Repeating school academic year

[RoseHipps]

If this lockdown goes on for longer than Feb half term, which is highly likely, would it be feasible for the children to repeat the entire school year? My child had perhaps 6 months in reception last year and it could work out less than that if they don’t go back until after Easter this year as speculated.

I posted this on a similar thread the other day, so I have copied and pasted it here.

What happens to the students who are due to start reception this year? Are we moving to a compulsory start age of 6 from now on?

What about nurseries and childcare facilities who have already got people filling in the spaces from September for the children due to move up to school. Who loses out on this? The new children or the ones who should be leaving? Thus leaving thousands of parents struggling to get childcare for the next year.

What happens to colleges and universities? Do they just not have a student cohort in September? This will send most colleges and universities to the wall financially so even more competition for places the following year as I would estimate at least 60% would go bankrupt with no fees for a year.

The theory is nice, the practicality is just impossible.

I think that this should happen. Perhaps, as the children would be doing work aimed at children a year younger, over say 3 years they might be back on track. But repeating the year would be the best and least stressful way for all children to catch up.

What about children die to start nursery, will they just be put back a year?

Due, not die!!!

@Schehezarade this is what will happen in Scotland - the children will work through level of work where they are/areas they may not have covered or be secure on regardless of what stage class they are in.

That would require an entire generation of a “bulge year”, whereby the Sept 2021 intake is twice the size as usual - and remains so through primary, secondary, further and higher education Can anywhere accommodate this? Most schools I know are tight for classroom space as it is. There’d need to be 100s more teachers.(

@Schehezarade Should perhaps have made my post a little clearer - children in Scotland already have several years to work through an educational level. Early level covers 2 years at nursery & P1, First level is P2-4, Second level P5-7 & Third level S1-3. Some children may be working ahead or behind these levels but these are approximate.

Yes, all the above points are valid, I was just mulling it over in the night, I know everyone is missing out at the moment with how limiting life is with covid being present. Was just grasping at straws...

I’ve been wondering about this or other ways of supporting/mitigating the education gap of this whole cohort of studiers (including older students of certain job/career related studies).
rambling makes a lot of good points. Can’t see how this could work.
I’ve even had crazy (?)) thoughts about lifetime lower tax rate/one off grant for higher education/ lifting student loans or adjusting repayment arrangements/provision of free top up education etc etc.
Trouble is all the indicators are that next year May well be disrupted and that this is unlikely to be a one off situation for the world.
First step in my mind is to fight hard to reduce wealth disparity - the effect of this is awful for every single child but those in poverty/vulnerability/with special requirements/disabilities etc face extraordinary disadvantage (even where they are able to attend school)

Yes you’d either have a permanently bulge year with the implications of that for university application, etc. Or permanently increase the school starting age by a year.

The govt apparently considered the latter during the first lockdown but decided against it.

I think would be a good idea. this would bring us in line with the rest of the world where starting age is 5/6 rather than 4/5.

Even in Ireland where you can start at 4/5 the majority don’t, and the junior infant curriculum is different to the formal learning expected in reception.

It’s proved that summer borns (March to august) often struggle especially boys, I’m not sure how giving them an extra year before starting school is necessarily a bad thing.

It would also help raising the school leaving age, again in the majority of the world you either can’t leave school till 18 or it’s culturally not the norm. Yet here it’s hay gcse done leave.
Again in Ireland you can leave at 16, very few do, leavers and debs is such a right of passage as it is places like Australia.

I agree. It's harsh on children due to start but the needs of that single group can't trump the needs of the 14 years currently in school. So many people have lost their jobs and will give up their full time nursery places that it might be possible to keep four year olds in pre-school.

It wouldn't be easy to achieve but it needs to be considered now rather than just dismissed as too difficult.

It would also need money to go into universities if they didn't get income from an undergraduate year.

It's a very tricky issue but should at least be properly explored.

I work in higher education and I can’t see universities would increase cohort sizes for one year. They certainly can’t be made to. But it would mean building extra classrooms,etc and employing extra staff just for three years. Wouldn’t be worth it.

Guess you could tell the extras they have to learn online for three years so that would take the classroom/lecture theatre issues away. But you’d still need staff. Courses which use labs couldn’t double their capacity, or studios, or nursing or medicine

Children at the end of their education haven't lost basic building blocks of early years. They need support to cover the curriculum for A levels of whatever. But some years of primary should repeat. There won't be huge classes instead a spare teacher who would have taken a repeating year, who can take the second nursery/ P1s or wherever they decide the repeat year starts.
Possibly depends on the school but some posts on other threads are talking about their school having very many children without wifi.

Having already delayed the start of two of my DCs, summer borns, who are both going through primary in the school year below the one their birth year would put them in, I'd support raising the school starting age.There should be greater flexibility anyway, regardless of the pandemic.

I think all possibilities now need to be looked at. Mine were off for 6 months from March through to September. Back in for only 3 months, now off until Easter? In to the summer term? September again?

Full-time online learning isn't suitable for primary age and I think it's shocking 'school isn't closed, it's just moved online' is being used to fudge over what is really the lived reality for many young children regarding their education (which can be caught up on) but also social isolation from peers (those effects could be longer lasting).

Regarding unis, all possibilities have to be considered there too because there are Year 13s who could likely do with repeating a year, first year uni students particularly of practical subjects the same and it's all very well pointing out the finances but after last autumn's fiasco they really can't take accommodation and course fees off students unless they can guarantee they'll actually be taught in person, practicals possible and won't be locked down in halls for weeks on end.

Or they could change the school year so instead of September they start in January and shorten 6 weeks to 3 spread the other 3 weeks over the year so that way only a 3 month delay in starting school and gives kids and extra 3 months to catch up more however if this goes past Feb holidays they really should at least make it optional for kids to resit a year since not every child would need to

I started a thread about this last year.

I agree that raising the school starting age to 5/6 is one option, and one which would bring us in line with many other years.

My child has missed 1/3 of year 4 and is on track to miss 1/3 of year 5. He would probably manage ok with moving to year 6 in September but some children in his class are way behind.

I don't think it's fair on children currently in education.

*countries not years

I said this to DP last night. Particularly for the kids who were due to take GCSEs, etc. this year or next. My guess is some sort of course work based assessment in place of exams this year and a four week summer school for catching up in the summer holidays for those doing exams next year.

I would support pushing reception entry until January and have primary children spend those 3 months going over the gaps in their building blocks.

But that Is an ideal world and I understand the logistical issues this would cause.

What happened to the government mentioning tutors etc that seems to have all gone quiet

I would fully support raising the school starting age by a year (permanently) and repeating this academic year. I know it seems like a radical solution but we have excellent nursery and preschool provision in this country, which could be given an injection of funding to support children for longer. Repeating the year would give children and schools the breathing room they need and a much better chance of recovering from this crisis.

I think they should repeat if needed. No idea how it would work but it's surely up to those in charge to make it work.

Those children that are behind won't just catch up, and those who say that they will are just trying to make themselves feel better.

This would be difficult for DC currently in EYFS, and would put a bulge year all through the system - DC in that year would be highly disadvantaged.

It would be awkward but do-able for other years, though universities would need assistance (because it would be highly unfortunate if any went bust, as normal demand is expected to resume)

I would much prefer intensive catch up. That is worst for those who have little time remaining in school (including my DC, I'm not advocating a system because it benefits mine) but entirely achievable for those who have years of schooling ahead of them.

The think I think DofE needs to turn it's attention to now is what happens to those sitting public exams in 2022. The year of 2021 obviously needs urgent attention, and once again that'll be a bit of a last minute scramble and I hope profoundly that it goes better thus year than last. But for 2022 there is time to plan and to let schools know in good time what modifications will be in place (slimming exam syllabus?) so that all pupils get a decent shot at it.

Apparently going against the grain but while I would support greater flexibility for those who needed it, my dc went back ahead of their peers after the first lockdown and have flown for the last term. I appreciate this isn't the case for many. A system that helps those who need by allowing years to be repeated or skipped as in the US might be a better model rather than a permanent bulge year. In this way it may even out a bit and not cause such a huge problem for university/college/high school places. My dcs' school are already 3 form entry, there is no way the school building could accomodate 6 form entry.

I think they should take a week off the Easter holiday and 3 weeks of the summer holiday to help kids catch up.
We're doing all we can to try and not let our reception child fall behind, but as work gets busier we're not going to be able to keep up with it.
I hope at least reception/y1 and y2 go back after Feb like they did in June