Repeating Year 5

[medlartree]

My son has a late August birthday and I have always been aware that he is 'young for his year'. He has enjoyed school, made friends and is physically on a par with his peers, however he has never excelled academically. He has been described as a 'daydreamer' and his teachers have mentioned he looses focus. Whilst he is very good at some things, like spelling, he struggles with other aspects like writing and maths.
At the start of year 5 he was offered a place as a chorister at a private school and after much deliberation we decided to take up the offer.

He has successfully made the transition to a new school (though he misses his old friends, has not made close friends yet and does mention a bit of 'teasing', but seems happy regardless).

He has coped with the huge time commitment of being a chorister - early mornings - leave for school at 7.15am, rehearsals every day before and after school (except Wednesdays), getting home at 7pm and then having homework to do, plus singing most Saturdays and Sundays.
His new school noticed he was 'slow to get started'. They suggested we took him to see an Educational Psychologist who accurately described his 'mixed profile' and diagnosed the closest fit description being 'mild Dyspraxia' - developmental neuronal delay. On her advice he has also seen a specialist opthamologist who has identified that he has some visual impairments (apparently this is often associated with dyspraxia). We are now undertaking a series of daily exercises to try and strengthen his eye muscles to aid his 'convergence' and vision.
We have always wondered if he would be better off in the year below and recent developments have raised this issue again. We would love to ease the pressure on him a little. It could be a revelation for him to experience being the eldest in the year and having the chance to feel one step ahead, rather than 2 paces behind, particularly given his Dyspraxia and the extra demands of being a chorister. In a private school repeating a year is possible, but since he may return to the state system once his voice breaks, this could cause problems later on.
I have discussed changing year groups with my son and he said "I'd be teased Mummy', so I have not pursued it further, but I still have a nagging feeling he'd benefit from a little more time to learn, especially since we have so little time outside of school and chorister duties to 'catch up'.
I wonder if anyone else has experience of repeating a year at this stage - year 5/6, or of developmental dyspraxia?

He doesn't want to. He appears to be being bullied/teased as it is, so why would you want him to be teased more? Keep him in his year group and speak to school about the bullying.

I am dyspraxic by the way so do understand the difficulties.

It is not really bullying is it? Boys do tease each other, but its not that horrible is it? He does not appear to be unhappy either, so I would leave well alone rather than asking him a beacon of ridicule. No-one wants to stay down while all their friends progress not the next year. Sounds cruel to me. I think the August birthday should not be an issue now. It may be he is really busy and this is why he loses concentration. It is a very long day and no real relaxation involved. I would stop worrying about all the other things too. If he is a chorister he can't be doing that badly. Can you not accept that he is dong really well to be where he is?

Forgot to say, my DD was August birthday and it never occurred to either of us that being the youngest in the year and that was a disadvantage. The only disadvantage was that everyone was on holiday when it was her birthday so the party was either late or early. Does he ever think his birthday month is a problem or worry? Would he not get bored covering the same work again?

If he has to go back to the state system you will be in a terrible predicament if he repeats the year.

For that reason I wouldn't.

Thank you for your comments. Of course I think my son has done incredibly well to adjust to a new school and take on so much extra work as a chorister, particularly with dyspraxia. I'm actually amazed by his stamina.

My observations are that his age has significantly influenced his early learning - specifically where he sees himself and his expectation of his achievement in relation to others. He is a bright boy, but this is not reflected in his academic results.

Teachers I have discussed this have confirmed that they notice these issues amongst August born children - one said that statistically it's well known that older children achieve 'better' results, all the way to GCSE's, although this is often underplayed. Research appears to back this up.
I do not see this necessarily as a problem, or a forgone conclusion, as far as my son is concerned. Obviously many factors are involved.

I have always hoped that, if he has to try that little bit bit harder to keep up, this may be a useful lesson in the long run. However I do think he would have had an easier, more confidence building early education, if he had been able to go to school at age 5 instead of 4 days after his 4th birthday. From day one he was playing catch up with the majority of children, in a large class of over 30, who were almost a year older both physically, mentally and emotionally. So yes I do think he's done really well!
As Cheryzan says the key issue remains the transition back to state.

If it weren't for the inflexibility of the system we would have started him at school a year later in the first place. Then we would never have had to consider the implications of repeating a year, getting out of sync with state schools, or loosing his peer group. Thanks again for your thoughts.

I think you have made a mistake on moving him to the choir school.You have taken him from a school where he was happy and popular, for what? spending all his free time and energy on something that is only going to last until his voice breaks which might well be in Y7 and then r If you can't afford the fees he will be kicked out again !
..and he is still behing academically

medlar my dd repeated a year last year. Im not in uk so I cannot comment on uk schooling. I have to say that it is the best thing that I could have done for her. At the time it was hard for her, her friends went up to the next grade and she stayed with the same teacher but with a new class for the next year. She wasn't coping emotionally - she spend 4 occasions in hospital in the first year of gr3 with stomach problems. The paed told me that it was stress related. After much conversation with teachers, head, family and of course dd we decided to let her stay back. The first day was a bit difficult for her but her teacher helped her ease into the new group so well. With delight I tell you that she is now excelling at school, she never gets less that 70% for any subject when previously she was just passing. She has made the most lovely new friends, in fact the friends she has now she is more close to than her previous ones. She is not the oldest in the class, there are children the same age as her and some older as some repeated previously or started schooling later.

I just wanted to say though, that repeating a class here is not as uncommon as it appears to be in the UK. If the child does not obtain certain criteria for the year, then the child repeats that year. The criteria differ to where the child is in the schooling phase, like the phase dd was in, it is decision made by school, parent and education department. In the senior phase (high school), if the child does not obtain a certain percentage in each subject, they will not be progressed to the following grade, and they have to repeat. There is no option in high school for discussions etc. So for eg: if he obtains less than 40% in maths he will not progress, 40% for first language and 35% for additional language etc... So the classes are fairly mixed age wise within a year or sometimes two years. If the child has not progressed for a third occasion, then alternate schooling will be suggested rather than mainstream schooling.

Good luck with your decision.

If he is going to move back into the state system when his voice breaks then absolutely not- he will have to join his "proper year" and that will be incredibly difficult. The research on summer borns is by no means conclusive, by the way- recent studies seem to suggest that thy aren't actually at a disadvantage. I would leave him where he is, he doesn't want to move, and the social "stigma" of being kept down a year would, I think, be much worse than being in the lower end of his class.

I think if his dyspraxia and vision difficulties have only recently been diagnosed (in the past two years I am assuming) then he is still adjusting and adapting to the treatment designed to help.

I definitely wouldn't hold him back as he may well have to go back into the state system. I think you have given him a wonderful experience with the choral stuff and it will be a great memory and possibly the basis for a continued interest and perhaps future career in music....who knows.