Move at Year 2

[Teddymum27]

My daughter currently attends Newland House School. There have been a lot of issues with the school with staff turnover etc and as I have a daughter further up the school I have seen first hand this disruption, but also the more worrying view that the standards of teaching and the stretch for more able children isn't there. As such purely on academic grounds I'd move her. As Newland is a non selective school both children are in classes with a high number of children with SEN and those children, possibly rightly, are the focus of the teachers attention. Stretching and challenging the brighter children is not. Both my children are bored at school. I am doing extra with them both at home.

While it's too late to move my eldest girl for 1 year, I do want to move my little one. Main issue holding me back is she is happy at school. Yes the academics are poor, yes what they are teaching them further up the school re fair play and fair chances in sport is poor but she has a few little friends and is happy enough.

Should I wait til 7 plus or see if Surbition Girls, LEH or St. Catherine's would take her before then? It's of course easier to keep them together for one more year. It's sad really as I feel I have let both the children down by my school choice. I keep telling myself that happy but bored in primary school isn't the worst thing ....

Any views?

I can't comment on your individual circumstances but we chose to move DS in year 2 and he barely blinked! We moved house - but not too far so could easily have managed to keep him at his old school. He was very happy there but we felt it would be better for him to go to the now closer school so that his friends would be more local and he could be out playing etc when older.

It happened very fast - offered place on Weds, tour of school on Friday, started week Monday after that but he wasn't phased at all. Threw himself into the new life immediately!

I made sure we hosted play dates etc if he wanted them and I joined the Friends (PTA) so I could 'catch up' on integrating into school life.

Selfishly, I am quite sad at the friendships I've lost that we're starting to build at the old school - and there's no sign of that starting yet at the new one - but he is thriving and DD starts reception in Sept so I'm hoping to make some Mum friends in her year instead.

I moved my ds when he was at that stage of primary. He was happy in old school with good friends. He moved without any problems. He has friends, is happy and the school is a better fit for him. I miss my parent friends at the old school but that is the only thing we miss

My children’s best friends are both children who cane into their classes at Easter in Y2. As DS said “I’d been with all those other people since nursery, they were getting boring!”. You never know, your child might be welcomed with open arms!

Some schools that have a 7+ entry won't take in year 2, they'll even leave a space open and fill it at 7+ if someone leaves in year 2. You need to ask the schools you're considering.

I think LEH’s junior school is from 7, i.e. year 3. I don’t know about St. Catherine’s or Surbiton.

If I were in your position, I would move her, but only if she would then stay until 11. You may have more options moving her for the start of year 3. She will most likely need to sit assessments though.

You can’t beat yourself up over choice of school. We all weigh up a thousand factors but in the end, no one will really know what a school is like until your child starts. Good luck.

Thanks all - some very good advice. Will do some more research

I was in a similar situation when my DD was in year2. Reality is that LEH 7+ will need prep work. If you think your DD is not up for it or you don't have the bandwidth then go with Surbiton or St Catherine right away rather than wait. It will be easier now than at year3 and will solve your problem sooner.

I was at the same crossroads, chose to wait & in the end didn't get LEH. Also all the other options were much harder too & due to personal reasons we simply could not change to the options we got & stayed put!

Radnor House is an option for year3 too, however we refused the place after we got it as we felt it was boy heavy (this is 5 years old news so likely things have changed!)