Secondary schooling

Dulwich is a ludicrous journey from Hampstead. But if you are looking at living South of the river then Emanuel is quite arty. Latymer? And the International School in Surrey I think. Many of the independents are used to taking children at slightly out of kilter times because they appreciate parents are shifted with companies. I'd ring them and find out.

We are also moving in to North London (Islington) next year and looking for a school for DS born in Jan 2001. We are looking at Mill Hill - easy tube ride from Hampstead - and Forest School - 40 mins Hampstead Heath overground to Stratford Intl and then 10 mins on tube. Also had North Bridge House suggested to us which is in Hampstead although only goes to 16 yrs old. Since going onto MN also now looking at Emanuel in Battersea - 35 minutes by train from Hampstead Heath to Clapham Junction - short journey for London. As you look at schools go to the Transport for London's journey planner and you can see how long everything takes. Finally - a lot of schools have sample papers on their admissions pages - if you look at those you may get an idea of where your DS is academically.

and in the state system, which may yet be your fall back even though you are currently looking at private schools, he would go into year 9 in January , 10 in September . There is minimal room for discretion or negotiation and even then it is a very protracted process.

It is irrelevant whether you want him going into year 8 in January or 9 in September (presumably for a Year 9 only entry school) , you will struggle to find any school willing to take him out of synch with his peers unless you have sound evidence of SEN etc which in itself may count against him being accepted. Even if you did, be aware that registration for next September's year 9 entry tests will close very soon - between now and December - and tests could be either December /January so you won't have much time to negotiate or prep him in the meantime. If he goes into his correct year group in January , ie Year 9 , he wouldn't have to sit those same tests or face the uncertainty of having no place at all for September. Given your situation your priority should be to get him into a school in January. If he struggles you may be able to negotiate repeating year 9 in an independent school from September, - then again, he may surprise you.

I would strongly suggest you get professional advice GABBITAS or the Good Schools Guide consultancy are good people to talk to.

The English education system works differently from that in Australia. Like most (if not all) school systems in the Northern Hemisphere, the school year goes from September to July. In England the cut off point for a new cohort is the 1st of September.
As children start in reception in the year following their 4th birthday, and from Reception then go into year 1, after their 5th birthday; your son would be in Year 9 now or when you arrive in January/February.

For private schools the big intakes are for years 7 and 9. They may allow some flexibility of which year group to place your son, but do not rely on this.

Next London is a very busy place, and whilst schools may try to accommodate you, there is no guarantee that they will have room (even in the private system). There will also be entry tests, which may be for selection as much as placement.

The main GCSE years in England are years 10&11. Then there are A'levels in years 12&13. If you are moving in January you will need to stay for at least 4 1/2 years for him to complete his schooling, or get him into a school which has boarding places, for him to complete his A'levels.

You are also leaving things quite late, it may not be you choosing a school as much as you finding a suitable place. This is why a specialist consultant could help you immensely, especially as you are on such a different time zone.

If he goes into year 9 in Sept 2014 he will be a year older than his peers. You would have to speak to the school to assess whether be should be placed outside his correct year group.

You might find a school willing to use their discretion to put him into Year 8 instead of 9 but realistically I fear you may struggle to find places at all. Do remember that just because year groups are called the same , due to difference sin the timing of academic year and curriculum , he may not actually be academically "behind" his UK peers. ds went for Grade 1 into Year 3 on our return to UK. Most independent schools will have an entrance test and interview, which will vary in their rigorousness and how they apply the results.

If you are looking for a school from Jan 2014 then you will be looking for a place in year 9. Our school year runs from Sept to August so he will go into year 10 in Sept 2014. Ds is June 2004 and in year 5 now. Your ds is 4 years older so he would be in year 9 now and will still in year 9 in January.

So you would need an 11+ school.

Or a school with an attached prep. How about Mill Hill/Belmont?

Decent boarding fr sixth form there too.

If he was born in June 2000, he will be entering half-way through Y9. This is actually not a bad time to move, as in most schools the students start their GCSE courses during Y9 or at the beginning of Y10, so he will be joining at the beginning of the courses.

I did A levels at not quite 17.

Are you sure he'll be placed in Year 7? . That'll put him at 17 doing GCSE's... Why?

Can I just ask, are you likely to be returning to Australia after the 4 years, or moving within the UK, or internationally elsewhere? I ask because I remember a girl joining my year in Sydney in year 11 who should have gone into year 12 but it was deemed necessary for her to do the whole 2 year HSC course; much of what we were doing in year 11 was wasting her time to be honest. Admittedly this was now some years ago!

Given that your timescale will encompass GCSEs in the UK you may want to have an idea of how your son's education will continue depending on your own movements thereafter (eg, boarding 6th form?).

Good luck sorting out a good solution!

Have a look at Aldenham School in Elstree. They are not super academic, have excellent art, music and sport. They also have coaches from many areas of N London.

And a lot of schools are very flexible if you are applying from overseas - those with a reasonable number of overseas students or in expat-y areas will be used to this sort of scenario.

If you're going to be in North London, you might have a look at some of the schools in Herts. In my experience (but only with girls) it is often easier to slot them in if they don't sit in the "normal" intake of 11+ or 13+. Every school we enquired about for DD2, who entered in Year 8, had places. At the end of the day, schools are businesses and they want to get places filled regardless.

In UK, a pupil born in June 00 would normally be in year 9. The independent sector would be more receptive to placing a child outside the normal age cohort than the state sector.

Dulwich College is a very good school, especially under the current head Dr Spence who is excellent. The Dulwich schools run a coach service covering a lot of south, west and central London, which gives you quite a large area to look for a house, but I don't think it goes right up to the areas of N London you mention in OP. it might be worth ringing or emailing their registrar to see how much flexibility they can offer in terms of placing outside year group. If you look at their website, under the "boarding" section, they have a supplement to the prospectus for overseas candidates and that might help you in terms of what they look for. Their regular year 9 entry deadline is imminent, so the sooner you get in touch the better.

I think with your entry point you will have to contact as many schools as possible and ask to be out on their waiting lists. This usually entails a small, non refundable, fee and will obviously add up with the scattergun approach you're likely to have to employ. That being the case I'd start looking exactly where you want to live and work your way out if I were you. As LIZS says unfortunately this is a particularly bad point of entry for boys' private schools as they generally have intake at either 11, 13 or both, in the September following the birthday. Good luck.

If you move to England before next September you are looking for a place in our Year 9, 10 from September 2014. I'm not sure what that will mean to him in terms of academic adjustment but he will be expected to choose GCSE options almost straight away. Occasionally an independent school may hold a child back a year (dd has a couple from HK in her year who are the age of the year above) if they are academically out of synch. This might give you a starting point or could you use a relocation agent to do the leg work for you and find suitable schools with places in that year group. Good luck but I fear you may not find it easy to get a year 9 place as the new intake will only just have started.