Skipping a school year- how hard would it be?

[Willow108]

I'm looking for any advice or experience people can offer.

We moved out of the UK a few years ago and it is likely that we will be moving back in the next one to two years. The problem is that my DD started school a year later than she would have if we had stayed in the UK. She is now out of sync with the UK education system and I have been advised that if we move back, she will have to go into the appropriate year for her age, regardless of how many years she has completed.

Does anyone have any advice about this? Is there an easier stage of school for her to make this transition? Has anyone else done this with their child and how did it go? Is there anything we could do in the lead-up to moving back to prepare her? She is currently 6 years of age.

We have lots of children from other countries joining our school, some with very little English. From what I've observed of children in DD's class, I'd say earlier rather than later is easier (she is now in Y4 and has had at least one child joining from a country where they have had less formal education than the UK each year, sometimes several).

We were always very honest about the pro's and cons of being expats with out kids. We didn't pretend everything was amazing as their are definitely cons. We were positive about it though and I'm sure our kids picked up on our excitement moving to new countries. I think It helped that we have four kids close in age.

I think there is a huge amount of luck involved. My kids ere always welcomed by their new classmates and seemed to settle well, because their first move went so well they we're more confident with later moves.