Going up a year and subsequent 11+

[Frogusha]

My DD is in Reception. She has been independently assessed outside of school as having a reading age of 7-8 y.o. Tonight I attended a parent meeting her school set up to help parents with phonics and realised just just how incredibly boring it's going to be for her in class. The reading books we received so far she read in about 30 seconds. In maths she has not been assessed but we just signed up for IXL math and year 1 level is too easy for her (don't know though if IXL is an adequate reflection of the school programme). So, I'm wondering if a) I can put her one year up, to Year 1 at this stage, b) provided that's possible if it's going to be good for her in the pastoral sense and c) how would it work with grammar schools entry later on, would they allow her to sit an entry one year before her intake, or would we have to repeat a year somewhere anyway? Has anybody been in this situation / had similar worries? Any opinions?

Is that sarcasm cleverkid?

since when has having been in a private school made it more likely that you will pass the 11+? or make you dominate a class? Or be a leader? not in my experience. Children who have come through private schools are indistinguishable from children who have come through state, and the local grammars are almost all from state schools. I've taken a lot of prep school children into state schools, once they haven't got in to selective private secondary, or grammar, or just because parents can't pay any more.

Longlost10 🙄😞. did you miss the point? 😦

yes, cleverkid, I really don't know what point you are making. Like I said, I wondered if you were being sarcastic?

Leaders lead they don't dominate.

Clever kid You seem to have missed the fact that the OP is asking about moving up based on the rather vague reading age allocation of books at a Saturday reading club. Setting aside the accuracy of such assumptions a child with a reading age of 6-7 years is unlikely to dominate (or be near the top ability) a reception class.

cleverkid, I'm just assuming you are deliberately talking nonsense to make fun of the thread, or that you re confused, or that you are tipsy.

Amazing is not a word I would use. I don't blame my parents - they took a lot of advice from schools, ed psychs etc at the time but spent most of our school years desperately worried. They certainly weren't running around saying look at our amazing children who are so advanced - more dealing with unhappy children struggling with friendships and the subconcious expectations that were should be as emotionally mature as our 'non-peer group'.

We went to very academic prep schools so didn't need extra help at home. Both of us found the academic side fairly effortless - that wasn't where the problems lay.

With my own DD, I sent her to a nursery that only did free play so she didn't know anything before she went to school. I read to her, she was exposed to grownup conversations and films like The Secret Garden and Heidi rather than CBEEBIES so she has a very good vocabulary for her age, but I did not teach her anything academic at all.

Turns out that she almost certainly has dyslexia and is finding things tough at the moment. Watching her distress and struggles, my advice is to be grateful that your DD is unlikely to have those kinds of issues, chill over the academics for now (In a decent state primary today I can't see how any child could really find nothing to keep them engaged) and let her enjoy being a child. You never get that time again.

Cleverkid - a child has just joined my DD's class this term after 3 years at a private school (a perfectly good private school) and she is at exactly the same level as the majority of children in the state primary according to her mother.

If you have money to spend on only a couple of years of private education then save it for 6th form not the very early years. If they were to come in far ahead then you are potentially encouraging coasting which is a very unhealthy habit to get into.

Op, I would suggest letting your DD just enjoy reception. She needs to build social skills etc and just enjoy being a 4/5 year old. I would look at doing something different outside of school that will challenge her - maybe something like Suzuki violin lessons or going to a music/recorder group.

Passing the 11 plus from private schools around here is why many of the private schools exist! Lots of their children are bright but they also have very engaged and highly educated parents so would also do well in a state school. They therefore will not fail in a prep school. Some prep schools have very few low ability children, they just do not accept them and certainly not with SEN (other than mild dyslexia). This is why prep school children can appear to be ahead but it depends who you measure them against!

I forgot to add that no-one ever considers whether a child can write or not when saying they are ahead. It is always reading and maths. Is the OPs DD writing down stories and forming joined up writing? I am sure she will find something to learn.

bojorojo, your post reminded me of my ds's writing before starting school.
He was a good writer.(for his age.)
Summer before school, gran gave him lovely diary, and he has written lots and lots of fond memories. He use to write stories using story wheel he made at nursery.
He lost all his enthusiasm when he was told what to write and how to write after starting school.
Now writing is his least favorite. I wish I realised that sooner.

It is possible for a child to be accelerated up a year and to take the 11+ a year early as my DS has done this and is now in his 4th week at grammar school at 10 years old.
However it was his First School that suggested that he needed to move up a year not us. Our county has a 3 tier system so he also moved to Middle School a year early and would have moved to High School early too.
The Grammar schools in our area will allow pupils to take the 11+ a year early if pupils have been accelerated but you are only allowed to take the test once. So if he had failed last year he couldn't take the test again this year which would have been correct time for him to take it.

Another vote for an extra year of childhood here.

There are other types of intelligence. E.g. a child can be a late starter with reading, but have excellent reasoning skills that will give them an edge later compared with a child who has been pushed ahead because of advanced reading skills.

Reading ability isn't a reflection of overall intelligence - kids develop different skills in different orders. Often a child who was really struggling with something one month can just do it the next month for no apparent reason.

Statistically being one of the youngest reduces your chances of getting top grades compared with being one of the oldest. Think about the implications of this - a reduced chance of getting into a top university for a popular course, even a reduced chance of being able to pursue a career in a competitive field. This is why parents in New York are holding their kids back a year.

You and your daughter are blessed. Enjoy it.