Moving abroad - should my DS start again in Reception or Year One?

[minceypie]

My DS is a summer baby and started in Reception last September shortly after his 4th birthday. He's tall for his age so looks the part and has settled really well and made lots of lovely little friends. In terms of learning, it's a good school but there's been a lot of disruption due to his teacher being regularly absent through illness. He's doing really well with reading but still shows no interest in writing or even drawing.

Meanwhile, we are moving abroad next year and have the option of starting him at the beginning again or putting him in the equivalent of Year One. As he's summer-born, I would prefer to start him over in the equivalent of Reception again as most kids in that country start school the September after they turn 5.

It seems a no-brainer but my only worry is that he will be bored or annoy the teachers by being a know-it-all . He's a well-behaved little boy so I don't see him being disruptive although I know this can happen when kids are bored.

Any thoughts please?

Where abroad ? tbh most systems area little out of kilter with ours anyway so even year 1 may not be as structured there and the focus on different skills. Also bear in mind it could be trickier if you have to return and make a transition "up" a year later on.

If you start him in reception then he will find it easier to make new friends with everyone starting together. He has only had one term of reception so it would be better to put him in reception. If he was in year one and exceeding expections of all areas of the eyfs then I would talk to the school.

The fact that he shows no interest in drawing or writng suggests that repeating reception would not hurt him. In lots of countries reception is not as play based as the uk

LIZS, it's Ireland we're moving to. I hadn't thought of transitioning back as we intend this as a permanent move but it is something to consider as things might not work out.

Really, we're not moving until the summer so he will have had a full year in Reception. Although I'm proud of how well he's doing with his reading, he's definitely well behind the curve on writing. Also, it is true that reception is not as play-based in Ireland. They do a much shorter day with fewer breaks and less play.

I wouldnt put even a high achieving summerborn to the group where he will be 2 years younger than many kids. It's wont be great for friendships and social adjustment ovetall.

Schools should be able to differentiate work and kids don't get "bored" at school nearly as much as parents worry they would.

DD2 started R this year being able to read quite well, while many kids didn't know the alphabet. It's not a problem at all. She gets extra reading sessions while others are learning phonics. Also - she can spend time focusing on writing, which is harder for her.
By Y2 no one will remember who could read early and who couldn't.

Thank you MMom. That's more or less what I thought but I'm glad my niggles about being bored are probably unfounded.

We have moved between several different countries and education schemes with DC both in and out of correct year groups. On the basis of our experiences my advice would be to put your DS in the correct academic year group for his age, wherever you are. There may be gaps or duplication but they will all even out over a year or two, as opposed to the long-term effects of being the odd one out in a peer group of a different age.
HTH