Moving from Independent to State at Sixth Form

hotgossip
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Hi, this is my first message on Mumsnet and I wonder if anyone can help. My daughter has moved to a state 6th form from a small private school, where she has been since Year 7. She hates it so much and has just told me she's anorexic through worrying about it all summer. The doctor has confirmed it. Now she won't go back to new school as she says it won't help her get better, this is despite talks with the mentor there who has done her best to reassure her. She want to go back to her old school but it isn't an option, for various reasons, so I am scrabbling around to find a school she will go to, whilst dealing with her low state of mind and eating disorder. She's worried that she will have to take a year out if she doesn't find somewhere soon (her grades were A*). Dad unsympathetic. Not sure what I can do. I have very little time left before its too late for her to go anywhere, even if they will take her! Anyone else been in this situation?

Talkinpeace - shush!. Don't tell the world about Symonds - I want a place there for ds in 2012!

OP - lots of kids move at sixth form because their school doesn't have a sixth form, and it is a natural break point.

The school wanst your money, hence the comment about not moving him.

My ds is at an International school abroad, and will hopefully be going to Symonds mentioned above as a boarder in September 2012. We aren't due to move back to UK until August 2013 (at the end of Year 12), and so Symonds for us provides the perfect solution if we can get him in.

Ds is looking forward to it as the chance for a wider range of subjects at A level than is available here, and the opportunity to do all the things that I did at Symonds in the 80s without me making cats bum mouth faces at him.

Moving them at sixth form is common and does work well. It also gives them more idea of what it will be like at Uni, rather than having to do the work at an Indy.

My DCs school has a large sixth form which regularly take on a number of new pupils in sixth form from Private schools. Although parents can worry a bit, in my experience they do just as well as at their old school (eg. still get into Oxbridge). They also seem to be fully integrated, there is a big jump in maturity between school and sixth form, and whole new groups form. There are also a lot of sixth form only activities, such as rag week, which help new pupils settle in.

I would have your DS visit the local sixth form and another Ind. School to see which he prefers. There is no point him staying at the existing school if he is unhappy - he won't do his best and his grades may suffer. He will probably get a gut feeling which he prefers. Also look at which school is best for his particular subjects then at least you can make an informed decision educationally. Also see how many 6th formers are "new" intake - if a large percentage of existing state school pupils move upto the state 6th form he may struggle to make new friends, so wouldn't be any better by moving. However, if a good percentage are "new" pupils, then quite a few will be in the same boat and he might find it easier to mix. Also, have you checked to see if there is a large new intake at 6th form at his existing school - he may be able to make new friends without moving - a lot of Ind Schools take in new pupils at 6th form so it might be worth asking the head. Good luck !

I had a couple of friends who moved from the private sector to our state sixth form (part of comprehensive school, not a college). They were really happy, and went on to achieve everything they would have wanted to. I think moving to a sixth form college might be too much of a culture shock because it's not structured like school at all, but a good sixth form in a comprehensive can be a total joy. If your son is motivated and clever, he will do just as well, and it's a myth that they won't support you or chase for work, because if you're a potential oxbridge candidate they really look after you.

And if it's social problems he's having, probably time to get him into a school with some girls, it totally changes the atmosphere, and will better prepare him for uni! Good luck whatever he choses.

Peter Symonds College in Winchester takes in LOADS from the private schools every year.

The problem seems to be nothing to do with education though. Is there any way the school and you as parents could do to try to resolve the issue between the boys? The critical thing for your DS's happiness mst surely be to restore his confidence: but would cutting and running do more harm than good? Could you talk frankly to any of the other boys parents? Those suggestions may sound weak but if the relationship problem could only be patched up then at least your DS wouldn't feel he'd been pushed out by his peers or run away from the problem. Does the school have a counsellor your DS could trust? Any of that sort of stuff? These things can cast such a shadow.

senua I'm sorry to hear about your friend's DS. It sometimes comes with the territory. I hope he's moving in the right direction at least.

The business outfit to whom you are paying thousands and thousands a year don't think you should stop paying it? Wonders will never cease.

Most state Sixths are now not taking any more applications anyway.

Partly it depends on how self motivated the lad is. Independent schools nurse and nag the pupils into producing work, even in sixth form.

For my own son, the move back into the maintained sector was brilliant for his social life. But he didn't meet his predicted grades at A2 - and that was entirely his own fault, not the school's.

I find it a bit sad that you and your DS are so unsure of yourselves. It sounds as if the school has got you brainwashed into thinking that it is them and not the children that get the results.

Can you get a list of grades achieved, subject by subject, at AS/A2 level at the target school/college. If no-one ever gets above a Grade D then you know that it is a rubbish school. If anyone ever gets a Grade A then you know that the school must be doing something right - so DS will have confidence that grades are acheivable at this school, and his success (or lack of!) will all be down to him.

PS Grades are not everything. I have a friend who has a very high-acheiving DS. Got into a prestigious school, got excellent GCSE and A Levels, got into Cambridge. He is currently back home with his parents having had a breakdown. They would rather have happiness than grades any day.

My little brother did this - moved from a very good independent to the local state school. He LOVED it. He really appreciated the independence he was given, the fact there were girls as well & I think most important of all to him was that his friends lived locally, where as at his indy most pupils came from quite a distance to him. He got his 4 As & went to an RG uni.

"Ds is very confused himself about what to do for the best - whether to carry on here for another two years ( for the sake of good grades and good Uni) or move and hope he can achieve the same elsewhere."

Don't forget the third way - tutoring. If you went State but had a lesson of tutoring a week to bump up grades for all four subjects, it would still work out cheaper than Indie school.
Does he excel at / participate in any sport? That is usually the way in to other boys' social favour.

I did this myself, so

Primary School- State
11-16- Private (Day)
Sixth Form- State

I definitely made the right decision. For me it was based on the fact that my school had quite a small sixth form so some classes would have been only 3/4, whereas the 6th form college was very big, so classes were c.15.

Also, I think that the sixth form environment- (no uniform, we only had to attend for lessons, there was no hot housing, if coursework wasn't handed in you weren't chased- just got a zero) really prepared me for studying at Cambridge where I only had 1 hour of mandatory contact time a week. I was already used to organising my time and motivating myself. However, my sister did the same thing and didn't do very well at A-level because she didn't really adapt to the lack of structure, so it depends on the person I think.

On the downside, the minimum requirement for studying an A-level at the 6th form college was a C at GCSE so the classes were, to put it mildly, very mixed in terms of ability- pretty high failure rate. I didn't have many peers within my classes (I know that sounds arrogant but it was true). I definitely wasn't stretched beyond A-level standard so I did find the first year of Uni quite tough in terms of getting my critical thinking to a higher level.

My decision was made easier by the fact that my private school wasn't particularly great anyway- non-selective, teaching a bit mixed.

On a more cynical note, the top universities are trying to improve their intakes from state schools, and the stats only look at "last port of call" so to speak, so applying from a state rather than an indy could help him.

How self motivated is he? I would say that in general, state schools pupils have to drive themselves to the top grades whereas the indy's make it more clear just what work load is expected and required to get there.

I did this (many moons ago) and it worked out fantastically. I hated the atmosphere at my school (very Conservative and teacher-led). I loved sixth form college and got 4 A levels and an AS (back when not everyone did them). I responded better to independence and younger (more enthusiastic) teachers. It prepped me better for University as well, since I could work alone and self-motivate.

Good luck.

I think if you scour league tables a lot of state schools really come into their own at A level - equally independants can be less strong than at gcse

Make sure you know the correct time to apply to state 6th form.
The most competitive probably have a 1 or 2 day period to get your application in.
You may have to apply online at Easter time to get the application going (Esher College, SW London)

I would go for another indy, unless you know the state 6th form is brilliant and plenty are, plenty are not and you don't have much room for error.
Personally I am planning to move mine back to indy for 6th form having seen the turn around in some children from GCSE to A Level our local school has managed, literally a silk purse from a sow's ear in some cases.

Hi, catseyes. I think you are most likely doing the right thing, but it's also quite likely that you would be able to bail if he was obviously in heaps of trouble at AS with either a return to his indy school or a different indy school. How high a flyer is he academically? Some schools in all sectors are better and getting people to A* than others.