Independant til 6th form...

[Flowertop]

Hi, need some advice. My two are both in independant and am thinking of keeping them in until end of year 11 then switching them over to state 6th form college/school for years 12 and 13. I think financially this would be of great benefit to us looking forward and also because we are not wealthy people my feeling is that they would have had the best (only in our opinion) education we could buy for them and they will need to motivate themselves through the last two years. Not looking for a private vs state argument but just want people's opinions of this and if anyone has gone down this route how has it worked out. Thanksxx

I did this. I was at independent school from 5-16 and then left and went to state sixth form. I actually did much better in my A levels at sixth form, then I think I would have if I had have stayed on at my private school. It was my choice to do so, and I really felt I needed to get out and see the world, rather than be sheltered by my private school. I found the transition from private to state fairly easy. It gave me more independence and freedom at state sixth form, which was what I needed. I had no problem with motivation, as it was my decision to go down the state route.

No direct experience but it is becoming a more popular thing to do to get over the university issue - preference given to state school pupils over independent.

MMI thanks for your positive response. You have highlighted everything I feel. I think at the moment they need all the help and motivation they can get and as they aren't the brightest kids the small class sizes are really helping. I just think by the time they are at year 12 they should start to become more aware of where they are and be able to self motivate themselves. This would be great for us financially (doing some very forward planning!) but also I do belive it would be good for them. thanks again

I went to local sixth form college after private 2-16 and we will seriously consider doing the same for DD. In my case i wanted to do subjects my rather traditional school didn't offer (Politics and Spanish) and had completely outgrown the school environment by then (would have felt the same about any school TBH). I got 5 As at A-level so it worked out fine. That said, the sixth form college I attended was probably not typical in terms of its intake and only taught A-level and GCSE courses.

The thing about going state at 6th form to evade anti-private sentiment amongst University admissions tutors is a bit of a red herring. Admissions work is part of my role and at the Russell Group university I work in students have to have done their A-levels at a school/college where the average points score per pupil is below the national average to gain any advantage (and even then it is one of many criteria).

independent surely

depends on your local 6th form facilities

round here I would do it the other way round - till GCSE the state schools are quite good but the 6th form provision is appalling.

spelling wise
not schooly

I teach in a very good state school with a sixth form that has some of the best results in our region, so we get applications from outside of the school to our sixth form. They come from the independent sector, grammar schools and other local state schools. The only warning I would give is that often the school will give priority to its own students first before allocating places to students from elsewhere.

Having said that our new students seem to settle and benefit from a fresh start at a new school whether it be state or independent.

Round here, people move their kids into the private sector for sixth form! The secondary schools onnly go up to 16 so the students have to move on anyway.

As for 'preference' given to state school pupils, that is not how the widening access scheme works. It give lighter offers to students who both come from families that have no tradition of going to university and from schools that have little tradition of sending their pupils onto higher education.

Presumably a sixth form college is not in that category.

I would tread cautiously about making a sixth form switch (from/to any school system), because the students have to get off the ground running when they return to school in September, and hopefully having done holiday homework. Their first modules are in January and they have very little time to settle in and become known to staff.

Staying in a school environment also allows them to have responsibility within the school.

Am reading this thread with much interest as we're considering doing the same. My girls have boarded from quite a young age and will do for the forseeable future - probably upto year 10(unless THEY choose to stop boarding).

Much as they are making the most of their boarding school life, having been taught at a comprehensive school myself I do worry that they are leading a very shelterd life.

Hopefully by the time my eldest completes years 10 we will be settled enough to put them into day school and am considering letting them choose if they want to continue boarding into the 6th form at their senior school or perhaps move to a local 6th form college. We have no idea atm though where we will be at that time - to start researching yet.

I did this, despite being offered a large scholarship to stay. The first few weeks were quite a culture shock (I swear the dinner ladies actually snarled,) and my 'A' level grades weren't quite as, er, uniform, as they might have been

I wasn't the most motivated of teens, though, and, on reflection a lingering sense of entitlement and vastly improved social life could have been a recipe for disaster. It wasn't, though, and the university situation turned out rather well.

One of the most enduring benefits has been making friends locally; many of us have drifted back, and it's great to have that support.

Drat, I missed a comma after reflection

Perhaps I should have stayed private after all...

Some of the boys at my DS1s school left at 6th form in spite of his school being top twenty nationally.
Most did it because of a) cost of fees b) desire to go to a mixed sex enviroment and c) very good local 6th form college.

DS1 wanted to do A levels that were better served at his school - particularly the English and Latin but other wise I would have looked at it too...

( the £24,000 saving would be nice...)
[sigh]

I was at an independent school until 6th form because we couldn't afford for me to stay. I have mixed feelings about it to be honest.

The 6th form was ok but it was a shock in some respects. In my old school you needed an A at SCSE to do the A-level in that subject and suddenly I was in classes with people who had scraped a pass at GCSE and who really had no hope of passing the A-level and consequently needed a slower pace, messed around and held up the class as there was no tiered system. The teaching also left a lot to be desired in places although some of my teachers were fantastic. I guess teaching standards can apply to private too, certainly some of my teachers in the independent school could have used a little motivation!

I got the grades I needed for a good university but I think they would have been higher had I stayed in private. I could have done a fair bit more work in some areas though! In private you worked your arse off to get that A because that was what mattered, in state there was a greater spread of ability so a B or even a C was fine. There were some bits I just didn't get at all though and since the teacher concerned spent most lessons talking about his bread maker and not the subject I just gave up which wouldn't have gone undetected in my old school.

I did a lot of self teaching as in some classes we did nothing at all. I also spent a lot on text books as there were not enough to go around and some were many years out of date and didn't actually include advances in science that were on our syllabus. I remember my biology text was the 1984 version so I purchased the latest edition myself.

However, the freedom was good and it was a good lesson in self motivation. Free periods in my old school were supervised study but I was free to come and go as I pleased and organise my own study. It was also flexible and I was able to change my choices and do things in a way that I would not have been able to in the private school. Because a 6th form college teaches so many different courses including BTEC etc in addition to GCSE ana A-Level you can study a good variety and you can do your 3 core A-levels for uni then indulge a passion in a way you can't in a smaller school. For example I had a friend who did mainly sciences then did a diploma in photography.

I am going to move ds (currently year 9) back to the UK for sixth form and from private to state, as I don't think his current school cuts the mustard at A level or IB. He will also board as I did for sixth form. It will be a taste of independence, and hopefully he can drunk/laid without me watching him.

I'm going to be doing this with DS2 next year. He is currently boarding and wants to come home for A level. There are 3 good comprehensives I have looked at which have their own 6th form, none of which we are in the catchemnt area of. Anyone know what the selection rules are for state 6th forms regarding how close you live. The selection criteria written on their websites seems to imply academic selection, totally different to that at yr 7 entry.

I was state educated all the way through school, but what you describe is exactly my aspiration for when I have DCs.

I went to a 6th Form College which was excellent (I think specific 6th Form colleges tend to be). What was good was the mature atmosphere, no compulsory assembly or sport or uniform or other rubbish school stuff which 16 year olds tend to hate and as a result I (and my friends) felt a lot more motivated to actually get on with the work.

The teachers were excellent as they just specialised in their own subjects at A Level standard.

It also promoted a much more independant learning approach which meant that when I went to University I found the transition a lot easier. A lot of my first year friends at uni had been privately educated and they really struggled to get in to the right mindset.

When we left our state school which was good but not outstanding, some of my friends parents did the opposite of what you suggest and sent their DC private. NONE of them did as well as those of us of equivalent ability who went to 6th Form College.

If you've got a good 6th Form college available I don't think you can go wrong and your kids will probably be very with all the trust and independance it brings.

Interesting thread. We are considering this too & have looked at a couple of local sixth forms so far. My concerns are that I do know several people who have switched school at sixth form and spent more time settling in than working and not achieved what they are capable of. The sixth forms round us are all composed predominantly of children who have been at the school since 11, so it's harder to move into an established peer group, I am told there is a marked culture difference.

The more concrete problems we have encountered so far are:

1. One local school will only allow 4 AS levels - timetabling constraints do not allow more & ds wants to do 5.
2. He is doing 2 AS levels in year 11, continuing these elsewhere involves a syllabus change usually and most schools don't seem to be able to cope with doing either A2 in year 12 rather than 13.
3. Some subjects he is interested in at A level are not offered at any/all the local state alternatives (Latin & Computing for example)
4. Much reduced music provision

So we are coming around to staying where he is (but not definitely decided yet).

My youngest was in private education and needed to get streetwise. We all agreed he should change to the local sixth form college for his A levels but his granddad suggested he first do a youth exchange with Rotary rather than go straight to college. He went to school in Argentina for a year and lived with three different families. While he was away we had a girl from Argentina stay with us for three months. After two boys it was really nice to have a daughter and although she lives in Argentina we are still good friends and chat regularly. DS came home speaking fluent Spanish and is more self confident and worldly wise. He went to the sixth form college and got good grades in his A levels. I?m hopeful that his fluent Spanish will help him get a job after uni.

I am intrigued that parents with dC in independent schools believe that it hasn't created motivate students. Is this the spoon feeding for league table purposes that we here so much aboutin relation to private schools?

ds is very motivated - suspect motivation is more down to personality of the student than the school influence in many cases. Remembering back to my own education I became more motivated in sixth form due to studying the subjects I had chosen and being treated more as an adult, both of which are factors likely to happen at sixth form whereever you choose to study.