should i give my Yr 7 a gap year?!

[fatmumslim]

he is struggling to fit in witht he culture of secondary school, is very sensitive, has been hit a few times and called weird. His birthday is end of august so i was thinking he could have a year of HE then go back as a bigger Year 8! any thoughts?

What does he think about it? My DD2 (also Y7, just 11) is an end of August birthday, so I sympathise! There is no way on this earth she would have been emotionally ready for secondary school, so I'm incredibly glad I'm home edding her.

I always thought it was such a shame that if you have borderline birthdates you can't pick your school year. All my DDs friends are still at primary (or are primary aged home ed children). She'd have been a much better fit from the word go in the year below.

I wouldn't worry about the work at all because KS3 seems to be a holding pen until GCSE - he won't miss anything you can't easily cover at home. We've just left out KS3 and gone straight to GCSE with no difficulty.

I guess my only worry would be that the others would have established their friendships a year down the line and that might make it harder for him - but then I guess children move schools all the time. I'd get him to consider this, though.

Given his age, I might have a chat to him and lean towards what he wants to do about the situation.

Yes...I think it could work....but as musicposy says he may find it hard to fit back in unless he has experienced a big growth in confidence...which could happen.

You should in my opinion show him as much as possible about home ed...groups and clubs etc that he could join in with...and see how he feels about it. Or you could change schools?

Make an appointment to speak to the Head of year 7 and his form tutor, and ask them what extra support they can offer to him.