Deferring your child going to secondary school-Scotland

[Pinupgirl]

I am looking for advice on this. My dc is due to start secondary school next august. I wish to defer this for a year due to sen but school have said no.

Is there any way I can challenge this? I contacted Enquire Scotland who told me to speak to the local education authority but the relevant contact is on long term sick and no one is getting back to me!

I have emailed and phoned and no one has got back to me. I feel rail roaded by the school and the educational psychologist is about 12 and jus sits there.

Most councils are very very reluctant to defer. Would it not be better your DC socially to move up to secondary and lobby for extra support for him/her?

I think this is just about unheard of. What may be possible would be him repeating P7 in another school.

I have never heard of this being permitted (15 years teaching in Scotland + 4 years at Uni). The only deferring point is into P1.

I did teach a child who had a very unsettled home life and eventually, in P7, Dad won custody. The child moved to a different school and repeated P7.

I would imagine the Curriculum for Excellence will make your request even harder than it was for that family.

Is your child a Jan/Feb birth? Were you advised to defer going to P1? These factors may help your case.

We have had a child defer at that point and redo p7. Was due to a bereavement. Pretty unusual though. I agree that CFE will make this really tricky though.

I'm adding my voice to the "probably not" people. I'm a secondary teacher in Scotland (though not currently employed in the school system) and I deferred dd1 and ds at p1 entrance (they started at 5y6m).

I've only once encountered a child deferred at s1 entrance and it was due to some severe family trauma (can't say more). The child repeated p7 at a different school in a new location before moving into secondary where I worked.

It's possible - but I think probably in the window of children who would have been allowed to defer for p1.

As others have said, CFE will make this harder as its supposed to be more individualised to the pupil.

My dc started school at 4-I was given no advice from the school re deferring him a year at nursery. Has a January birthday.

Does he/she have ASN? IEP? CSP?

You could maybe try and argue that schools should treat children as individuals and that your 'individual' child needs to repeat p7? Hope you get someone to sit up and listen x

I have come across this for some children w sen. I would go back to Enquire and ask for further help.

I did contact Enquire again and they just gave me another email address to use-again I still have had no reply.

euphemia-Im sorry but I have to disagree about the schools not advising re nursery deferment-I happen to know that in this particular nursery they do.I have a couple of friends whose dc's could have started school this year and they were advised/tolf that they should should defer.

I myself was given no advice and was put under pressure to make a decision pretty sharpish.