My son is 5+ and goes to year 1 in a private school ( 3-11 yrs )
We have been hearing from our friends that how big it is a challenge to get your child in a good school when they get 12, 10+ exams as they say and how stressful it can get for child and parents
Given this as a driver, we applied in another private school that is upto the age of 18, has a very good academic reputation.
My son has appeared in an assessment exam and results should be out soon. I am now doubting my decision and can’t decide whether to let her stay in current school or new one. Here's some points that will help you understand my situation better
1- My son is brilliant, confident and friendly boy.
2- He however struggles with his attention span and gets distracted easily. As a result we need to constantly remind him about focus on the task. This applies to his food habits , listening capabilities in classroom, play time e.g when he runs he keeps getting distracted, used to chat a lot in class but is now getting better. He has shown improvement but still has to work hard towards it. Teacher says he is the brightest e.g has language capability of a 8 yr old but if you make him write she struggles to finish her task and may suffer as she will move to next year.
3- Current school is class size 5 (yes 5) and he gets a 1-2-1 attention where teacher can actually give him more help where he struggles and it is a very personalised approach.
4- New school has class size of 24 with no teaching assistant and I worry if my son goes there he will struggle which will affect his performance and confidence. Which obviously worries me most.
5- We have also build a healthy social relationships with parents and he is friendly with all kids. Given he is the only child we have to ensure he gets enough play dates and social action with kids his age.
He has been in this school since 3 and I feel that in new school I have to make this effort of socialising with parents , his play dates etc. Having no extended family here and diff ethnic origin it is not easy and I have to try extra hard all the time given my husband does not fully realise the importance of emotional fulfilment and social fitness.
6- My worries are if we change his school now his emotional well being and happiness at this point. I have struggled myself so worry that my son doesn't suffer plus if this affects him academically - nothing would be worse. So my motherly instinct kicks in and I feel he should stay in this current school.
7- I also think that If we say no to this school they might not take us if we ever apply in future, blacklist us? Its a well known and a in demand school.
Please advise ladies, if you have faced similar circumstances and what should I do.