To think it's weird not to know which school year your DC is in?

[AnnaQuayInTheUk]

I bumped into someone I hadn't seen for couple of years yesterday. Normal catch up chit chat. I asked how her DS was (she only has one DC) and asked whether he was now in Y8 or Y9 at school. She has to think about it then asked"he turns 14 in January, does that make him Y8 or Y9?". I had to tell her Y9.

My DC left school years ago but I always knew which year they were in at any given point. I was really surprised she didn't seem to know. Is she unusual or aren't people really aware? She's a lovely, bright woman so no issues with memory etc.

Just yesterday my DH and I were talking to someone and DH forgot which year our son was in. He does know, but it was the spur of the moment question thrown at him that seems to throw him off balance and he couldnt remember. He said year 5, then said oh, oh, maybe not year 5 and looked at me for help and I corrected him.

Perimenopause? Your mind can go blank when asked an unexpected question…

I think years 8 and 9 are the easiest to lose track of - 7 they have just started, 10 it's first year of GCSE, 11 they are doing GCSE but 8 and 9 aren't very distinctive. I do have to think about DS1s year which is 13 because that is upper sixth to me.

We’ve had two kids go through the whole school system and DH wouldn’t have a clue about years/ages … even what time school ended.

Ooh this happens to me too. I have to really think about it when I’m asked.

I still don't understand the Year system i'm afraid. I had first, second, third year of first school, then first, second, third and fourth year at middle. Then at secondary school (which was actually the third school given we had a middle!) We started in the 2nd year, and went through to lower and upper sixth. So I admit my own schooling was more complicated, but it's ingrained.

I get that the new system is more straightforward but it's not how it was drilled into me and how I've thought of my own life for the past nearly 50 years and I just can't think in 'new money' as someone else mentioned up thread! I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence as such,.as I got good grades throughout. And for once I can't blame perimenopause as I couldn't understand it 10 years ago either. It's like learning a new language somehow. I'll always think in English and have to convert

I used to struggle with this when DS was at school. When I was at school it was Infant, Junior, Secondary and Sixth Form. Each time you moved up a stage the numbering started at one so you’d be first year infant, then first year junior etc. The whole years 1-13 system totally threw me.

Sometimes I get confused as to DD's year level as she does ballet - which is a grade lower. So grade 4 school, grade 3 ballet. It confuses my brain me sometimes when someone asks!!

I often forget my own birthday & anniversary. Couldn't tell you how long we've been married without doing a quick calculation. It's just not important in the moment.

But, the kids get to school, they have everything they need. I never forget to pick them up or miss appointments. There are more important things than a lapse of basic info!

Are we married to the same person?

I have to think about this, but we have 4 kids at 2 different schools both with different systems of year grouping. I can tell you many other things about my children- what they’re learning at school, what is going on with their friendship groups, what their shoe size is, what they want for Christmas, which food they like and dislike, where they left their football boots, what their glasses prescription is…

I suppose the year groups don’t matter all that much to me compared to other things, but also our life is very busy and full of many different things that need remembering more than that.

If it makes a difference my kids are in top sets across the board and do really well at school, so maybe therefore I can take a more casual approach- I tend to just let school do its thing and not interfere too much. I do know their year groups by the way it just takes me a few seconds to recall who is in what year.

i just can’t stop seeing it as 1st , 2nd, 3rd year as it was when I was at school. New system baffles me… even though it makes more sense!

That has nothing to do with it being a private school, surely but when you were there?

I started (state) secondary school in 1970 and all years in all schools were first year, second year etc up to lower 6th and upper 6th.

I don't know when they were changed from that naming system to what we have now but I admit it took me a while to get my head around it.

I’d guess perimenopause too. Your mind can go blank in the most obvious things.

I know a school where they call the year groups ‘class of 2030’ (or whatever); for the year they will leave formal education (so when they are 18). So a year 7 joining in 2025 would be in ‘class of 2032’. I guess in that instance it might be hard to remember what year group your child was in?
(And yes it’s stupid. It’s a stupid school).

But were first year at the different levels. So first year infants, first year juniors, first year secondary and onwards. The "first form" thing is different and was in private schools much longer. 6th form is the only remnant of it.

It's why all the Enid Blyton books and Chalet School talk about the lower fourth and the upper second. It's still 1-6 forms split lower and upper that covers the entire schooling period. Which is different to the state school standard you and I both had.

I agree with you. The year I did my GCSEs was the trialling of numbers so they did numbers for maths and English and letters for everything else, either way I don’t think it’s hard for people to get their heads around.
The only person I know who forgot what year her kids are in is a raging alcoholic, I mean how can you forget when the school sends 100 emails a day usually with your kids year as the title

It doesn't indicate any lack of interest. My dh probably doesn't know the name of my son's school year but he knows how many years my son has been at his school, what ds thinks about the new physics teacher how his music exam went, what his 5K PB is etc.

When I went to school, you started secondary in First Form, took O Levels in Fifth Form and A Levels in Upper Sixth.

My kids have been EHE, so the only time I even wonder what school year they might have been in is when I'm writing an annual report.

I'd have to Google to find out what age someone meant if they used those school years then translate it to the years I grew up with to give me an idea what they are supposed to be doing.

I much preferred being in Upper Sixth to being Year 13.
It just sounds so dehumanising, like you are a product on a factory production line.

I find it odd but have come across this before. Then someone was once absolutely baffled that I didn’t know my national insurance number by heart.

I suspect if you had asked her had he chosen his GSCE subjects or when he was sitting his exams she would have known. But I do still find this all the way through then 6th form a confusing year naming structure.

One of my sons went to a special school, and they were in mixed age classes. So i could never remember what year he should be in. He was there till he was 19, then went to college till he was 23, so who knows what year he was in by then!

It changed when I was at school so I went from being a 3rd year in secondary to year 10 the next year.

In some private schools they have different year names - firsts and seconds and things. My husband who grew up with that system still struggles with the state school mappings, especially as our kids are also private where it’s not the same.

I wonder if it’s a memory lapse. I have them sometimes when I’m nervous and have to answer a lot of questions quickly e.g a couple of times forgot the name of my current medicine at GP’s appointment.
Or he is homeschooled so she doesn’t need to remember his year.

When I was in secondary school it was years 1,2,3,4,5

When my child was in secondary it had changed to years 7,8,9,10,11

I used to get confused because I couldn't get my head round the change (I'm not stupid, I have ADHD). Same with exams being numbers now, I still say whats that, like a B/C.

Yes, OP went to private school with a different naming system so in that boat I'd just assume her friend's kids went to a school with one of those systems, maybe one of those schools where they use random names like Shell or Remove or whatever that don't have any numbering at all