Year 11 Child moved from Scotland to England and content to learn overwhelming - son doesn't want to even try

My Ds did GCSE’s last year . After Christmas they stopped teaching and started just revising. I really don’t see how that is doable.

He would be better sitting in Scotland or redoing year 10.

The problem is that this student has moved more than midway through a course into a completely different system. There's not an easy solution, but I'd set up a meeting with the headteacher about damage limitation. The boy is struggling already.

Why extraordinary? It’s always been the case going back decades to when I was in high school.

No probably not re moving him to y 10 but as I say, the systems are not equivalents. He may well be 16 later that most year 11s - the school age is determined from the beginning of March rather than Sept (or at least it certainly was when I went to school/worked there). I would IMAGINE they’ve considered birthdates already but I wouldn’t know how these things are sorted out. Just a thought.

I wasn’t suggesting dropping any more subjects either, simply to revise hard for the key ones and stress less about the ones that aren’t necessary for this young person’s progression route. The school, of course, will want as high results as they can in all subjects and exert pressure BUT an individual young person will need certain things for his future so worth thinking longer term in order to prioritise I’d say.

Ultimately, a young person’s self esteem and wellbeing is at the heart of this so I would go back to the school, ask for a meeting with year head and SENCO and ask what they can do to help/support him to achieve the best he can.

Going back to Year 10 might be the practical answer but if he’s 16 he could be in a year with children who are 14 - insult to injury.

There must have been an incredibly strong reason for moving - although as the OP didn’t explain why the lad couldn’t have remained in Scotland with one parent it’s impossible to understand the motivation for the move.

People keep asking this. While it does seem a reasonable solution, in English schools children are not placed outside their chronological age group. (The only exception being a delayed start in primary school for summer born).

This surely is the answer?

I think the ‘leap’ is because of the way our curriculum in Scotland narrows subject choice after 2nd or 3rd year.

I cant imagine the thinking behind him changing schools at year 11, go back.

This will be impossible and it would be unreasonable to ask.

They won't move him into yr10.
Otherwise, those are good suggestions, @schoolsoutforever , although you know how reluctant schools are to disapply.
We have this is fair bit and it's bad enough if they just come from a different part of England, never mind a completely different system..

You moved him half way through a two year course, so he is going to find it almost impossible. A lot of schools start the content in Yr9 as this helps children who find it difficult. What you are expecting from him is unrealistic and you have set him up to fail. You need to solve this for him rapidly.

I’ve worked in Scotland and England at GCSE/old system S grades. Now teach A Levels.

Two ideas: concentrate mainly on English Lang, maths, a science, and the subjects he is better at. I’m not saying don’t do the work for the others BUT actually he will need certain grades in certain subjects for his next step to college or sixth form at school - research these and then pull out the stops in those.

if he doesn’t get English and Maths he will have to resit them so these two are massively important. English Language is the one he will need to pass for most courses. Perhaps he you could pay for a tutor for some of the key subjects? Doing it all alone is hard.

or
ask the school to consider moving him to year 10. S 4 in Scotland is not really the same thing as Y 11 as the English students have already had a year longer at secondary. He may not like that though.

If he doesn’t ace them all then he can sort it all out at a good,understanding sixth form, even retaking some courses and accessing voc courses to enable uni in some fields if that is what he wants. It might just take a bit longer. Or there’s the apprenticeship route. Still English and Maths passes are vv imp.

You need to find a dyslexia specialist tutor to help him find his confidence again. The SENCo at his school should also be involved and creating a personalised plan to document how they will support him. This might include a therapist counselling to help him with the emotional impact of the move and his belief that he isn’t clever or able to achieve.

The school can’t sleep on this, he will become school avoidant if nothing changes.

Just another thought OP

He can go to college in England from age 14.

It's still early in the term if there is a college course he wants to do, he will sit GCSEs in English and maths alongside what ever course he wants.

They were never united into one country, they are and remain two countries which are united under one crown, so their respective armies report to the same Chief and people can move freely between the two nations, but there's always been loads of differences. The Act of Union that created the UK is basically a treaty not dissimilar to the treaties that created the EU and although the relationship is closer than that between e.g. France & Germany it's a totally different category of relationship than e.g. the relationship between Essex and Sussex (which were also two different kingdoms 1500 years ago)

Scotland has its own legal system, own banks and currency, own education system and rules for property etc. England never conquered Scotland, the king of Scotland became the king of England too. There was never any reason or justification for either country's laws to overrule the other.

Just to repeat - the school won't move him down a year. He has to stay in his own year group.
No teacher has the time to teach him separately or somehow learn the Scottish system. It's just damage control at this point, so it may be useful to have a meeting with the head of KS4.

You obviously had no choice.
He won't be re-starting in yr10.
The only option is to discuss with the school what can be taken off his timetable (very little).
Private tutoring would be a practical solution. It's very difficult to him, but there's no good solution.

I agree in asking the school to move him back a year. My friends step daughter moved over from overseas and had to start year 11. Totally different education system and English wasn’t her first language. It was a big struggle and she only sat 4 GCSE’s, passing one. Sounds to me like there’s just too much content to catch up on, a whole year Chemistry & Biology and supposed to be revising soon for mocks which he won’t have done all the content for is just too difficult. If the school won’t allow I’d seriously consider a private school or home school. There are online schools now that function like a real school but online so he could start GCSE on there or maybe finish the Scotland equivalent. As everyone’s said it’s a terrible time to move and assuming you had no choice so I’d go into the school and let them know it’s just too much for him being in year 11. Good luck to him

The school have neither the staff, resources or time to do this.

That was an awful thing to happen to your poor son - to be moved to a different school system in year 11 right before his exams.

If you have any family left in Scotland you need to see if he can stay with them until his exams. Why did you even think this would be ok?

I agree with those saying he either needs to:

Go back to Scotland temporarily (if possible - is there anyone he could stay with?) and finish Year 11 in the same education system.

Or find a sympathetic UK school and get him moved into Year 10. I have a child being educated out of cohort (although from start of education). It is possible and I have heard of plenty of kids who has been moved down a year in the UK system. The circumstances for your son definitely give you a strong case in my opinion...

Your poor son. I think you're being unfairly attacked on this thread, but I do agree with others that this was a mistake to move him in Year 11. But I assume you had absolutely no choice and it's done now so I don't agree with the posters being harsh to you.

I hope you can find a solution for your poor son!

Moving schools is horrible anyway if a child is happy. Moving for Yr 11 is pretty daft even within the same system as schools tackle the Content in the order they want and choose the set texts, case studies etc. To move between systems???? I'd be sat in the skate park too, and I can't skate. He needs to go back to the old system, or get a set of private tutors, or take an extra year..... And what an upheaval for any of these.

Can the school arrange for him to continue with the Scottish curriculum and exams given the situation? Surely that’s the best way forward? Or maybe Home schooling for his final year?? GCSEs are ridiculously overwhelming, I remember it well..

Can you pay a tutor and sit the exams they sit in scotland either return to his old school or somewhere down south.