Starting secondary school a year early.

[Mumski45]

I was wondering if anyone on here has made the decision to send their DC to secondary school a year early and if so what were your reasons. I am considering this for DS2 but have lots of questions such as

• what are the benefits

• what are the downsides
• how do I go about it

- do i need the support of the primary school or just the secondary school - should he miss year 5 or year 6 (currently in year 4) - will he have to take the SATS a year early or can he miss them out Am also interested to hear from anyone who considered this but made the decision not to in the end. Thanks in advance to those who take time to give me your thoughts.

I was a year ahead and was resented, but fortunately had half a dozen friends who also were. It was lonely, I was bullied, but the friends have remained.

DH was three years ahead, not good.

we resisted pushing DS and I'm sure we were right.

I did this. My mum had the option to send me two years ahead but turned that down (thankfully with hindsight) as "not right". It was fine academically and socially generally...except that my mum was very strict about things and I felt a bit held back by her (by that, I mean whats she thought was fine for a 13 year old was hugely different from what others thought was fine for a just 15 year old).

But....I don't think it did me a lot of favours later on. Started a serious job too young and probably didn't make the right decision. That sort of thing. So I'm not sure I'd do it for my own kids.

For some of the brightest kids, problems with not fitting in socially and at the worst bullying are just as likely or more so to happen in their own age group as everything they say or are interested in is out of kilter with their peer group. Moving up even one year might actually help sometimes in that situation; though I think it should never be a commonplace because I'd like to see an education system that can cater for most children in their own yeargroup.

Planning to move ahead at secondary does sound a good point at which to do it; not much idea how to get permission for it though. Some independent schools might be able to offer flexibility (alongside scholarships/bursaries) so perhaps worth discussing with any local options as well as approaching the grammar school you like.

I went through school at the normal young end of the year; stood out like a sore thumb and was a social misfit till I reached uni. (not in the UK btw). Apparently my parents were advised to have me skip year 2 as we were changing schools but the 2nd school wouldn't consider it. Then partway into year 7 my (private) school discussed moving me into year 8; but my parents considered there was too much important stuff going on in year 7 and felt it was not a good idea. Years later when they told me about it I think they were probably right. Still wish I'd had the option to move ahead younger though.

Good luck finding the right way to enrich your son's education as that is the main key however his schooling is achieved!

My job involves regular learning lots of completely new stuff.. except I coast at work a lot little. It doesn't mess up my life or ruin my love of learning to have easy spells.

I went to secondary school at 10 and did A levels at 17 (best in my year actually) and was reading law at university at 17 and graduated aged 20. It worked for me as I was always very grown up. I was one of the smallest in the class but as I liked gym and trampoline that was not a bad thing. My brother got into his school at the 7+ exam aged 6 and similar did A levels at 17, then had a gap year before going to Cambridge to read medicine. So for both of us being a year young was no problem at all but it is not right for everyone.

Thank you so much to everyone for your insights. It is very interesting to hear the views of people who actually did this and how it turned out in the long term. I will read in more detail later as stuck for time right now. I am particularly interested to hear about those of you who went through GCSE's and A level a year early and then took a year out before going to Uni. I feel that this is a better use of time than being allowed to coast for a year in year 6.

I would love for him to be catered for well in his current school but am coming round to the acceptance that this will be limited. My main concern is that I have put my time and effort into supporting DS1 over the last 2 years as he has prepared for grammar school entrance. I have done comparatively little with DS2 and he has got where he is without the same level of input from me. I feel it is now time to put more thought into how best to support him for the next 2 years.

A friend of Dd2 was put ahead in primary she was a year older than dd but 2 school years ahead the girl didnt really have anyfriends in her year especially when her year were 15/16 she hung around younger kid, she dropped out of uni with stress and anxiety i have no clue obviously but i always thought she was to pressured and couldn't cope.

Oh and I did GCSEs and alevels early (languages), but stayed in year group. Meant that when it was time to do those exams I had a couple less to worry about each time ie already had 2 alevels. So spent alevels years focusing on just three a levels rather than having to squeeze in a fourth as knew I would end up with 5 in the end anyway

Socially they may struggle. Could you get a tutor during year 6 to challenge him a bit more? My dd stayed in her year group but has taken some GCSEs in year 8, last year. For which she got A's. Which is great as still with her own age group and can now fully concentrate on the subjects she still has GCSEs for. Her school is great though and does cater well for all abilities.

Dd did Maths &English early they had fasttrack classes in her school

"and then took a year out before going to Uni. "

what if he spent all the time in that gap year, age 17-18, playing computer games?

There is a lad in DD's yr (now yr10) who is a year ahead (at least 12m younger than everyone else in yr10). He does quite well in school & has mates, no problems socially, except has a hopeless time when it comes to dating. Which matters a lot to teenagers. Not so fun in PE, either, so PE GCSE was never really an option. He'll go to the post-prom & post-GCSE parties, just 15 yrs old, with all the booze around.

Problems will really kick in when they become teenagers. They will be smaller, less mature, unable to go out with same year friends, may be made worse if they are late into puberty.
Being bright does not mean they are better moving up. Being bright means they'll do fine wherever they are. Get school to differentiate if necessary but maybe he's not quite as bright as you assume. There are plenty of bright children who do fine without their tiger mother pushing them into abnormal social,settings

We're in Scotland, and because it's much easier to defer start of primary here, the year groups actually tend to cover roughly 15 months rather than 12 (ie there's an overlap of ages between each school year).

I have two primary age DS, both young in year and not deferred, both have NT kids 15 months older than them in their classes. So they are kind of in the situation that your son would be.

Both my kids are academically able (one kind of 'top table' in his class, one an outlier beyond others in his class and getting extended tuition etc) and from that side of things I'm glad we chose to have them as young in year rather than deferred.

Other sides of it are more mixed. One of my DC is quite short for his age and is probably smallest in his class. He's very sporty /competitive /fit - but at a significant disadvantage in physical size. I suspect this will get worse in early secondary, and he will become quite frustrated by it. Same DC has good friends in class, but noticeably buddies up with the younger ones.

The other DC is tall for his age, and you would not physically pick him out as young in the class. He's also not so interested in competitive team sport, so I don't think will be bothered so much by age disadvantage. He's popular enough and happy in class, but hasn't really formed strong 'best mates' relationship with anyone - I don't think that's because of immaturity vs peer group, but that's a possibility.

bright doesn't mean they'll do fine wherever they are. Several examples here of people who have had difficulties socially and/or otherwise whether they have moved up or not moved up. It's really not as simple as saying that socially they should stay with their year. Sometimes that works. Other times, it means they don't get the chance for normal, equal, peer relationships. It's always a balancing act and needs to be decided with a particular child in mind. I ended up with various difficulties around anxiety and perfectionism that caused a lot of problems in adolescence and beyond, even affecting me now despite a lot of work. I don't know what the right solution would have been, if there even was one. But it certainly wasn't as simple as saying that my own year was automaticalliy better.

One of my children is in a year above at secondary, it has actually been a God send, she has struggled so much through out primary and the start of secondary socially and suddenly put in a year above she has flown socially.

As an experienced teacher I wouldn't recommend it.

If you can, extend outside of school and go broader & deeper with knowledge rather than just to the next point in a linear curriculum. Use online courses, free OU resources & your child's own interests to expand their knowledge. Greek mythology, classics, take up a language, create home enquiry-based independent study, see if there is a Brilliant Club near you or approach a university and do a tour/connect with a lecturer.Look at free talks at the National gallery, Tate etc

There is no rush to finish academia early, use the time to build on encouraging a well rounded, knowledgeable young person who can risk take, has self-reliance, is self motivated and has tools that mean they can research, access and learn.

I am sure you do all that already, as they are the important skills to provide for naturally inquisitive young learners.

I was accelerated a year, and i really would not recommend it.
It was fine at GCSe but at A level the lack of maturity showed, as it did with the other kids that had been accelerated with me. None of us did as well as we might otherwise have done so.
I have a great job now, and love it, but i did fail to get into medicine, and certianly would have been much better off if that had happened, and it might well have done if i had been 18 months younger than some of my peers.

I did this. September birthday so only a bit younger than my peer group. Academically I was always fine - top sets, good A-levels etc. Socially I think it was a bit of a disaster. It wasn't the drinking, parties, driving etc it was just that I never really gelled with my year group, but wasn't able to make friends with the year below either. I really wouldn't do it to a child of mine. And I know my DM would agree.

I was moved a year ahead, missing the last year of primary school.

It was fine academically but awful socially as my parents wouldn't let me do anything my friends were allowed to do as I was 'too young'.

When I went to uni I was only just 17 and while I made friends I found it quite hard to fit in.

DS is ahead academically, does lessons with the year ahead a few times a week.

I still wouldn't consider moving him ahead a year as I hated it that much.

I went to secondary at 11 with everyone else but a number of us did certain subjects a year ahead, maths being one of them, through my schools gifted and talented stream. I have to say whilst at school it meant we were challenged and able to space out our exams a bit better, it's really not given me any advantages in life and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in the year above at school or wanted to go to university at 17. It seems like a drastic step to take when it would be far easier to work with the school to provide more challenging work.

School work doesn't get harder every year, it just builds more on previous foundations, so moving someone up doesn't make any difference, the more demanding part is at most the need to learn the foundations as well. That's going to be very temporary and probably not that much as you'd only be moved up if you already have much of the foundation.

The thing to find is something outside the normal curriculum to enthuse.

I was moved up a year in infants and stayed up, and it worked really well for me; I did very well academically and am very grateful to have had what feels like an extra year of young adult life rather than another year being bored at primary school. However, I am a mid-September birthday so the age difference was minimal.

I think it really depend on each child. Some will cope, some not.
But I wonder, if he is truly exceptional, does it make any difference just skipping a year?

I think if my ds had an opportunity to skip a year, he will cope fine, imo. But I don't think his needs in certain things would be met just by that, and also I don't know if he wants to do it or not.
Does your ds wants to skip a year? Does he understand what is going to happen? Emotional, physical and mental maturity start to show more as years go up. Do you think he can cope that?

I don't know if my mother's plan was to save a year of school fees for my brother and me (it could have been) but it worked out okay. My uncle by the way was also a year young through school but I think in my and his day it was a bit more common - having children at home (and university) is expensive and in many families getting that cost to stop has always been a key thing even in poor families - girls were sent away into service at 13+ so there would be one less mouth to feed at home.

I didn't have a gap year. There was one other person studying law with me who was also still 17 when we both started by the way so I was not the only one and my last boyfriend went to university at 17 too (as indeed the Scots do in any event). Teenage p hotos of me at school do not show me any different from other schools once my periods started at 13 as girls all tend to look almost grown up by then and I was the eldest in the family and very mature. I always think I was born middle aged.

My skiping was quite natural - my sister and I changed schools when I was 10 and she was 8 and instead of me going into the oldest class of the primary part I went into the first class of the seniors so it was a natural break. My brother as I said sat acaedmic 7+ exams a year early and got in aged 6 (not 7) and stayed at that school through to going to Cambridge. His gap year meant he was the right age for university when he went.

My daughter started her school a year young (just Sept birthday) and then stayed down a year in the second year (she is slightly dyslexic and needed the extra year in a very academic private school). She is now a London lawyer and it all worked fine but it did in her case help to be the oldest not youngest in the class.

Dropping the year when I did - just before I started the secondary part of the new private school (which went from 4 - 18) was a good point as at 11+ (10 in my case) there were a lot of new joiners to the school, new syllabus etc etc