Can daughter skip a year ahead?

[hkmama88]

Hello - we are moving from Hong Kong to the UK (Croydon) next month. My daughter's birthday is Sep 18 2011 which means she would technically be in Year 1 in the UK, but in HK her school has a Dec 31 cutoff, which means here she is in Year 2, has been in school since she was 2 and is already reading and writing like her other Year 2 classmates. She isn't gifted, just working at the standards of her current situation/school.

We are concerned that she will be bored going back to what looks like mostly phonics and foundation for reading work in Year 1 and that will make the transition from HK to UK even harder for her. Socially, she is mature, loves school and is fine being the youngest in class (she is one of the youngest now). Basically we know that Year 2 is the right fit for her. Is there any hope for State schools agreeing to put her ahead? I've asked them about the best way to make our case but they haven't responded.

Has anyone been in this situation?

Any help/advice appreciated! Thank you!

My dd 20 also has the same birthday and was i think the oldest in the class, ds on the 13th was the second oldest, so she may not be the most mature

Dd was the 8th oldest in the class out of 30, not the oldest.

I'm one of 4. I and my youngest sibling went through school a year ahead (both summer birthdays, mine in August, so effectively 2 years ahead) the other 2 were both in their correct year group and autumn birthdays.

My sister and I have the better sets of exam results (sister had 10 A* at GCSE with zero effort having just turned 14) and I imagine if we were all tested, we would probably score significantly higher on IQ tests.

However, we both had serious social problems at secondary school and university, both of us dropped out of university after mental breakdowns and while I eventually completed my degree, both of us are in jobs that are way below our capabilities and low-paid.

Other two went through school and university fairly effortlessly - academics, friends, life in general all just slotted into place and both have well-paid jobs in highly respected careers.

Never in a million years would I allow DD to be outside her cohort and we deliberately tried to conceive a spring baby so that she would not be either the oldest or youngest in her year even if premature.

There really is no need to move able children out of year if they are in a good school. My DD is dyslexic and really struggles with reading and writing - she had zero interest until Y2, but was in the same class as a child who was reading Harry Potter in the first week of Reception. While DD traced the letter a with the rest of the class, he wrote essays and the teacher corrected his use of capital letters.

Hey. We lived in HK (Discovery Bay) for two years and are now living in Wimbledon. My older one is 7 - if you are interested in arranging a play date we are very happy to meet someone moving freshly from HK into the area!

xx