Help! Moving from California with a DS entering Year 11.

There aren't any real penalties if a 17yo isn't in education, though, it's a law without teeth.

Sometimes I think MNers are made of money. Maybe it's just the Londoners.

ASL is £25k a year. The OP has repeatedly said they have to use state schools.

ASL (American School in London is very preppy and very American. Many families are high-earning corporate ex-pats. A disproportionate number of graduates will go to an Ivy, Stanford, or top selective US college. I don't know what his chances of financial aid are, but would your son be happy there?

They live in the world of American ex-pat families - and aim to keep the kids within the American system during their time in London. This isn't a bad thing - some of the families move frequently, which can be hard on the children.

I'd be more concerned about the social side of his spending one year there (if he could) then switching to a London sixth-form college. That's two culture shocks in as many years - especially for a kid who just had a bad year in 10th grade.

The British system is much more rigid than the US, as everyone has been saying. My advice would be for your husband to go talk to as many schools as possible - talk to ASL (they're very nice), talk to the form tutors at Stoke Newington, visit Islington Sixth Form College (it used to be very rough, now it's doing the IB - but how many kids get the diploma? What grades do they get?)

Talk to the sixth-form colleges in the areas you're looking at. Explain the situation and ask what it would take for them to accept your son for Sept 2014.

There's an IB school in the Isle of Dogs with mixed intake and good results - www.georgegreens.com/pdfs/sixthformprospectus2011.pdf

IB could be a good solution for your son - it's a bit harder to get into UK universities than A-levels, but not too bad - and, of course, most good US colleges are familiar with it. So you're keeping his options open. And he would be having a British not an ex-pat experience.

FYI
The SCHOOL LEAVING AGE has changed.

Here is a cut and paste quote from the Department of Education Website.

The Government is increasing the age to which all young people in England must continue in education or training, requiring them to continue until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 from 2013 and until their 18th birthday from 2015

Young people currently in Year 11 and below are affected

Raising the participation age (RPA) does not mean young people must stay in school; they will able to choose one of the following options post-16:

full-time education, such as school, college or home education
an apprenticeship
part-time education or training if they are employed, self-employed or volunteering full-time (which is defined as 20 hours or more a week)"

So, yes technically, kids can leave school at 16 but they have o be involved in some sort of further training^

saturdaysunday I pm'd you

Not true, Coconutty, he is of compulsory education age until June of Year 11 and must be in full-time education until then. (Third Friday in June, I think?) People often say that compulsory school age is 5-16 but that isn't accurate at either end; it's just shorthand.

After that, until his 18th birthday he must participate in education of some sort - this can be full-time education, or if he is doing a substantial amount of voluntary or paid work then part-time education on top of the work. There are many ways to meet this requirement including apprenticeships.

I think you should give some more thought to the idea of home education, and learn more about what it is really like. It's a very liberating alternative which would allow your son to study whatever, whenever and however he likes. There are a lot of crazy things about the school system, but nowhere is its inflexibility so shocking as for a young person in your son's situation. Give it a miss.

Your son is looking forward to the excitement of being in a new country. It seems a shame to bring him here only to put his nose to the grindstone satisfying the demands of a rigid system. I can't see that he'd get much time to socialise at school during a time when all his classmates are knuckling down getting ready for exams and he himself is working even harder than they are to "catch up" with a "missed year" of education.

If you go with the home ed option, having a two year old is neither here nor there. A sixteen year old is unlikely to be getting taught by mum anyway, unless you have some specific background that would be helpful to him, in which case you could spend a few hours a week helping him. He'd be working under his own steam (good preparation for university), possibly with tutors or distance learning or a local home ed study group if he wants extra support.

He can choose to do IGCSE exams if he wants. If he does, he can do them at whatever pace is right for him, subject to availability of an exam centre at the time he wants to sit them. He can do as many or as few as he likes, in any order he likes.

He can do courses (part-time or full-time) at a local college. It used to be tricky to arrange funding for a Year 11 to do this, but from this September that is changing and colleges can fund young people in Y10 and Y11 directly. Colleges may or may not be flexible in accepting him without any GCSEs; experiences of home educated teens in attempting this vary. (Common wisdom is to approach subject tutors rather than admission tutors in the first instance, as the former are more likely to be flexible.)

If he's planning to return to an American university then he could go with an American curriculum. Or he could put together his own programme of study, choosing whatever is right for him in each of the subjects he wants to study; that "pick-and-mix" approach is very common among home educated teens here. If university is on the horizon then he'll want to keep an eye on what the universities would consider to be acceptable evidence of preparedness. I expect that doing ACTs or SATs would be a straightforward piece of the puzzle. Some universities are accustomed to receiving applications from young people who come from a range of backgrounds.

The Open University is very well-regarded and gives excellent support. It has been popular with academically-inclined home educated teens, though recent funding changes make the OU a less attractive option now than it once was.

Your lad could get out and about and learn that way. There are plenty of fantastic museums and historic sites on your doorstep and farther afield. Public transport is probably better than you are used to. My teenager and her friends roam around readily.

As for social opportunities, school isn't the only place to find friends. In your area there may or may not be a ready-made social network for home educated teens to plug into. If not, what about a part-time job? There are many interesting volunteer opportunities available to over-16s too. Or he can join a club or do sports.

You say that this move represents a great adventure to your son. Don't lose sight of that by pushing him into a restrictive learning environment when there are so many other options available.

www.educationotherwise.net/
www.nwilts-he.org.uk/he_exams_wiki/index.php/Main_Page
www.open.ac.uk/about/main/
vinspired.com/
edyourself.org/articles/WolfReport.php#emailtoparentapril26th

If your son stays in the US for year 11 and then comes to the UK then he should consider doing the IB. Here is a list of state schools offering the IB in the UK.

Also, if he does decide to study in the UK, then it's breadth would compensate for your sons lack of GCSEs.

I don't see that putting him in year ten when he should be in year 11 as a viable option as he is so old in the year anyhow, especially as he is academic.

they also offer financial aid

Financial aid

ASL believes that students who meet the School?s admissions requirements should have the opportunity to benefit from the School?s programs. Financial aid is available for tuition and for additional fees noted above, including the SLD program and trips. Financial aid awards are based on need; applications for financial aid are assessed by the School?s confidential Financial Aid Committee. Financial aid is awarded on an annual basis. Further information concerning financial aid is available from the website or the admissions office. Application for financial aid may be made via the School?s website.

would this not be the best option?
www.asl.org/here

ha ha yoni I am so worked up about this I am practically ready to ring up my local academies on the OP's behalf! but I am a gemini and think rules are stupid

I am supposed to be revising for law exams, this is much more interesting

yy marina, not suggesting that scenario, but something like:

--come to London and do year 11 in the US system somehow (private; homeschool; distance learning), then join year 12 at a state school;
--come to London and go into the UK system in y11, but do a reduced programme of GCSEs in core subjects as yoni suggests;
--stay in the US next year, come for year 12;
--whatever the choice, support DS to get his SATs

For me I think this business of getting a full set of GCSEs is something of a red herring.
--the OP can fight for her DS to be accepted for A levels without having GCSEs. I don't see that this is such a problem, coming from another system is hardly 'without qualifications', any headteacher taking that attitude is failing the child;
--if DS decides to apply to university in the UK, he will have A2s;
--universities in the US won't give a rats about lack of GCSEs, as long as he has reasonable transcripts. SATs will shore him up even more in that regard and the standardised tests are straightforward to prepare for whereever you are (there is lots of support available in London)

Thanks rooty, I feel wise

Rootypig I see your point, but for everyone involved trying to rush through GCSEs in half the time is an absolute nightmare, trust me. DFD had already completed most of year 10 in terms of modules and controlled assessments, so we've only been trying to catch her up with 2 terms worth, not 3-5. She's stressed, she's spent most of her lunchtimes for the last two months in one-to-one revision sessions, done numerous hours after school to catch up with CAs, leaving her hardly any time to settle down and make friends. Her teachers have been incredible- trust me, at most of the schools I've worked at they wouldn't be willing to give up so many lunchtimes. Now I appreciate the OP's son is in a slightly different situation in that he is switching systems rather than coming back after missing a year, but in subjects like English, History, Geography etc he will have been taught completely different content, and in Science, Maths, etc he'll be behind in some aspects but not in others. Language wise I'm assuming he'll have been taught Spanish- not so many schools offer this in the UK, plus it's taught in a completely different way to the US what with controlled assessments. More likely than not he will come out with a set of qualifications not reflective of his academic ability, but of having to rush through the course in half the time. I wouldn't sentence any child to that.

Yoni's 2nd suggestion is the best I've heard so far.

honestly, any London headteacher / head of year 11 who can't solve a problem as simple as accepting an English speaking kid who is on track for his age group needs a slap round the chops imo.

It is worth noting that while full time education is compulsory to 16, GCSEs are not compulsory. You son, turning 16 this September, will be perfectly free not to go to school at all in the UK - I'm not suggesting that is a good idea, but feel like some posts are confusing the legal requirements! as ever in life, there is more room to be flexible / creative than most people want to consider.

sorry, am having a super opinionated day!

but he's 16 this September! if he goes into year 10 he'll be almost 20 by the time he finishes school

Sorry, hit post too soon. If at all doable, I would go private. In the private system you have the option of starting in Year 10, which would solve all your problems. If a real financial stretch, your son would be able to swap to the state system after GCSEs, entry into 6th form can be delayed because it's not compulsory. But I honestly can't see how entry into year 11 of a state school is going to work without a whole lot of extra stress for your son and his teachers- I wouldn't be happy about having a student in this position in my year 11 class.

oh great, that's more than half the battle! you'll be fine. fight hard to keep him in the 'right' year if you can, would be my advice (based on my own experience of moving systems as a child). better for him to push forward and work hard than sit about spinning his wheels for a year.

Entering at year 12 would avoid all the craziness so to speak, yes. The difficulty is that AS and A levels are not compulsory as GCSEs are, so entry to 6th form is dependent on certain GCSE grades- normally at least Cs in English, Maths and Sciences and Bs in subjects studying for AS level. So if your son were to remain in the US for this year and come into the UK system in year 12, he would avoid the GCSE issue, but would have a whole new problem trying to get a 6th form place without the qualifications. I know an American family whose DD went into the UK system in year 12, but as a High School graduate into a private 6th form with an entrance exam, so a slightly different scenario.

Going in at year 12 would also be an issue because A levels are typically only taken in 3/4 subjects and tend to be more specialised and relevant to what the student wants to go on to do- Ie maths, biology and chemistry for medicine or history, English literature and French for a history degree. So even if your son were to be accepted into a UK 6th form without GCSEs, he would be leaving school without qualifications in at least some of the 'core' subjects needed for job applications even at the most basic level, making applications to both American and UK universities almost impossible. Some 6th forms offer the chance to resit GCSEs alongside A levels, although this would only be the basics like English and Maths, maybe some others if you're really lucky- you would be unlikely to be able to get a full set of GCSEs this way. This was one of the reasons DFD chose to rush through hers this year, despite missing most of year 11.

I think you need to speak to someone in the education departments at the Local Authorities you're considering, but here are two ideas to consider:

1. Both schools I have worked in would (and did) take Year 11 aged pupils in Year 10. They tend/ed to be pupils who were in Local Authority care or those who had traveled extensively, and if they messed up then they were kicked out (legally) in Year 11, but the schools certainly accepted them and let them start at a sensible point in the curriculum. Both of these schools were undersubscribed though (still had places available in all year groups) and, from what I understand, that is very unlikely in London. Would DH be able to work out of any other cities? Manchester? Birmingham? Cardiff? There may be more undersubscribed schools near there.

2. If it has to be London and it has to be Year 11 and you'll be home with DD anyway, then I think you need to talk to head teachers to arrange a sensible reduced timetable. For example, could DS do English, maths, science, plus three extra subjects that he enjoys/is good at and be freed up the rest of the time to catch up on last year's controlled assessments? (Most likely doing the prep at home, with limited teacher support, but with help from you)

Good luck.

hey OP I've replied on your other thread to say I think entering for 6th form (the generic term for years 12 & 13) would work well.

But in response to some of the responses here, I also wanted to say that as someone who moved education systems as a child, I don't think you'll be f-ing up your son's life or education by moving now, though of course a lot of thought and planning will be needed to make it go smoothly. London is an amazing city - more so now than ever - and the chance for him to see some of the world is a wonderful one. How does your son feel about it? you don't say. US universities in particular are very used to candidates coming from a few different systems and I've suggested in my other response that your son talks to a few admissions offices while you're still over there about how admissions will work without a full US transcript, so that he knows what he's working towards / makes the right choices.