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

The school should be helping with extra help. Could you consider a tutor. I would request he be moved down a year. Moving at that point in his education will be really tough for him regardless of the system.

PIL moved teen DH from Scotland to England 35 years ago. He still talks about how different the school system was a what a struggle it was.

I still find it extraordinary that Scottish students can drop two out of three sciences.

I assume the move was unavoidable, OP. I would very seriously consider either finding a school that will let him start year 10 (which probably means private) or letting him go back to stay with family to complete his Nat 5s in Scotland.

if he’s staying where he is and doing GCSEs he really needs to pass maths and English language as well as he can. Those are the priorities. I went back to do a Masters at nearly 40 and I needed to provide proof of those two subjects.

Helping him to answer English Literature exam questions is going to support him with English language too. I found the essay writing guides (type that in and book man’s he’s studying) you can buy very useful but if he needs content then use York notes may the best. Print past exam papers and answers and learn how they should be answered especially for English literature, History and Geography. If you can do that then explain to him it’ll take a bit of pressure off him.

See the school Senco to get extra time for his dyslexia.

Drop the optional subjects he’s lost all motivation or at least consider doing foundation papers.

He needs 5 GCSEs to progress. What does he want to do afterwards? Check the subject entry requirements of the sixth form /college and concentrate on those.

Remember his dyslexia will mean he can only learn in short bursts then will need a break. When I was at university I found I could read journals for 4 minutes then need 5-10 minutes to process. Doing something physical in that break helped enormously eg running up/down stairs, hoovering, trampolining if you have that, anything to give him time to process what he’s learnt.

Invest in tutors.

OP (who has left the thread, perhaps unsurprisingly given the pile-on) may have had no choice but to move, if for example the only earner in the family got made redundant and could only find a job in England, etc - these things do happen!

She also may not have anybody who would allow her child to live with them in term time, or he may not be willing to live away from his family. She may not have the money for him to board - most people could not afford that.

What GCSEs (or equivalent anyway - what sort of grades I mean) was he predicted in Scotland? Were you expecting him to get good passes and carry on to A-level or equivalent, and possibly university?

If not, then this may seem a radical suggestion, but maybe don't sweat it? Ask him to decide what he DOES want to do next year (apprenticeship or similar) and focus only on the minimum of subjects he will need for that, and on maybe trying to get some work experience etc.

GCSEs aren't the be all and end all for everyone, much as we tell the kids they are - it's perfectly possible to have a lovely life without a load of grade 8s and 9s, depending on what you want your life to look like of course.....

Hiring a private tutor may well be an option if you can afford it - cheaper than private school! There are some amazing ones out there - I have worked with many excellent teachers who are now private tutors, but also be careful because failed teachers sometimes take this route as well....

Good luck.

What did you expect to happen? I'm shocked that you didn't have a plan for managing this before the move. Can he move back to Scotland and stay with friends or family? If not, can he enrol in Year 10 where you live. I'm surprised his current school let him start in Year 11. If non of those things are options, online school seems like the best bet, with lots of extra-curricular activities so he can make friends.

Poor boy but presumably you had no choice to move.

i’d echo what others have said if you definitely can’t go back to Scotland it would be best for him to fo back to year 10

@LiamMK Scotland has always had separate Education, law and health. The education used to be considered excellent until recent years.

OP, a few people have suggested educating your son privately. In Scotland, private schools won't take pupils at this stage (S4) because of all the reasons you have mentioned. So it may be the same in England.

Can he stay with friends or family in Scotland?

Poor kid. He’s also had the pandemic to contend with. My dd changed schools in year 9 to private. I couldn’t imagine doing this to a child unless it was absolutely necessary. Dropping down to year 10 would be a better solution if he really can’t go back to the Scottish system.

Just another person to vote for him going back to Scotland if possible.

To him it must seem like all the work he did in Scotland was just pointless so why bother now ? I expect his mental health must be in the pits, too.

Genuinely, why did you move him at this critical time?

I am guessing something completely life altering/ huge magnitude must have happened to move at such a crap time?

It sounds as if you didn't do any research into schools or his education at all before moving.
You have had some very good advice, please prioritise following it for the sake of your poor son, who must also be at his wits end.

I would speak to the school and move him back a year if I’m honest. My in laws were constantly moving backwards and forwards between the Cotswolds and Cornwall when my brother and sister in law were at school (they’re much younger than my husband) and my brother in law decided to redo year 10 as even though the subjects were the same, the schools used different exam boards so the content was all different and he wanted to get the grades he knew he was capable of. Good luck!

What an absolutely heartbreaking post to read. He needs to go back to his one school, or at the very least to a Scottish education system.

I assume you had no choice but to move but starting in year 11 is not going to work.

Options:

He goes back to his old school, staying with a friend or relative. Maybe Mon - Fri.

Home ed with the Scottish system, maybe with a tutor. If his old school can send work that would be ideal. For the social side find a club or hobby he can attend.

Go in to year 10.

Get the school to meet his needs eg taking physics as a single subject instead of combined sciences. The school will object but it is possible to have a timetable for one child, even if it involves him sitting in the back of a totally different class completing work.

What you’ve done to him is ridiculous. Even without the challenge of dyslexia, it would hard. Stop pressuring him before he has a breakdown and follow the advice already given in this thread.

I doubt you'll send him back to his old school, so instead try tutors. He might not study for you, but maybe he will with them?

Who has told you that Combined Science is mandatory? The teaching of all sciences is mandatory in English schools but a student does not have to sit or be entered for Combined Science. That will just be what the school is teaching, and what they are entering other students for. Under the circumstances I would ask the school to make an exception and enter your son for Physics as a Separate Science so at least then he can gain that GCSE. You would need to check whether the content he has studied in Scotland aligns with a Physics GCSE in England but a teacher at your new school could help with that. The exam will be at the same time as the Physics combined science papers but would be two 1hr 45m papers rather than two 1hr 15ms.

i assume your son may have access arrangements such as 25% extra time in his exams if he has dyslexia. Check in with the SENCO about this as he will need to have this approved asap by JCQ, with a body of evidence, if the school hasnt already done so. I believe the deadline for this is either Jan 2024 or March 2024 and he would need to have this extra time for his mocks to show it is his normal way of working.

If Science is the only issue for your son, and other subjects such as English and Maths are not, then this could be a solution.

Difference is you still got to complete GCSEs at your old school. Everyone recognises sometimes you have to move, but to move the y11 child as well and expect them to do anything other than fail in a new country under a different curriculum is unfair.

You had a hard year and so will OP’s child - but his year will be made that much easier if he’s allowed to do what you did and stay at his old school for the rest of y11 to complete his exams.

The least damaging thing you can do right now is do everything in your power to move your son back to his old school in Scotland and use tutors to catch him up with what he’s missed on the syllabus since he came to England.

This could look like:

• one parent moving back to Scotland with him.
• the whole family moving back to Scotland
• Him returning on his own to live with a family member or friend in Scotland and visiting England on occasional weekends

Unfortunately, any course of action involving forcing him to complete English GCSEs will lead to long lasting emotional and academic damage. It will also seriously dent his confidence. I’m not sure why you didn’t consider this obvious and serious issue before moving but it’s not too late to rectify it since we’re only a month into the new school year .

First of all take the pressure off him. Then think strategically. Which subjects are within reach in terms of content? Focus on those. He will be able to resist GCSEs also he only needs 5 to progress for most things Incl English and maths.

Doing combined science with chemistry/ biology from scratch is a big ask. I’m not surprised he’s given up. What else can the school offer/ change?

Um... maybe you need to go back to school.

I would surmise it is the difference in syllabus rather than complexity level that is the problem. Even different exam boards in England may be teaching different topics, set books etc

Good luck, OP.

I assume the move was unavoidable but it
is a heck of a change. Even within England, students don’t move after the start of year 10 of at all possible as eg different exam boards do different books in English lit etc