Moving from a boarding school after GCSE

[Watchinghercook]

My DS is in year 11 at a full boarding school and we have decided over Christmas that we want to move after GCSE's..We should have come to this decision earlier..He doesn't have predicted grades, we would like to start the application without informing his current school.

Does anyone have experience of this ?

If you are moving him you need to give a full term of notice or you will have to pay fees for the following term. So I would give notice asap.

We need to give notice at Easter, I wish we had left last year to be honest. I don't want to get caught as others have done with bluster about 6th form. DS is dreading being in the school once we have given notice, the attention he receives is very little atm , it will undoubtedly get worse once we give notice.

Oh dear. I’m sorry he is having a tough time - though moving at the end of Y10 is also really impractical. He is best putting one foot in front of the other until he can leave at the end of Y11.
Can you intervene at all to improve things for him over the next few months - is there a member of staff or a housemaster he trusts who could advocate for him? Is it a staff or other students issue? Could he become a weekly boarder?

Are you moving house next summer, OP?

Have I understood correctly that he would like to go to a different boarding school to take his A Levels?

Most schools expect movement after GCSEs, it's fairly common to move to the state sector if they want to do less traditional subjects first instance. It's late to be applying though, my DD's had to apply by November for state sixth form

@LunaLovegoodsLeftEyebrow We have lost all faith in the school, it's a pastoral care issue but the teaching isn't great either. It's full boarding up to GCSE's so they don't have any day students in his year. He doesn't want to go back but he is willing to, I am very worried about him. We have let him down very badly by sending him there.
@TheSquareMile No , he won't be attending a boarding school for 6th form.

What would he like to do after completing his GCSEs?

@Watchinghercook that is really hard. I can understand you not wanting to send him back into it. If it is leading to really serious issues for him, (def harm etc) could you consider withdrawing him and tutoring at home / online schooling (InterHigh?) and entering him as an independent candidate?
If that’s not an option, perhaps they would agree to him coming home for weekends / Sundays? It’s just another 6 months really, he could come home after the exams presumably?
Have you escalated to Governors?

We wants to study Maths , Further Maths, Physics and possibly Economics for A level @TheSquareMile. He wants to go to a state school and he won't negotiate on that.

He sounds very bright.

Is there a cut-off date for applying to the state school he would like to attend?

He must be made of steel @TheSquareMile , he said he can tolerate it for 6 months. We can see him every Sunday but it's too far to come home for the day. I am going to book an Airbnb flat for the first few weeks so that I am close to the school. I may extend that, we owe him that at least.

The cut off date is the end of January for the school he wants to attend.

I think you will have to make contact with the state school(s) you want your son to be considered for sixth form straight after the holidays end. Some schools see more movement at age 16 than others. They can demand certain GCSE grades to be able to study a particular subject so you are going to have to be able the school with predicted grades I think you are going to have to let his current school know your plans, even if that is difficult.

It sounds as though you have a really good relationship with your DS, and that he’s communicating with you what is going on - that’s a really great sign.

Good that you can see him regularly too - but appalling that the situation is so bad that it has come to this. For the sake of other boys with less involved parents I hope you can raise formal complaints once he is safely out of it.

I wish there was a way around it but I think that you're right @Occasional2023 .

I doubt very much that they will listen, they cover up if at all possible but I will raise a formal complaint once my DS is settled @LunaLovegoodsLeftEyebrow .

You should be able to ask his current school for his target grades or predicted grades. If they don't have these easily available or are unwilling to share the information, then it would be odd. I have worked in boarding schools and state schools. It's not an unusual email request.

Your bigger issue is the school he's going to. My current, 'outstanding', state school has fairly strict requirements and for external students we have an automated reference we require a member of staff from the current school to fill in. This is fairly standard. We would be unlikely to make an offer without this.....

.....however, it's the state sector. Only an oversubscribed grammar school will turn down a good student after they have received their GCSE grades.

So you could just risk it and wait until the summer. Alternatively you could try emailing the head of sixth and ask their thoughts?

He has mocks when he goes back in January but we won't the results until early February at our parents evening. I will take your advice @Curioushorse and contact the head of 6th form when the school reopens.

Has he had any thoughts about what he would like to do after 6th form with A Levels in those subjects?

He would like to study either Economics or possibly Maths. He would be looking at degrees in Economics which are more maths based.

I am so sorry that you are in this situation @Watchinghercook , reading between the lines I think we may be have been at the same school. I can offer advice if you would like to pm me.

I have messaged you @Oscarscross .

I wouldn't worry too much about having "missed" the application dates for state sixth forms. There is no standard application system so each school will be different, but most will take 'late' applications as long as there is space. Lots of state pupils change plans right up until the last minute. Some grammars may be ruled out however as they will be very oversubscribed. But if you are near a large sixth form college with multiple classes in each subject, there shouldn't be any problem. Your DS sounds very mature, I hope he manages to get through the next few months and enjoys his sixth form years much more.

Thank you @Motherhubbardscupboard .

@Watchinghercook students don’t really have too much interaction for the summer term when doing GCSES, so your DS may not need to worry as much. How does the school manage study leave? Can he just return for exams only and stay off campus with you somewhere? The examination boards have finalised their timetables now so you should be able to see the dates of his exams (and importantly, the date of the last one) on the exam board websites. You could then create a countdown for him maybe?

My DC left a indie school for a different 6th form but I was paranoid about being caught out on the notice front so gave notice in the first week of Jan so there could be no misunderstanding. Make sure you follow the school process as to who you inform though, don’t get caught out that way. There was no difference in the treatment at school and indeed the school had been asked for a reference before the new school made an offer so please try not to worry (although it does sound as if we had very different reasons for changing for 6th).

For concerns, could you report them to the ISI alongside the complaint to the governors? (assume that his school uses this as the external governing body?) you can include previous complaints and how they were handled. I’d imagine that Schools fear an external governing body review rather than an internal one?

I do hope you get it sorted, what a stressful time even without it being y11!!

Is your son likely to get/be predicted good grades for the sixth form he wants to apply for? Deadlines for most places here are the end of January, I think one was earlier for DS for September 2023. He did need his school (11-16 comprehensive, so no sixth form) to add predicted grades to his applications. Are there back up options (other colleges) which also offer Further Maths?

My DS should have the grades required for his 1st choice, there is another option ( a 6th form college) but the results are much lower. Both are close to home His first choice is very selective and oversubscribed , both will offer all his subject choices.