Starting private at year 7

[Madeinsuffolk]

Hello

all 3 children currently state educated. We would love to send them to private school but the potential Labour charity status issue raising fees makes me nervous.

How do children fare if they start in the private system for Senior school?

I’m concerned our three will struggle with subjects they have never done before, like languages as state primary just offers French etc. and sports they just won’t have experienced.

Does anyone have experience of this? We can afford private now but we are concerned about the potential hike in fees so wondering whether we watch and wait / save a bit. Children will be in yr 1 and 4 from Sep. Thank you.

It's likely that a lot of the intake will be coming from a state school in year 7. My son's school has its own junior school but has a big intake at year 7. Probably it's about 50:50 state/ private primary (and that's for a school with its own juniors).

New subjects such as Latin are taught from scratch - there isn't any expectation any more that these will have been done at primary.

With regard to state educated kids entering Yr 7 that is no issue. Many come from state to private.

With regard to your concerns over fee hikes, possible government changes leading to application of VAT on fees etc and the affordability for you, if you're worried now it won't get better so that would suggest it's a stretch for you now. Plus 3 kids is expensive. Plus extras such as uniforms and exam fees etc. it's only going to increase yearly anyway even without labour getting in and changing other aspects.

Also to add I think you should have enough funds to ensure your child can to yr7 to Yr 11 in private. They can move for 6th form. But placing them in private if you know it's a good chance they'll have to be pulled out before is unfair on your child unless a total change of circumstances occurs which make it essential to move.

I think it's a very normal intake year isn't it? State primary and private secondary.

FWIW, I did this, no issues, made lots of friends, thrived at school etc.

I’d recommend you pick up sports and music outside state school and it’ll make it easier later

Academics should be ok, we started in yr 7 and no issues

DC is at an academically selective prep school with a big intake at 11+/year 7. Those coming from state schools go straight into the senior school and are taught separately for 2 years before the kids coming from prep schools join them at 13+/year 9. No idea if other schools do this but I’m told by parents who’ve been through this process that it works really well & the kids joining from state in year 7 have an advantage as they’ve already been in the seniors for 2 years by the time the prep kids join.

I should add though that school fees are going up & up. We’re not in London & ours have just gone up by 10% and I expect another hike next year, so obviously need to factor that into affordability calculations.

Mine moved from state primary to 'big name' type private school at Year 7. The transition was easy, and it's been a brilliant experience. New subjects weren't a problem, as they catch up very quickly - both were top set Latin and French after a year, and one now looks likely to go on to do Classics at university. They were definitely both 'behind' in sport, but it just means they play in the C or D teams rather than the A and B - they both really enjoy the sport, and I love the fact that they do loads of sport a week, and regular matches. But the real positive has been the music, which they did before but not to high level - they're now heavily involved in orchestras, bands, choirs etc. They couldn't be having a better time tbh.

As for the VAT hike - yes, it's concerning. And fees go up regularly anyway. If it's not comfortably affordable on current fees, I wouldn't do it.

It’s not been a problem academically, though she had to work a bit harder in Maths in Y7 as things that were brand new to her were revision for the prep school kids.

Musically also fine, as she had learnt outside primary school and had good all round musicianship (not just skill on one instrument).

Sport is where the difference really shows - there’s a big gap between never played netball and have been going on camps and playing in tournaments since Y3. Hasn’t been a problem as such, but I think has at times been a bit dispiriting. Art is similar - the difference between what you get taught at primary school and at prep school is huge.

You could pick up hockey or something outside of school. Prep school children will have been playing hockey since they were 5 and state primaries often don’t play it at all. I wouldn’t worry about academics, all the kids have passed the same entrance exam.

DD started Yr 7 private from a state school as did half of her year. Private schools are used to this so generally cater well for it.
The fees are a whole other issue!

Thanks for your views. We can afford three and we can afford inflation increases.

It’s the unknown. Hence the idea to put aside the fees for now till
Senior so we have the savings to pay for any above inflation/Labour policy changes.

We are just trying to be sensible.

I think the positive thing with the sport is that they still get to play, regardless of level. As my kids aren't particularly sporty, I suspect they wouldn't have done a lot of sport in state - that's certainly been friends' experience, where their DC have done very little sport (and even less competition) unless they make the A team. Resources are more limited, so sport becomes a 'thing to do if you're sporty', rather than a thing that's a core part of your education.

My friend's DS started a competitive private school in year 7 and is fine. He's pretty naturally clever though (Dad's a prof) and passed the entry with 2 sessions of tutoring just to understand what the exam entailed. If your kids require lots of tutoring to get up to scratch then they may struggle more.

DD(16) has just finished GCSE's in a multi-site school that starts with a nursery.

DD joined in year 3 and certainly benefited from the 'give it a try' ethos and turned out to be fairly sporty and musical. About half the intake to Juniors was new.

A few left (moving abroad/going to specialist schools/switching to more local state)at year 7 and the intake increased by about 1/3 for secondary.
They might have 'taught' French/German/Spanish at Junior but nothing that couldn't be learned in a couple of lessons. A stint with Duolingo/BBC Bitesize would be good prep.

Traditional games (hockey/rugby/cricket/netball/tennis) were/are strong in our area in terms of extracurricular clubs (so some keen parents sign kids up to do these as 8-10 year olds).

Music might be a little trickier (but a lit of kids ditch instrumental lessons in secondary).

It's really going to depend on the school. We live in an area popular with expats and Londoners relocating (and two universities with visiting academics), so the school is geared up to cope with inflows and outflows. More isolated schools maybe less so.

Friends DD went to "top" London private from state primary 2 years ago, academic development is slightly better (if not the same) as the kids from prep school.

Other areas really depends on what you have suppliment outside the primary state education. Friends DD is very sporty and artistic so spend a lot of weekend on club playing (triathlon and football) and art lessons. Even the private does different sport (lacrosse and netball) she can easily pick up and competitive in the A team. Art is always the top level in the senior school (actually my friend comment some of the best art students from state secondary sector).

She didn't do much music but still a hobby. Not as double grade 8 instruments like other students in her school (from either state or prep), still steady progressing and play for enjoyment.

I was surprised that my DDs independent school had over half their Y7 intake coming from state schools. Parents utilise their excellent local state schools for primary and then save up to afford private secondary.

I don’t know why I was surprised though - seems eminently sensible!!!!!!

I agree with other people that the biggest difference tends to be around sport, although by Y8 the sporty girls from the state schools were shining.

It wasn't much of an issue for my two who were at state primary and then went to a selective girls school at 11.

They had done a very small amount of French at primary, but started Latin and Spanish from scratch in year 7. Most of the others seemed to be in a similar position except that their French was better. One of my daughters soon caught up. The other always struggled a bit with languages, which made sense when she was later diagnosed with dyslexia.

As for sport, what I noticed most was that many of the girls who had been in private prep schools were much more experienced and competitive. My daughters had played a bit of netball at primary but they were definitely behind many of the others. Lacrosse wasn't so much of an issue as it was new to everyone but I noticed that many of the others were better at my daughters at anticipating the action.

Music was different as my daughters had done a lot out of school and were above the average standard (which was high).

Starting at Y7 is not a concern, unless you choose a school which has 13 as its main entry point (not uncommon in some places - and absolutely standard at boarding schools). If you were to choose one of those schools, it would help to have been to a prep school which finishes at Y8. But if the school's standard entry point is Y7, there will be lots of children from state schools who join then. They will soon catch up with anything they've missed, if they're bright and motivated. There are plenty of children at independent junior schools who still manage to leave aged 11 or 13 without knowing very much!

I did this. My only difficulty was maths it was a huge leap and knocked my confidence for a couple of years but the school helped me catch up and I got an a*

If you're not sure you can afford it if the fees go up, your finances aren't secure enough to be spending money on schooling.