Olympiad competitions).
   
   c) Moving homes may get you higher up waiting lists, but won't get you in unless a space occurs.
   
   
   So in summary:
   

• Calm down.
  
• Try to be positive to your DS, he might be here for a while, and it probably isn't as bad as you are thinking
  
• Work quietly behind the scenes to find an alternative, but don't make promises out of your control to your DS.

[cloudtree]

I think you need to get some perspective.

Its may well be possible to change your child's school. But to do that on the basis that they were doing 12 times tables in the first maths lesson is a complete overreaction. Can I ask if you went through the English school system? They learn their tables up to 12. Its standard. Most will know these by heart in year 2/3/4. Knowing your 35 times table is highly unusual (and I would suggest not very useful). The teachers are clearly just checking who knows what in the first few lessons.

DS2 has just started at a very highly rated academically selective independent school. In his first maths lesson they did long multiplication which he (and I suspect every other child in the class) could do years ago.

[Bombardier25966]

If you've not yet sent that letter, please don't. You were not forced to accept the school place, and nothing you have described is out of place.

Did you not appeal at the relevant time?

You are free to apply for an in year transfer (if you're not already on the waiting lists), but you don't give any grounds why your son would be be an exception and so would only be placed according to the usual oversubscription criteria.

(And no one needs to know their 35 times table. The teacher will be focusing on relevant learning, not random stuff for Countdown.)

[RedSkyLastNight]

All school have bullying (it's how they deal with it that is important)
All schools have bigger children that will look huge to your Y7 child.
All schools have a certain amount of jostling at home time.
All schools spend the first few weeks of Y7 going through maths that most will have covered in primary school.

Requires improvement used to be "satisfactory".
Schools with an RI rating tend to make efforts to improve; schools with outstanding ratings can coast.

Please give the school a chance before you write it off.

[DadknowsBest]

hi,
We are not sure, they gave no explanation to be honest.
I am calm now, it was that morning feeling.

Thanks for responding.
I must add though that people are quick to dismiss bullying, however until you have been a victim it is easy to point out the that I a over reacting. I was just told by my wife that my son confided to my other son that a boy took his bandanna off his head ( wears for personal reasons).
I know the tell tell signs of bullying very well

Thanks

[cloudtree]

I think you're projecting OP. Highly unlikely that some older children pushing past at a gate is a sign of bullying.

[DadknowsBest]

thanks for the response albeit It is very easy to say that,
However 5 years running it has had same results, the inspection report does not shy away from bad behaviour and the teachers inconsistencies so I don't understand how you can tell me to give a school a chance.

thanks for the opinion. its all helpful

[maz99]

DadKnows, do you know if your son’s name is on the waiting list for all the schools you listed higher on the eAdmission form?
This should’ve been done automatically, but you should phone your council’s School Admission department to check.

Do you know what position he is on those lists? Your council’s School Admission department may have this information, or you may need to phone each school’s admission officer.

If your son is not in high position on any of the lists, you may want to consider putting your son’s down on waiting lists for other schools you hadn’t considered before.

[Lumpy76]

In year applications to secondary schools are usually dealt with by schools themselves. Ring around the schools you want and ask to speak to their admissions officer - I would expect you to get into a school of your liking within 2 terms...people move etc and even when there’s a waiting list most people choose to stay where they’re placed in the end. In the mean time have you considered home education? Very bright children usually do very well with home education and it in no way affects them going back into the school system. I’ve done it myself with most of my children. My eldest is exceptionally bright and found yr 7 extremely difficult and unpleasant. She stuck it out for yr8 and then we home educated for yr 9. We moved and she went into a new school and has done really well there.

[RedSkyLastNight]

A couple of incidents on one day does not constitute "bullying".

Schools do not get inspected every year, so saying the school has the same Ofsted rating for the last 5 years is irrelevant - you need to look at when it was last inspected.
Generally schools come down hard on anything that Ofsted highlights. If the Ofsted report mentions bad behaviour, then the school will most likely be directing their efforts at improving it.

I think you have gone in with a very negative view of the school and are determined not to like it. I can't see anything you've said that might not have happened at any other school (including an Ofsted outstanding one).

[DadknowsBest]

Thanks for the reply,
It is very helpful and I totally understand what you are saying and will take it all into account.

2) I know what jostling is, this was a barge! There is a fine line between jostling and barging, barding is a force against another, I know as I was a victim to this and it occurs a lot by dominant pupils to show power. this don't just happen at schools, this is everywhere and it a major cause of teenagers hurting one another in and out of school! When your child has been made to destabilize his footing that is not the result of jostling

3) I have to disagree there, in primary school they reach levels of fractions and algebra, times tables happens very early on. Key stages required for secondary education follows a syllabus with the understanding children know there times tables, surely all the parents here can agree that times tables was done at primary school, we all sat there with them doing the homework.

a) yes we are on the waiting list and we will wait and push as much as we can

b) I have not yet appealed but would be looking to do this.

It is important to note that when someone has been a victim of bullying it becomes second nature to spot it early on. those lonely nights in bed, crying and afraid, delaying getting ready and not talking to anyone at home. I have been there. I have however come out on top and it all happened when I to switched school and moved away from bullies to a school where I made best friend.

In summary we as parents are here for a reason, to protect and ensure our children get the education they deserve, my anger is purely at that and I can tame it, I just feel let down that is all.

Thanks you once again for the advice, much appreciated.

[steppemum]

as others have said, the reason you got this school was that you are not eligible for the others.
Maybe you live too far away, maybe there were loads of siblings that got places ahead of you, whatever the reason, it was NOT personal.

The places are strictly (and legally) done and usually by computer. If you were not eligible for the first 5, and left the last place blank, you would have been allocated a place in the nearest school with places. That could be the school you are at now, or a school miles and miles away as all the others are full.

The advice to accept the place was good, as once you reject that place the local authority stops helping you. They will not suddenly offer you another place. You should have been advised to appeal for the place you wanted. Do check you are still on waiting lists for the other schools.

Year 7 are tiny and small and it takes time for them to adjust to the hurly burly if secondary school. They all feel overwhelmed at first and may get teased etc by the older kids.
In every school the first few maths classes will go over work, and work out where the kids are.

What can you do now:

1. phone up and ask about the schools you are on waiting lists for. Ask where you are on the list and how likely it is that there will be movement.
   
2. find out when and if the current school puts kids onto sets for English and Maths (and maybe other subjects) Most school do put them into sets, and usually a few weeks into term. If they are planning to do that, you need to be patient. If they don't do that, then it would be an encouragement to move schools.
   
3. Calm down. I am not trying to be patronising, but you have had 1 day. Bullying does not take place one day. You may or may not be right, but marching in now and talking about bullying will not help.
   

Even in a bad school, kids who are motivated and want to learn can do well. I can think of one school where the top group in English and Maths were like a quiet oasis in the middle of a crap school, and the kids did well in exams. The rest of the school did badly. In your position I would want to move too, but if you can't it may not be a disaster, be prepared to work with the school, it is the only one you have right now.

[stellabird]

my son confided to my other son that a boy took his bandanna off his head ( wears for personal reasons)

Whatever his personal reasons for wearing a bandana to school, sorry but he needs to stop wearing it. Bandanas can denote many things, but whatever his reasons are, it will make him stand out and will put a very obvious target on his back . If you don't want him to get bullied, I'd suggest that you gently let him know to stop making himself stand out as being "different" in a way which is entirely unnecessary.

[DadknowsBest]

last inspection May 2018!
I thoroughly research my findings, but thanks.
All you have done here is shot down my finding and facts!

would you shop at your local supermarket if they reported rat infestation for the 5th consecutive year? even though they said we look to improve the store?

would you send you teen child to a driving instructor who has failed 100% of his students 5 years in a row?

Would you by an item from an amazon or ebay seller who has noting but bad feedback?

I am pretty dam sure you wouldn't!
there is a reason Ofsted do these inspections to enable the schools to improve and for parents to make the rights choices for their children.

Thanks for the input but like I said all you have done is shot down my facts!

[Bombardier25966]

Have you had any counselling yourself OP? It's not unusual for the effects of bullying to stay with people throughout adulthood, and it strongly sounds like that is the case here.

Does your son have a disability? You mention a bandana. Is there something the school should be aware of, that he needs additional support for?

[DadknowsBest]

Thank you for the response, very helpful indeed.

[RedSkyLastNight]

You seem to misunderstand the RI rating - it does not mean the school has a major failing (as a rat infestation in a supermarket would be), it means there are things they can improve.

My DD spent 2 years in an infants school that was rated "satisfactory" (which is what RI used to be) and 3 years in a junior school rated "requires improvement". And the school was fine and she did well. You are overly invested in the Ofsted rating - I've had friends who pulled their children out of "outstanding" schools as they did not support their child. As I asked before, when was the last Ofsted inspection even carried out?

[DadknowsBest]

good questions,
I am actually OK,now I look back and see what I could have done different, like speak to someone.
I can look back and actually laugh at how I let that bully get away with it.

My son has a bald patch on his head, docs said it will come back but for the mean time he can if he likes wear a banana.

[HiHoToffee]

It is very likely that most parents didn't choose this school but were allocated it, just like you, because of how school admissions work.

[AlexanderHamilton]

A boy in my dd's school used to wear a bandana because he had trixymania something or other so there are genuine reasons.

However its the first week of term. Schools will be finding out what the kids do and don't know. They won't want to rely on SATS (some kids may not have done SATS). You are lucky they actually did any maths, at the selctive private school ds went to for 2 years the first week was spent covering books and making name badges.

Setting often happens around half term. My dd complained in year 7 that the maths she did at first was really easy (she'd come from a prep school wherer they really pushed them on) .

Fast forward 5 years and she just came out with a Grade 8 GCSE (& maths isn't her strength, English is).

You need to gove the school a chance, its early days yet.

[DadknowsBest]

I answered that question to you May 2018, 4 months ago!

[AlexanderHamilton]

RedSky - yes, I pulled ds out of the supposedly best school in the county as they did not support his needs and he was dreadfully unhappy.

[DadknowsBest]

I will do, thank you for the advice.

I understand I am a little on edge and I am calm now :)

but thanks

[BertrandRussell]

Why did you not get a place at any of your preferred schools?