Moving school and repeating Y10

[Dodgeitornot]

Need some advice. DD has severe dyslexia. We're in the process of moving her to a specialist school after Easter as her current mainstream placement has all but collapsed. She's got an EHCP. There is very little space in her year group and as she is a summer baby (May birthday) the suggestion has come up to get her to start in the year below. That would mean she would start in Y9 after Easter and start her GCSEs afresh.
She's slightly immature socially but not too much. Has a mix of friends in year below and her year, as well as some in year above. Her boyfriend is year below.
She is not keen on repeating the year but is warming up to the idea as there are a few girls in this new school that were deferred by their parents in Reception.
Has anyone done this and it went ok?

I did it, it was absolutely fine

@007DoubleOSeven How did your child respond? Was it worth it? Any regrets?

No you misunderstand. I was that child. Repeated year 10 because I'd missed a lot of school at a time when we moved. No regrets and it was easy to do - no issues with peers or anything. Teachers support live and gcses went well. I assume as your dd has friends in that year already it'll be an even smoother transition :)

@007DoubleOSeven oooh I'm sorry! I did misunderstand. She doesn't have any friends in that school yet, but she does have friends at her current school who are in the year below. She doesn't know anyone in the school she's moving to.
When is your birthday if you don't mind me asking? Was it quite awkward to be 17 when you're doing your GCSEs? I'm just worried about that part. Her knowing her old friends are done but she's not.

I shall message you

@Dodgeitornot - I've messaged you too

Thank you both so much. Really appreciate it.

Bump

As an English teacher and parent of a deferred entry summer born I would say definitely repeat a year. I think you'll be amazed at the confidence that will grow from being the oldest and having a second go at content and skills that are critical for GCSE. Like my son, she will get fed up of having to explain she's older, but being the first person to drive etc in her year will far outweigh that!

I don't think she'll view it as her old friends being done etc (and they will probably be long forgotten). Teenagers don't tend to see things in the same way as we do - she'll just be caught up in her own world at that point.

@JemIsMyNameNooneElseIsTheSame thank you so much. I really hope so. I know on paper it would be the best thing for her but I'm back and forth as to whether it'll cause her mental health to get worse. Did you son defer at 4 or repeat a year?

I would repeat the year. Your DD may find that others are in the same situation.
My DS is in a specialist dyslexia school and the year groups mix at break times, they also mix for interventions. It feels more fluid than mainstream.

Just to add there are a small handful of children out of year in DSs school as there wasn’t space available in their year group.

I deferred him at 4. There's never a right decision and you'll guide her through it either way, but I think if she's open to repeating I would definitely encourage it.

@Skiphopbump thank you. Yes, this school has said that there's a few kids who deferred in her year group which surprised me as it was a very new option when she was 4.
And you're right in that they mix, the school did tell me this but I still think it would be better for her to redo the whole 2 years if that makes sense.

@JemIsMyNameNooneElseIsTheSame I've not spoken to her a lot about it tbh. I don't want to get her hopes up as the funding isn't there yet and she's not really in the mental state to understand fully. I won't do it unless she's really on board but it's really helpful to hear from parents like you and it's put my mind at ease. My only worry is she's an April birthday, not July or August so it's trickier in terms of hiding the age gap.

@Skiphopbump can I ask, how old was your DS when he moved to the specialist school?

My son started year 9 at the specialist. It took a while for him to settle as he was so broken by mainstream.

Had he been offered a place in year 10 like your DD I would have dropped him back a year.

how does she feel about it? I deferred my son for Reception (he’s currently in Y2), which he just takes as a matter of fact, doesn’t seem to bother him. However my niece moved to private from state in Y2 after Easter and they advised that she repeated Y2. She’s found that very hard, very self conscious about it. But she’s old for the year, very tall, and did one term with her classmates before they all moved up & she stayed down. So different circumstances. But it does sadly seem to have been a blow to her self esteem so far - currently in Y4.

@Skiphopbump thank you, that's really helpful. I think we've made up our minds, just have to wait for our LA.

@DistrictCommissioner I spoke to her about it today and she seemed really keen. I was really surprised. She's excited at the prospect of picking different GCSE options as she hates her current ones and regrets them. I think she really wants a fresh start which is helpful.

@DistrictCommissioner sorry to hear about your niece too. I don't really agree with what they did. I'd never do that to DD. Seems really cruel. I'd only do it if she was going to move somewhere new completely and start fresh with the year below. I'm shocked they thought the school didn't think this would knock her confidence.

@Dodgeitornot good luck with the LA!

That's great news!

@Skiphopbump thank you! We'll need it.