Pupils re-sit a school year - start year later as per mainland Europe?

[Fizzydrinks123]

I understand arguments against not re-sitting a whole academic year and was on board with this during March 2020 etc

However, my concern is the emotional impact this is having on the young - they know they've missed out on lots of social as well as academic development.

Is it right to just move them on to the next level of their education knowing they've missed out on so much and expect them to step up to more demanding work?

In mainland Europe it is usual for children to start school a year later than here in UK.

I understand university may be adversely affected due to funding - but the kids currently at university aren't happy paying out £9,000 and asking for refunds.

Am I being unreasonable to suggest re-sitting an academic year is seriously considered?

The new variant is so much more contagious that there will be more uncertainly ahead until the summer.

Are the current Year 6's really ready to go off to senior school? It would seem better they go back to junior school they know and re-sit that year and prepare to move on to secondary school the following year?

Also: as adults we all get to re-live next year (hopefully).

For children, this is there one and only time at school - so far two academic years of their development have been affected.

If this lockdown goes beyond Feb half term I really hope that repeating the year is possible.

Where do we put the extra year of the cohort? How do we staff them? How do we fund it with a crashed economy (or families planned around changing childcare costs).

The damage is being done anyway and repeating a year only solves an academic problem. It won't solve isolation, loss of friendships and abuse/ neglect that is triggered, aggravated or undetected through this.

Some children are keeping up and repeating a year will only stagnate them.

We need to minimise the damage of time spent out of school not have a false sense of security that more learning time will put it right.

@bogroobogof - same as mainland Europe - children start school a year later - so new business for nurseries to expand into space.

Do you think that we should make the perpetual change to starting school at 6 years old? Or have one (or several) bulge years with nowhere near enough teachers to teach them?

I don't think it's workable in our current state. I don't know what the best alternative is, but I don't think this is the solution.

And what about all the children who are not behind? It would be a complete waste of a year for them.

@claudiawankleman - yes long term, over to that system - compulsory school starts at 6 in France, prior to that is pre-school.

[quote Fizzydrinks123]@bogroobogof - same as mainland Europe - children start school a year later - so new business for nurseries to expand into space.[/quote]
They start a year later because they've done 3 X full time years at preschool where they've learned to read and write. If you look at most European schools (France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc) age compared to curriculum, things are done more or less at the same AGE in different countries but that may be in a different school. Eg- Italians learn to read and write at 4-5 same as Brits. Just that Brits do it in reception/year 1 and Italians do it in the last years of nursery.

It's not just about whether academically behind - it's social and emotional development - in fact is equally as important and why I don't home school prior to lockdown - I want my dc to experience life outside the home.

And when Europeans start school it’s not playing etc, they are straight in with sitting at a desk, lugging books back and forth and lots of homework in the afternoon after school.

As Solinvictus says, It is certainly not reception a year later.

I don't think this is a workable solution. What they really need to focus on is emotional support for their next academic year and the government need to roll out the vaccine fast now to avoid being in and out of constant lockowns!

FUck no

My DD v young current yr 11 (ie Aug) and ready to leave doesn't want 6th form def wants college - she is very grown for her age.

Frankly I think worse things have happened to kids and they survive and thrive - you don't even have to go as far back as the evacuations in the war, look at recent European conflicts or middle east, all those refugees missing years of school - no online input- learning a new language starting in school where racist little shits abuse them everyday and still coming out on top.

You have to make the best of what you have and move on. Its those adaptable kids that will come out on top

Lots of good points outlined above!

I work at a university so that's my main frame of reference - financially it would be very difficult/impossible for many institutions to lose a year's worth of UK undergrad students if they're all coming a year later.

I agree a plan needs to be made though. It seems so unfair on our children and young people

@Fizzydrinks123

It's not just about whether academically behind - it's social and emotional development - in fact is equally as important and why I don't home school prior to lockdown - I want my dc to experience life outside the home.

Not everyone is behind there either.

My Y10 certainly doesn't need to repeat a year for any reason (other than to delay having to get a job/be a grown up at Uni!)

And many European countries have obligatory preschool/kindergarten which starts earlier than here. It is not as simple as starting a year later. The curriculum could be recapped from previous year while still nominally in the "correct" one, with catch up classes for those who have missed chunks. Learning is already differentiated.

In theory it's a great idea but I don't see how it would work. There aren't enough childcare places round here as it is.
Unless they do actually extend maternity leave (by a year) and even if they do lots of mums/dads might not want to stay off that long anyway.

@hatcrosswhat - the problem is university students aren't happy with what they're paying for this year though.

Lots of my grandparents generation had terrible depression following all those experiences in the war as children and mothers, so I don't think it creates more resilient people - that is just a get out clause for "tough luck". It does impact on people's lives throughout their lives.

I said last Easter that the best thing to do was to say school was suspended but children would restart in the year they left off in.

It would have solved some of the exam concerns, stopped the complaints that children start school too early (bet within a couple of years there would be as many saying too late).

But most importantly, they could have used to time in the summer to support the vulnerable children to try and bring their attainment up.

It's completely unworkable.

What happens to all the kids in the years below? To kids due to enter school and nursery? What do universities do with no or very few students for a year? What do employers do with no or very few graduates for a year?

what do employers do without no graduates?
that won't be happening at all - last year's graduates aren't really out there in the workplace and everyone is going to be rebalancing things for a few years to come so that won't be a massive problem.

What happens to kids year below? they all re-sit a year as in fact they've all just had two years of school disrupted and this will be going on longer than February for sure.

As others have said, we have nowhere to put them.
Even if we just keep back the Y11s and Y13s, the secondary schools cannot then add in a whole year of Y7s.

They start at 6 but they go through the curriculum very fast. The first year isn't gentle like Reception, they are at a desk for a lot of the day and the kids are writing sentences in cursive in their first term. There's a lot more homework and schools end earlier than in the UK. I can't see English parents accepting increased homework for 6 year olds

@drspouse - but all children have had two years disrupted and not had chance to develop, learn, play sports etc all kids have been affected, not just exam year groups.

Social and emotional development is linked to being with similarly aged peers, not the label on the year.

What about nursery places though? They wouldn't have time to build new nurseries and train up staff.
Although it actually could be a good way to get people back into work, even people getting an extra years temp contract to cover extended maternity leave too to avoid some children using childcare places.
It just wouldn't all work in practice though