Jumping a school year

[Discoveringnewchoices]

This is not stealth boasting this is genuinely asking for advice from anyone who has made the decision:

My dc in yr 1 has had it suggested by the school that they should move up a year (this is an independent school).

They have asked whether we would prefer our dc to be moved up this year, i.e. go from pre-prep into prep now when classmates up to yr 2 and they go into yr 3, or whether we would like to leave it for a year and do it when all classmates move up into prep and our dc goes into yr 4 whilst rest of class is in yr 3.

Has anyone done either of these? Any opinions on which one is better/worse?

Did this....was fine academically but i think slightly emotionally behind and frustrated on driving etc as mentioned. Started uni at 17 graduated at 20. Has allowed me to often be the youngest as my career progressed but tbh if my kids are offered same i will say no.

I skipped a year aged 8 (as I moved schools), several of my friends at university also went up aged 17 and none of us found it a problem.

Obviously if he was going to a state secondary and in danger of having to repeat year 6 then it would be a silly idea, but if you're sure he can carry straight on then in his specific circumstances he should be fine (and think of the money you'll save ).

There is a very fine dividing line between 'Y1 work', Y2 work' and 'Y3 work' as they often segue together. What would you call 'Y3 work'?

I think it is much more appropirate to talk in 'levels' as the levels can apply to any age group.

I left school at 16 (in Scotland) and went to Uni, did a 4 year course and graduated aged 20. I wasnt ahead of anyone but just did 5 years at secondary school as it was optional to stay on for 6th year.

it was done to me
would not wish it on my worst enemy once you get to mid teens

Can't he or she just be taught at a higher level within his or her own year group? Or perhaps sometimes go to the year above for some classes?

In my DC's school it is quite common for children at the "top of the class" to work with the next year up. Some do it for all subjects, some only for certain ones.

Jemima,
that is a GOOD solution.
Academic levels and social levels may not tally for all children
but the social (puberty) cohort is critical for fiting in and self esteem

The state grammar schools around here allow pupils to take the 11 plus in Y5, and if they pass miss Y6, and go straight into Y7. The one proviso they make is that if a child fails in Y5, they are not permitted to retry in Y6.

I know of a boy in Y5 who is going to grammar school this September. He is tiny, and I think his parents are mad. I think that being bored in Y6 would not do him too much harm. If he is destined for Oxbridge or med school he will get there anyway.

Just wanted to add a bit about being ahead of older classmates. As well as moving me and one other girl up, they kept 3 or 4 back who were struggling. Us two young ones were always ahead, particularly the oldest ones (who in retrospect obviously had mild sen) and it did cause resentment. I was the same size as them, but they knew I was younger and treated me with the contempt they though I deserved.

Re going out to join the other year group for certain parts that's why the school has suggested he just moves up to the year above:

He joins the year above for their sport sessions.

He is doing the same classwork as the year above but is effectively sat on his "own" with his peers but noone doing same work, so if he went up for classes he'd be up there for all academic lessons.

He is with the year above for music sessions.

The extra curricular he does with the year above already, break times they are all together and he is normally playing football/some ball game, and is playing with his year group and older year groups.

It is purely academic that he sits in the correct classroom.

Re level he's level 3 National Curriculum. His class are working 1a/2c, year 2 are working 2b/2a and he's working 3c.

at primary it can seem a great idea - but it was the teenage years that were the killer for me

So why can't he sit with the older year to do work?

DS1 is in Year 3. He has been doing the year above's work since Year 1. It has never been a problem. He has most of his lessons with Year 4, does the same homework as Year 4, reads the same books as year 4. He plays sport with year 4. His music lessons are private, but recently he entered a competition playing piano and came second competing against year 4. However he is still in Year 3. He will go to secondary with the children who are the same age as him. Who knows, by then the rest of his year may have caught up or even passed him. Or maybe he will still be ahead. Only time will tell. But it is certainly possible to set work at the right level for more able children without moving them up an academic year.

It was because if he was going to year above for academic work, what is he doing with his year group.

It was felt that going to the class for the academic work he's year 2 in name only, all his links are with the year above. He'd only be in the classroom for registration, at no other point during the day would he be sat in his classroom.

2 of my nieces were moved up (1 of them 2 years). Both at uni now, doing well and never heard a complaint/comment about socially not fitting in.

OP - what do you mean when you say that his class are working at 1a/2c and the year 2 class is working at 2b/2a? Doesn't the school differentiate?

I'd have thought there would be quite a lot of level 3s in the year 2 class, even if he is the only one in year 1. Or have I misunderstood?

If he is currently a 3c at the end of year 1 (is this across the board?) I'd have thought that a good teacher should be able to cater for him well enough in his own year group.

I wouldn't personally move my child up a year. But then it isn't my decision.

As I say, DS1 is taught at an appropriate level without needing to permanently move class. I would have thought that a good teacher in any school should be able to do the same, as magicmummy says.

talkinpeace - you mention the social/puberty cohort - but that is hugely variable anyway - it's not as if everyone in a random 12-month age group is going to hit puberty at the same time. Girls can start periods anywhere from age 9 to age 15 and still be 'normal'. My DS is currently in yr8 - he is one of the youngest ones in the year, but he is adult height, hairy, deep-voiced etc; some of the boys in yr9 and 10 still look like primary school kids to me.

I was moved up a year, but was still one of the first few in my year to start my periods - I would probably have been the first if I'd stayed in my original year, so felt much better about myself being with older girls. My DD (8) is tall and well developed for her age; I would guess she'll probably start her periods by about age 10, when she'll be in year 5, as she has an October birthday - looking at her friends now, she will probably be the first of her cohort by at least a year.

I don't think that moving someone by one academic year is likely to put them that far outside the normal range for physical development unless they are already very small for their age.

What I'm meaning is the majority of his class are at the top of level 1 or bottom of level 2, there are a couple of solid level 2s, he is a level 3. Mainly 3cs couple of 3bs.

The year above has majority solid level 2s, couple 2/3 and a couple level 3s like him 3c/b. We are talking 15 children so could be about 8 in set 3, 4 in set 2, 3 in set 1. I don't know exact numbers of split for year above. Just know he would be on table of 4 with children at same level. Rather than currently on his table he's doing extension work that noone else in the room is doing. They are differentiating but they just feel that he is on his 'own'.

Is he bothered about doing stuff on his own, OP? My dd (also year 1) is in a class of 30 and also does a lot of stuff which is different from her peers, but then they all have different targets so she doesn't seem too bothered by it.

Discovering - from everything you say about academic work, sport, music, size etc it sounds to me like he will be less of an odd one out if he does move up than if he stays in his 'proper' class, where I would guess he sticks out like a sore thumb at the moment.

And I think it is very valuable for children to have an intellectual peer group in their classes - being top of the class and way ahead of everyone else, all the time, gets boring and doesn't provide much stimulation - which can lead to dumbing down and misbehaviour (speaking from experience here).

'Mainly 3cs couple of 3bs' ???
How many subjects do they level? !!

His writing, particularly, must be amazingly good to get a 3c/b in Y1. I find that Y1s can follow the guidelines (e.g. use connectives, good punctuation), but, due to their immaturity, they haven't got the 'flow' of a level 3 writer.

....'children to have an intellectual peer group in their classes'

Maybe it would be a good idea to send him to a school with bigger class sizes, where there would be an intellectual peer group?

They level all - I know NC is officially only maths/english/science but they use a similar scheme for all subjects - geography, history, music etc.

He doesn't like having to go off out, I think he feels that wherever he is he's missing out on something better - grass is greener.

He hates revealing his age out of school, and I think that is because he just mentally/physically is older than his age, and therefore would prefer not to be seen as an age.

BG I honestly couldn't say - I have a severely dyslexic older child, so nothing to compare his writing with, but in his book it is often commented about fantastic opening, middle, ending so must be good start.

I was moved up a year myself (in the 70's), I think it was a muddle tBH brought on by moving house in YR1. I had to be assessed by an ed.psych to go up to secondary school early (I know of other pupils who repeated yr 6). I couldn't have legally left school at the end of the 5th year as under 16 but not an issue as went to 6th form, by university time was fed up with all this and took a gap year. Looking back objectively I'd say yes I was brainy, but didn't cope with the social side of school all that well and maybe that was a maturity thing combined with teasing - children know exactly when birthdays are and don't take kindly to a child who is not only clever but too young.
but of course you may not experience this at a private school rather than comprehensive!

Do you plan to stay in the same school/system, in which case you will probably be OK. But think seriously, if the school is so good can't they teach across the range of abilities in the correct age groups.

I have to say starting later in YR1 might have made me stick out but I would have hacked off an arm to avoid repeating YR6 - can you imagine?

Bustergut, I think it depends on the child. My dd got the "flow" before she was consistently able to apply the rules of punctuation etc. It may be connected to the fact that she reads all the time, but I think she is just lucky to have a natural way with words and a very mature written style. Following the guidelines came a little less naturally.

But I do agree that a bigger school might actually benefit the OP's son. Small classes are not necessarily all that they are cracked up to be!