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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Relocating to UK from Malta Need Year Group Help

9 replies

LV05 · 08/09/2015 10:53

Morning, We are moving to UK from Malta in the next 3 months and I am having problems working out the year group my daughter will go into.. She is an end of August baby (29th) and has just turned 9.. She started school here at 5(and would have been the same in UK) So does this mean I would be able to get her into Year 4 or will she HAVE to go into year 5..Must point out she has an incurable rare disease (to look at her you wouldn't have a clue) and does miss some time due to being in Hospital so she is not emtionally mature as she should be.... UK schooling is all new to me so sorry if this comes across as a silly question...

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Tyrannosaurus · 08/09/2015 11:03

Unfortunately I believe she would have to go into Year 5. I'm sure the school will offer her extra support if she needs it though.

Stillunexpected · 08/09/2015 11:07

Yes, she will go into Yr 5, I also think she would have started school at 4 here, not at 5 as you said. If she turned 4 on 29th Aug, she would have started school in Reception that September.

PatriciaHolm · 08/09/2015 11:46

In the UK, she would have started school a few days after turning 4. There is little scope for flexibility in the UK state system; you will struggle greatly to get her placed in Yr4 rather than 5 I'm afraid. She would have to be very significantly delayed for that to happen.

However, schools will be very used to having children young in their year group, and with a wide range of maturity at this age.

Clutterbugsmum · 08/09/2015 12:48

Unfortunately she will have to go into year 5.

The school I'm a parent Governor at we did have a child a few years ago who was held back a year due to SEN needs but she had to miss year 6. So she went from Year 5 straight to year 7 as we could not keep her back from going to high school which I feel was probably not best for child, but we had no choice.

Kryten2X4B523P · 08/09/2015 12:54

I know of a child with SEN who had an August birthday who did year 6 twice and entered year 7 a year later than they would have done. This is the child of a friend of my parents, so I don't know the exact details but these things can be done. This child had been at the school since Reception though, I don't know how easy it would be to do this as a new starter.

This is assuming you're going to be in England of course, rather than Scotland, which has different age groupings IIRC.

Original poster

LV05 · 08/09/2015 14:31

Thanks everyone.. Yes I guessed she would have to be in Year 5.. She has not got SEN and copes extremely well. She is the youngest in her class here in Malta also so it won't be too much of a problem.. Just don't want her struggling with moving country, house, school and dealing with a whole new team of doctors.. Think its a lot for a 9 year old.. We will be in the Leeds area so it will be England.. I can do nothing until we its all set in stone and property got and then see what places are available....Thanks again.

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jwpetal · 08/09/2015 21:30

I would contact the local authority and the DFE.

They have to act in the best interest of the child. Legislation has always been in place to allow for this flexibility, but up until recently , this has not been pushed by parents or the govt. Please visit the Flexible Admissions for Summer Borns on Facebook. This group has been key in ensuring that summer born children can start at CSA (compulsory school age 5 yrs ikd). I realize that your dd would be older but this would not be the first time the group has had this issue come up and they can provide a wealth of information.

Goshthatsspicy · 09/09/2015 12:50

When we returned to the UK (from US) our youngest son (late August birthday) was supposed to be in yr 4 . This would have been a mess , he was only in second grade in the US. It was March time. Therefor he would have had to go in to yr 5 in a matter of months!
Our head really helped, and officially held him back. This year he started secondary school, a year 'later'.
With an August birthday, they are never the 'wrong' age for the year.
Good luck with everything. I've done the changing the of schools/countries twice, it can be stressful to say the least!

Original poster

LV05 · 09/09/2015 14:02

Thanks, Yes we have moved country twice already but never had school to worry about only childcare.. Malta was simple, apply to local school and start no hassle at all..Suppose we have to get to Leeds first, find a house and then worry about it.. I am sure they will only help us out.. We will have medical letters also to hand in with application..

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