Moving schools in Year 5

[Creole]

Has anyone done this?

I'm seriously thinking about this for the new term. My DD has been having loads of problems with her current school, that I feel a move might be what she needs. She has recently been referred to the SENCO

She's very clever and has been assessed to be about 3 years ahead (in English) by her tutor. She actually told the tutor about the problems she's been having at school and the tutor suggested she might be bored.

I'm thinking of a school with small class size as oppose to the 31 she's currently at.

The tutor has suggested an independent school might be the best option for her.

However, I'm really not sure if this is the right thing to do. I'm working with the school on the behaviour on a daily basis and really hoping things will change soon, but every day its one thing after the next and I'm running out of ideas on what to do.

My other worry is, I don't want the school to end up permanently exclude her, so I was thinkign maybe a place where her skills and abilities are taken into account might help.

Any thoughts? Would really appreciate them..

Many thanks

I friend of mine move her DD1 at the begining of Y5. She had asked to move, after DD2 was move to that school the previous term. It was from state to private. I have never asked if she felt she was very behind, apart from French, but I know they are very happy with the move.
They have kept all the friends from all school.

She'll be due to move to a secondary in another year or so anyway so would you be looking for a combined junior and secondary school so she wouldn't have to move?

I moved my son from a private to another private in year 5.

Unless she has a scholarship, she will have to move for secondary. I won't be able to afford it after I've paid for 2 years

Scholarships very rarely cover 100% of the fees though, the average is 20% however they normally offer bursaries from year 7 which is means tested so it's worth looking for one that goes all the way through due to the stability of her being in one place rather then having to move and move again in a year later.

If you can afford it then I'd move her, it's a rare state school that can support a child who's more then a year ahead. My son was assessed as having a literacy level of 16+ when he was 9 and a maths age of 14, I did put him in the local state school for a number of reasons when he was in year 5, it was a mistake on an epic scale. Like your daughter, the senco was involved because they really had no idea. He's back in the private sector now.

tricky one.

my situation has similar overtones but not exactly the same.

long story short- dd diagnosed during year 6 as dyslexic- cognitive skills of 16 plus, working memory etc less than a 6 year old.

school not interested-we have middle schools here, so years 5-8 middle school, upper school years 9-13.

i could only afford private school for 2 years, so moved her for years 7 and 8. She is most of the way through year 7. we are lucky that she will go back to state at year 9 and re-join all her friends at the upper school.

i will be honest though, the independant she goes to is non-selective with class sizes of 8. she has improved academically thank god- moved from about 6 grades in 2 terms. It stretches those that are gifted- the class sizes are such that in reality every child has an individual programme. she has developed more confidence- eg has joined in sports teams.

For me the big down side is the social one. She has found it very hard. Being only 1 of 7 girls in the year, if you fall out with someone, there is no where else to go. so you might want to think about that aspect.

i would say though that i dont regret it for a minute. it is hard financially. originally i thought that we would find the money somehow for her to go through to 16 but this now seems unlikely. she is one of 3 so it is not fair on the others never to have a holiday again etc. i think that if you can find the right school it will be 2 years well spent and give a chance to sort out issues before secondary level. You could well find that things improve at a state secondary- many have very good facilities for gifted and talented. If nothing else you may gain a better insight into your daughter and will know that you have done everything possible to help her.

at my daughters school it is possible to get a 50% scholarship for academic ability at secondary level

meant to add- if the school is one that goes straight through to 16 do seriously think about the long term implications. What do you do if she loves it and wants to stay after the 2 years? it would be a heart-rending decision to make. we originally said to very reluctant and unhappy dd that we were making the decision to move her at 11 because thats what we thought best and she could have final say at 13 whether she moved to upper school.

with the impact of the recession and uncertainty all round, i have told her that she will be moving to upper school. she is a bit older that your dd and can rationalise this and tbh there are pros from her point of view, but it could be v different in your case

Appreciate the comments, I will be looking into private schools from tuesday. I will continue also to work with current school to turn around behaviour as do not want it to follow her wherever she goes.

What problems are they having with her?

Why is she having a tutor, if she is already that far ahead? What does the tutor base the assessment on? Does it agree / correlate with school assessments?

The problem is though, if she's really far ahead and she has a tutor to teach her things that are making her even further ahead then she's going to be really bored at school as she'll be learning nothing. The school should be stretching her sideways, if she's really good at english then they should be giving her extension work that is based on what the rest of the class is doing. It's good in theory but in practice, not all schools do this (even though they should). I imagine she's very bored so she's being disruptive in class? Forgive me if I'm wrong.

Problems with disruption in the class.

She has a tutor as we're thinking of grammar schools at secondary level and I want to improve her creative writing skills.

Almost all of her teachers have noted how bright she is, but when it comes to putting it down on paper, there's a problem. So the tutor has been helping her to get her thoughts down on paper.

What's she doing exactly? Shouting out? Not doing as she's told? Correcting the teacher? If you explain more I may be able to help or advise you on where to go.

Alot of parents from ds's old school paid for their child to go private then sent them to the catchment secondary or to another private (there's no state grammar here), it's common for children to go to a grammar from a private school though.

Ds has a problem starting off if this makes sense. Once he knows what to write about then he can do it.

Shouting out was one of them, but that stopped.
Not following instructions
Talking, writing on furniture, lying, general silliness.
To be honest, I can't remember all of them as its soo silly, but obviously a concern for the teacher

Thanks a lot Belle, appreciate the time you're taking to help me

am watching thread as have exactly the same dilemma for DD, currently in Y4, albeit for different reasons - she's dyslexic but school have disregarded her issues as she still achieves good enough levels for them - but according to the ed psych is actually 80% underachieving. She has a very bright mind but can't get thoughts down on paper in organised fashion, can't multitask and spelling atrocious.

Would love to move her in Y5 - have found lovely private school with tiny classes and extra support but she doesn't want to leave her friends, so am pulled in both directions.

However if it wasn't for her attachment to her friends I'd move her tomorrow as it's still 2 years of primary school left and they're important years academically.

It's alright Creole, been there, done that, have the postcard

It's all low level disruption that's annoying the teacher. To her/him it's showing a complete lack of respect. It won't be solved by moving her as it will follow her. Her maturity just isn't at the same level as her intelligence and if the rest of the class are at this aswell then it's going to be incredibly difficult for you to even attempt to tackle this. How is the teacher helping?

Thirty, she'll be leaving all of her friends when they move to secondary school anyway, how many of your school friends do you keep in touch with?

That's exactly what I think too. Also, my child's happiness at the current school really worries me. She's constantly being pulled up for the tiniest of thing and its getting sooo tiring for all of us.

But I worry that a move this late would do more harm than good - I'm really in two minds, but the posts so far, have really helped

Being pulled up for the smallest thing really damages a child's self esteem, they begin to feel as if everything they do is wrong, they appologise all the time because they are unable to distinguish between someone giving them advice and someone telling them off (been here aswell). It takes a very long time to change this.

What's the rest of the class like?

That's exactly it, Belle, she is very immature and still obsessed with toys etc. The teacher and HT have all been very helpful and I've been getting regular (although negative) updates, so I'm hoping we turn it around soon, but its taking too long.

Sometimes, I think if only they focus on the postives for a day and see what happens...

There's quite s few vibrant kids and those with real SEN issues in the class, but I think the teacher manages them well. Teacher just gets annoyed with my DD who has no problems.

actually Belle all her friends except maybe 1 whose parents are thinking private will automatically move to the local comp at 11 - it's a feeder school and there aren't any other viable options in terms of catchment etc., so if she stays at current school would effectively be with them up to 16 at least!

The negative updates are unhelpful for you I think. I used to get alot of "little belle has been annoying the other children", I'd tell him off daily for this, it was only when I asked him what he was doing that the penny dropped, he wanted to play so kept asking them every few minutes incase they changed their mind. Social skills and maturity are really easy for some children to pick up without even having to try, others need more support, if it were maths or english help that she needed then this would be more readily availiable. I don't think that constant criticism is helpful for a child, she will mature and improve but she needs somewhere where she will be nurtured to help her to do this, I'd look for a private school that will do this rather then somewhere academic. In the mean time, try and identify the one thing that she does that you recieve the most complaints about, not following instructions for example, and work with her on this (don't ignore all the other behaviour though). I do alot of role play with ds for this, for following instructions we baked a cake, first of all we didn't follow the instructions and the cake (naturally) was a complete disaster, then we repeated it and followed the instructions and it was fab. By doing this he could visualise the cause and effect of the behaviour and it helped him to understand why he needed to do this. A sticker chart at school which you are able to see at the end of the day is also a good idea, it will give her something positive if she recieves a sticker for a good lesson as she can see it.

Has she been to have a look around thirty? we fell in love with ds's secondary school, it's absolutely fantastic and has so much to offer. I can completely understand why you want to move her, a close friend of mine moved her son for the same reason, he did very well. You could be crafty, offer to move her until she needs to move to secondary school in the hope she'll want to stay, it will give her the chance to catch up/improve. If she wants to stay at the private school then leave her there, if she wants to go to the same school as her friends then move her back into the state system. If she goes to the brownies/girl guides then she can still see her current friends.

Thanks Belle, that's really helpful..

It's never easy is it. I used a very good book called the 'Unwritten rules of Friendship' for ds, it covers areas such as shouting out, correcting the teacher, being too bossy, being the class clown etc. It was really helpful. There's extracts of it on Amazon. He's at a private church school now, he moved there in September and I am really pleased with how much he has matured. I don't know if it would have happened anyway but he's a completely different child so I really do think a good school can make a difference.

Did the school make her loose her play time and clean for writing on the furniture?