child in yr 2 asked to repeat the year ?

[Hellobell]

hi,

So my son has been struggling with reading and also his maths, hes improving but very slowly, hes also trying a lot aswell. The teachers and myself had a meeting and can see signs of a learning disability but he can not yet be screened at this age, they did tell us as an option to either repeat year 2 again next year or after christmas put him into year 1.

Hes the youngest in his class and born end of august.

Can people please provide me with both pros and cons ?

Thanks

At my DCs private school there were several children who were July/August borns who had done this. No issues with classmates or their parents and it meant they were better able to cope with GCSEs and A levels when they reached year 9+. In many other countries this would be a standard, stigma free option but in the UK it seems to only be available in private schools. Obviously not all August borns need to be ‘held back’ a year, but if your child needs a year to mature and catch up in a non judgemental environment I’d consider it? And the sooner it happens the better (rather than wait until y7 when friendships are more established). Perhaps he could have a taster week in the proposed class to see how the transition feels regarding new/younger peers?

If this is a private school, bear in mind that if going back a year does not enable him to cope better or they are unable to support his needs, he may be managed out and you might struggle to find an alternative out of cohort place.

In many other countries this would be a standard, stigma free option but in the UK it seems to only be available in private schools

No, it's available in state schools too - I know a few people who have done it.

Just to add - I'd move him now rather than repeat yr2 not just because the sooner the better, also because yr1 often has some less formal learning in their timetable which is really enriching, plus he could do more phonics sessions which children really benefit from some more repetition of to boost early reading. Even though yr2s no longer do SATs there's a bit of a legacy of it being a 'bootcamp' year and in many schools it'd be a bit tedious for him to do it twice!

Just say to him it’s to do with his age. He will understand that.