I understand why people want the academic year repeated, and as a teacher, I think many children would benefit from that - however i will be shocked to the core if that happens or if even the option to choose happens, because the logistics would ripple on likely for the next 14 - 17 years.
Let’s say, this September, every child restarts their current year. Fine for the ones already at school apart from reception, because a new reception cohort would be starting too. A year group double the size. So every primary school would have to find 1,2,3, possibly 4 or more new classrooms, plus employ new teachers and TAs. A state school budget comes per pupil so this isn’t necessarily unaffordable - but space? Whack some mobile classrooms up (if there’s room) and loose vital playground or field space (if there’s any - lots of inner city schools have virtually no outdoor space).
So that year group will be double the size and will work its way up for 7 years, at which point primaries will be back to original size. Then this double year groups hits secondary. Now it’s the secondary schools turn to find the extra capacity. Where I live, the secondary schools mostly have at least 8 form entry. Some have between 10 and 13 classes per year. Having to double that is going to be mayhem, and unfair on that year group in the long run. Then there’ll be twice as many applicants for universities....The competition will be ridiculous.
And that’s before considering the gap in people starting uni and FE colleges. Plus those who actually don’t need to repeat a year.
So repeating a year I just don’t see happening.
The other option I’ve seen thrown around with year repeating is to hold the new reception starters back at nursery by a year - but then once again, the nurseries will unlikely have the space to keep another years worth of children in (or no new ones will start). Thinking of the spacing and the waiting list at my old nursery and many others, we would have to very quickly construct a place for the extra provision. I can also see many parents being extremely peeved at having to fork out for nursery for an additional year when their child should be at school.
I honestly think, if some common sense is used (we should be so lucky) and the curriculum is adjusted, exam modules are adjusted and reduced, and OFSTED and the like lay off a bit, we can save children from the academic gaps. We start academic learning so early in this country. I honestly believe the education of our primary aged children can be salvaged. Many countries don’t start formal education until 7 or 8 and exceed us! I also believe the same for secondary, as long as reasonable adjustments are made, if that means a curriculum rewrite, a more cross curricular approach in order to accomplish every goal, reducing content of exams temporarily....whatever it means, we do it.
I have so many mixed feelings on this. I just can’t believe we are about to hit the one year point.