can changing a child's school at year 2 ever be damaging?

[vannah]

to the child?

Although our child is only 2, we may need to put him in the local (not very good) school until we can afford independent which would probably be at the end of year 2.
I've never really considered the option of a private school, but the schools around our house are either outstanding catholic and church of england (we are neither) and then there is one local primary that would worry me if I sent my child/ren there.

I used to teach across the primary age range, and can recall some of the new children that would arrive and settle in quite well but I always recall looking out for them for the rest of the year, as they often seemed to remain slightly 'left out' in the playground. But then my memory is pretty hopeless since having two babies..

Now as a parent I am on the other side and wonder how your child has coped with a school change at this sort of age, positive or negative. And if negative - did it affect the child in the long term?

thankyou
(might post in primary too)

ds isn't school age yet but I went through this as a child and it really affected me. I went to 7 primary schools and was extremely shy, found it difficult to make friends and was kind of weird. BUT maybe I would have been weird anyway, and if it is just one change then I'm sure it would be a lot easier.

thanks for that beansmum, 7 really is a lot -what happened?

My parents just liked travelling! lived all over the world, finally settled in NZ for secondary school.

i changed my ds at aged 10yr6 to new school in january (everyone at old school said he wouldnt settle and his grades would go down)well he settled in brilliantly got lo0ads of new friends and getting level 5 in mock sats best thing i did this year.

We have changed schools a lot. Y2 seems to be a reasonable age. For one child it didn't work, because I handled it badly. But for the two others it did work. Just make sure there is lots of security at home and that you don't show any any any at all doubt about the move to your child as they will pick up on it. It's your choice and at that age I would not let them in on it. They will be bound to find it a bit scary at first but if you start quite early with a few gentle playdates it will work out I'm sure. You don't want them thinking there is any option at all to change back at that age. Be clear with the teachers that if there is anything you can do to help, you will, for example joining a reading rota (difficult with smaller ones!) but otherwise step back and calm yourself, and this will help to calm and settle your child. I write as one who got the whole thing arse over tit first time. And (of course) your child might be completely different so this approach may not be right for your family. But it worked with my other two.

And I wouldn't worry about academic damage. If the school change is the right one then in the end they will do better in the new school than they would have done in the old one. At that age the range of abilities is so huge it won't really matter. Making sure they are settled and happy is more crucial (obvious I know) and it will all go from there.

ds started in a prep school at year 3 , having moved from abroad . Some of the chidlren who had moved from local state infants had a harder problem adjusting as they knew their old friends were largely still together locally and still saw them. There was a reasonably high intake his year at 7+, about 12 iirc joining 50ish, so there wasn't any real sense of being the odd one out.

Sorry Vannah -- I forgot you were a teacher so you know most of what I posted anyway.

Moved dd after y2 as she sat 7+ for a new school. Common intake at lots of preps then, so as long as the school fits the child i can't see a problem at all.

DD1 moved to a new school at the beginning of yr 2, it was the best move in the long term although not so good in the short term. She did find it hard to make friends and even now three years later only has one or two. She was also very cross with us for moving (due to house move) and upset for a good few months.

Now she is settled and educationally very much better.

all the children at DS1's school move after Yr2 as they attend an infant school that only goes up to that age!

It can be damaging to the dc of course if you are unlucky enough to have a bad social environment for whatever reason at the new school. There is always that risk I suppose.

On the whole though, I think year 2 is a good time to move. I moved dd because her first school was horrible and the improved social environment meant she never looked back. But my dd was extremely unhappy at her first school whcih is not the case with your dd.

We moved dd at start of yr2 and I was worried about it - she was one of only two new children out of 60ish altogether in the year. But it was so well handled by the class teacher, and, indeed, the other parents, who were welcoming in a way I just didn't imagine - and dd has oodles of friends now, more even than at her old school. So I think the moral is - see how it is handled. The idea of pre-term playdates with future classmates can be a good one (not that we did that with dd).

Different slant to beansmum - I changed primary schools about 10 times (parents also moved a lot) and didn't have any major problems. The first few days at each new school were scary but I always settled in quite quickly and it certainly never had any long term implications. I think if you're moving him to a better school he will probably be much better off in the long run, even if the first week is a bit tough. Good luck with whatever you decide.

many thanks for these replies, seems quite positive really.

i dont think it is ideal but if you do move her then i think you just need to make a great effort to invite children round etc

LOL, from your OP you have outlined exactly the issue we have in our area re state schools (the phrase is "pray or pay" round here).

I don't know where you are, but if you are looking at moving to private at the end of year 2, round here a lot of the schools change then. Some of the schools do classic "pre-prep" so only go up to that point, and those children are released onto the "market". Some schools don't have a pre-prep, so only start at Year 3. Either way there is quite a lot of mixing up at that point for everyone.

For info, at the DCs school there is quite a lot of change anyway as people are constantly moving into and out of London. so the classes are quite flexible - certainly not a statis tight group which is wary of "outsiders"!

pay or pray! That IS funny, even though the situation itself isnt.
That's interesting to know anchovy .. Will ask about this when I call the schools.

Y2 going into Y3 is a populare time to move children, it's the end of KS1, a number of schools only go up to that age, and in the independent sector a lot of boys might move from mixed to their prep schools. Certainly at the dss' school they take in another whole class worths of children at the end of Y2 (mixed up with exisitng 2 classes to fomr 3) and the new additions all seem to thrive, and very few(any?)have any problems with having been elsewhere first.

My dd attends an independent school at nursery - due to move to reception level or pre-prep - because of the appauling way our local state school behaved towards our family and dd. We've had to make sacrifices and even get the grandparents to help out with the fees. However, the progress my dd has made at the independent school, in such a short time is breathtaking. She raced ahead developmentally and academically from being "behind" her peers to now being placed in the academic year above. She's gone from a relatively shy girl who refused to speak, to an outgoing, friendly, approachable chatterbox - all within a year. Another example: the state school claimed that dd could not use scissors. Yet within 1 month at the independent school she was fully proficient. The state school always emphasised dd weakness and downplayed her strengths. At the independent school, they use her strengths to help improve her weaknesses. The staff are also more polite and respectfull at the independent school. I found the staff at the local state school looked down their noses at us, were rude, arrogant, prejudicial and judgemental. In short an absolute nightmare. And quite frankly, they lie.

From my experience then, anytime is the best time to move into the independent sector. If you are within the catchment of a good state school, well then, lucky you. If like me, your local state school is dire move to independent if you can. And yes, I do feel sorry for the children who cannot afford to go independent or move into the catchment area of a good state school. However, it does not mean that my children have to suffer as well. And please don't come back with 'why don't you improve your local state school' because I've tried - I've sat on the board - and it's simply a lost cause.

can i just add that one move is probably ok but 2-3 before say the age of 6/7 can be a problem.

a friend of mine had to move a few times and her dd changed dramatically from a bubbly lively girl to a shy, withdrawn girl. She is doing much better now as they have settled well - they realised that it had been a real problem. also my mum moved loads as a child and she says that it was awful, even though she had three close sisters.

I think it depends on the child's personality as well.

My eldest ds is now 9. He is naturally quite self-contained and shy, and he has had 4 changes of school in his career so far - hasn't stayed more than 18 months in any of them.

He is very self assured and adaptable, although he doesn't have many close freinds - but I don't think he would have done anyway - it isn't in his personality to be rough, tough and one of the crowd.

My daughter (7) has had the same number of school changes, and she has always been far more sociable and socially aware, and she has fitted in easily, both in the playground as well as academically

I changed dd1 mid reception year. She was in a school that had excellent ofstead reports, excellent academic results. BUT, had my dd stayed there she would have ended up in the gutter basically! I had a small problem (but to us it was huge) with pe/vest and knickers issue and school wouldnt help or compromise. Head was a dragon and wouldnt budge an inch. We moved dd to a school a mile away, ds1 used to go til we moved house. The new school had nowhere near as good results as 1st school but i knew the staff and head were much more approachable and helpful. Dd settled in within 2 weeks and i've never looked back. She's in the top maths and english set and i just know she wouldnt have done as well in her old school. Whats the problem with your local school?

The start of Y2 is definitely the best time for a switch. Quite a number of children transfer from the state system to independent schools then so it isn't likely your child would be the only newcomer.

And, as Anchovy says, there are always one or two children leaving and others joining every year.

Mine, however, shifted from one prep to another halfway through Y3, not ideal but she loved the new school from the first day and had no trouble settling in. I think I missed the old school more than she did.

Oops, sorry, meant end of Y2/start of Y3 ie end of KS1.