Moving from private to state school

[orecheukbcc]

Hi all

I'd like to send my son to a private school for studying year 1 & 2. And go back to state school when his little brother start for reception in same state school.

What I wanted to find out is if anyone has made a similar decision and if it is worked out or not?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

Daft idea, either decide state or private & see it through. Why put your child in a private school for two years, child makes friends and then you change their school, very unfair, how is your child going to feel?. Just doesn’t make sense at all. I know some parents unfortunately need to revert to state education for unexpected financial reasons, but this is out of necessity than rather than choice.

I’m just about to do the opposite and move DC1 from state Reception to private Year 1.

In our case the local state school is very good, but the class size of 30 (2 of which have serious behavioural issues) is very large and our DC is left to muddle along. The local pre-prep is 16 children in a class (another is 22), so the focus and individual attention is higher.

I’d save the money for private tutoring in your case. I think it would be a trickier transition to go private to state.

Agree with Roselilly36, I wouldn't chop and change between any schools be that private or state unless there is a serious reason and the child was unhappy.

I went from state to private then back to state for sixth form.

The hardest jump was state to private as the culture in private school was completely different.

@orecheukbcc It’s been fairly ok, but I think covid helped in the sense that they’ve missed so much of school the last year. Dc1 has found it somewhat tricky, she found parts of the maths curriculum that hadn’t been covered in her previous school but had already been covered at prep so we’ve had to cover some gaps in her learning. The biggest adjustment by far has been expectations in attainment are higher, there has been a lot of grumbling about it. She’s no longer able to coast through lessons as there’s only 15 in the class. Also homework is set every night for 45 minutes, where as previously she’d only get one piece a week. But this is to be expected in the run up to Y5.

Dc2 had only ever been in state since YR, was really struggling socially in a large class with a very tight knit group of girls and some disruptive boys. She was very unhappy and academically she was falling further behind. Since the move she has simply flourished in all areas. Having said that, in hindsight I’d have rather they both stayed in private throughout but circumstances prevented it at the time.

Around here there tends to be quite a bit of movement into the private sector in Y3, I think more so this year due to covid. It seems to be a better time to consider moving in the run up to 11+. Equally a fair number go all the way though and are usually tutored to the hilt to gain scholarships to private senior schools. It really depends on your circumstances.

[quote SpaceRaiders]@orecheukbcc It’s been fairly ok, but I think covid helped in the sense that they’ve missed so much of school the last year. Dc1 has found it somewhat tricky, she found parts of the maths curriculum that hadn’t been covered in her previous school but had already been covered at prep so we’ve had to cover some gaps in her learning. The biggest adjustment by far has been expectations in attainment are higher, there has been a lot of grumbling about it. She’s no longer able to coast through lessons as there’s only 15 in the class. Also homework is set every night for 45 minutes, where as previously she’d only get one piece a week. But this is to be expected in the run up to Y5.

Dc2 had only ever been in state since YR, was really struggling socially in a large class with a very tight knit group of girls and some disruptive boys. She was very unhappy and academically she was falling further behind. Since the move she has simply flourished in all areas. Having said that, in hindsight I’d have rather they both stayed in private throughout but circumstances prevented it at the time.

Around here there tends to be quite a bit of movement into the private sector in Y3, I think more so this year due to covid. It seems to be a better time to consider moving in the run up to 11+. Equally a fair number go all the way though and are usually tutored to the hilt to gain scholarships to private senior schools. It really depends on your circumstances.[/quote]
Thank you so much for your sharing!

Good to see that they are happy!!

It's really a difficult decision for parents...

Hi @orecheukbcc

My eldest went to a private school for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and then started year 3 at a state when his brother started reception. He gained a lot from it now looking back but we didn't want one in private and one not so went for it and they are both doing well especially the year 3.

@Beebopawhop

Hi *@orecheukbcc*

My eldest went to a private school for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and then started year 3 at a state when his brother started reception. He gained a lot from it now looking back but we didn't want one in private and one not so went for it and they are both doing well especially the year 3.

This is very similar to my situation

Will it be difficult for your son to adapt?

Academically, most private schools are more advanced in their teaching

They may teach more advanced information but most private schools really aren’t more advanced in their teaching of that information.

To say all private school are academically advanced is a sweeping statement.

@orecheukbcc

I was so worried about him adapting sleepless nights, the guilt etc but surprisingly he settled in immediately and is really enjoying himself. It was actually my little one that didn't settle into Reception!
If you are only going to do this for 3 years it's ok but I would personally put both in state from the beginning and think about secondary private/grammar. That's my opinion anyway! Hope you will decide what makes everyone happy!