Moving from Y6 English system to P7/S1 Scottish system

[annak1975]

Hi! Hoping for some advice regarding upcoming move to Scotland. My DS is currently finishing off Y6 in an English Curriculum International school in Hong Kong and due to start Y7 (Senior school) in August 2020. In Scotland we've been told he will start S1 which on paper sounds right. He is 11 and will turn 12 in October. My concern is that in the English system he would have 5 years of education before sitting his GCSEs in Y11 but he will only have 4 years in Senior school before sitting equivalent exams in Scotland in S4. He is academically average, doesn't struggle but equally doesn't find things super easy. He's very social and likes to think he's good at sports but I would say he's happy average in that department too ;)
My question is, being an October child, would it be better for him to go into P7 and have the transition year before going into S1 or would he potentially be much older than everyone else and in that case not feel he belongs socially? I wouldn't mind if the the age gap is up to 6 months but if he's going to be the oldest by far maybe it's just best to suck up that he'll have one less year at secondary but be with peers his own age. I guess I just don't want him to struggle and would also prefer if he wasn't too young leaving school. Many thanks for any advice!

Hi I teach in a primary school in Scotland. The cut off for entry into a school year is the end of Feb. Some parents with children born in Jan or Feb chose to defer but in my experience very few with children born before then do. Your son would be in the middle of the age range of his year group.

I'd say put him in S1 then he's not the new boy in the last year of primary where friendships have already been made. Instead he's just one of many new faces so can build his own identity rather than being the new kid.

Don't worry about the early exams. The courses for nat 4 and 5 - the equivalent to GCSE - start in S3 and run for the two years. He'll have S1 and S2 to do any catching up he needs to and you'll probably find he catches up quickly - the curriculum allows for a lot of differentiation along with support and challenge.

Good luck with your move!

Thank you so much for your reply, very helpful! And I will take you up on your advice. S1 it is. Thanks again!

I'd agree that going into S1 is the best for him. While technically he could be held back a year (to go into the equivalent English year) and go into P7, in practice he'd end up as by far the oldest in the year. The only "old" October birthday that I'm aware of at ds' old school was someone who came from overseas with English as his 2nd language.

He'll go from being one of the oldest in his year to being in the younger half of the year. (Technically right in the middle of the age group, but because of deferrals on average he'll be in the younger half of the year).

He's got 4 years to get to grip with the curriculum before the Nat 5s.

Be aware though that it means that if he goes to Uni (which technically he can do after S5 to a Scottish Uni but we'll assume he does S6 - as most kids do nowadays), even after completing S6, he'll arrive at Uni still aged 17 and therefore not be able to take full advantage of Freshers Week ....you may see that as a good thing

Ds turned 18 the week his lectures started - but he still seemed to manage to drink plenty in Freshers Week at the various "flat" parties

Thank you @prettybird for your insight. That’s exactly my point, although he probably will be fine in S1 and fit in age wise, I would rather he was 18 when he finishes school! But I also don’t want him to be more than a year older than all the others! Oh the dilemmas... I do appreciate all the feedback. Thank you

Look on it from a different perspective: it means that he could take a gap year if he wanted to/felt the need to

Well that’s true too! And maybe not a bad idea!