Moving from England to Scotland primary school query

[GirlyGalore]

hi - I'm a bit confused about the primary school age system in Scotland. We are moving to Glasgow for 3 years this summer (from England) and our eldest has just completed reception where she was the youngest in her class (28th August bday). It looks like in the scottish system she would repeat reception (P1?) based on her age rather than go into P2.
i'd love to hear thoughts on whether we should push for her to progress into P2 or if repeating would actually be good so she becomes one of the oldest rather than youngest which may give her more confidence in a new (much bigger) school. If we even have a choice? But - when we move back to England, will she stay a year behind or be expected to jump to rejoin her English class?

What age is she right now?

In Scotland, children can start school at either 4 1/2 or 5 1/2. So it probably won't be an issue, but a call to the school should give you all the information you need.
(Also, Glasgow is brilliant! I lived there for years and loved it.)

Sorry, that wasn't very clear. You may well be able to choose, or maybe the school will want to assess what will be best for her, but she isn't likely to be put back a year for no reason.

I am English living in Scotland.
It is a different school system so hard to compare. Your daughter will be much better in the correct class ie P1 rather than P2. She will sit comfortably in the middle of the age range.
I would look at the year 3 curriculum while she is in P3 and look for any discrepancies before you move back.
Good luck with your move

I was in a similar position to you. You will struggle to get her in to P2 because she'd be a LONG way the youngest in the year - there would almost certainly be kids 20 months older than her in the class (many January birthdays defer) and she'd be 6 months out of age range for the class.

We did find that there is more flexibility in content and my DD was wondering with younger P2s when starting in P1 in a composite class after 2 terms in reception before moving (thanks Covid).

Depending on where you need to be located I'd consider looking for schools that have composite classes (or schools in leafier areas).

There will be differences in what is covered even up a year, I've found my DD is keeping up with her English year expectations in maths if the syllabus on Maths Factor is to be believed, although they have covered stuff in different orders.

With the wide range of ages in Scottish classes there is a lot more flexibility in early years.

Socially my early August DD is definitely in the right year (now P3) although she is physically as tall as some of the year above.

If she’s just turned 5 she’ll be 6 months younger than the youngest person in a P2 class here, so
I think she’d be much better off in P1 as well.

Scottish kids start school 6 months older than English (absolute youngest will be 4 and a half starting p1 and because of deferral system actually the youngest may well be more like 4 and 9 months) as a result I think P1 is generally a bit more school -like than reception is (but I don’t have any first hand knowledge of English schools)

Do you mean she had just started reception and is still 4years old? Or is in Y1 and has turned 5 already?

She's just started reception, the week after turning 4

There's no way she'd get to go into P2 next year then as she would only just have turned 5. She will be in P1 and would be about the middle of the age range.

Sorry, she'd actually turn 5 not long after starting the school year rather than being 5 already as school starts mid August

new Primary school year in Scotland starts in August. If her recent B'day is Sept/ August, then in Scotland she would start PI just on her 5th birthday (2023)

She's too young to enter P2 ( the new intake of P2s are aged between 5 and a half and 6 and a half)

Currently in P1, the youngest pupils will be 4 and a half years old. She's too young.

education.gov.scot/parentzone/my-school/general-school-information/attending-school/

Why not send her to free state nursery school for one year? It's a half day, five days a week in term time.

P1 isn't really like Reception at all from what I can gather instead is more like the second year of nursery (age 4 to 5) in Scotland.

She will be bang in the middle of the age range for P1 so will fit in great with her peers. I think the trickier part will be moving back to England and making sure she's academically in the right place for year group she's going in to.

Thanks very much for the replies. So it seems she should definitely go into P1 and will be middle of pack age wise in that class. Happy with that. But what happens when we come back to England...the classmates she left will be going into year 4 but DD will be a year behind educationally (assuming the curriculum in Scotland is broadly similar) so would need to join the class below and be the oldest in it. Is that right?

That isn't right.
Scotland is different but six months ahead so she will theoretically be six months behind however she will catch up with a bit of carefully targeted help....in theory.
My feelings are that she will be more comfortable in Scottish P1 as she is mid-age and not the very youngest. This may well improve her confidence and learning.
Don't hold her back a year. She has plenty of time to catch up before SATs

P1 in Scotland is broadly the same as year one in England so it’ll all be fine when you move back to England. If you do find she’s behind in any subject when she returns to England I’m sure she’ll quickly catch up.

she will be in P1 which is sort of more like Y1 than YR she is nowhere near the cut off date of february 28th ( ie nearly 5½) if she was then they maybe more amenable to P2, but as august birthday no chance the oldest in P1 will be 5 and 7 months ie born 1st January 2017 ( deferred jan and feb births from year before) onwards the youngest upto 28th feb 2018 though in practicce the youngest will be upto 31st dec 2017 ( due to lots of births in jan and feb 2018 choosing to defer until august 2023
I do not think you will even get the choice of P" but i would advise against it anyway, if at some stage you move back to England you will have to gauge that then whether she goes back to original group or goes down rechnically
Scottish education is a straight 13 years 7 years primary 4-6 years secondary
if she stays in Scottish education she would be 17¾ when she finishes in May 2035, the earliest you can leave school is the end of S4 provided you are 16 she will not be 16 at the start of S5 around August 14th so the earliest she could leave is December in S5 ie Dec 2033

No, you are still trying to compare apples and oranges.

There is a six month mismatch between children starting school in Scotland where the cut-off is end of February and children starting school in England where the cut off is the end of August. P1 does not equal Reception. P2 does not equal Year 1.

All you need to worry about is that your child is in the correct year for her age, wherever she is being educated. Having completed reception in England may mean her literacy skills or numeracy skills are a bit ahead of some of her peers. But others will soon catch up and any decent P1 teacher will differentiate activities. (My oldest started school at 5.5 and could already read).

Putting her into P2 would mean that you have a 5 year old with children a lot older. 18 months older, who have already been in school a year, formed friendships. And it's unlikely that the school would agree to put her into P2 anyway, given her age.

When you return to England, she will again rejoin the class right for her age, as one of the youngest - unless you at that stage defer her (if this is even an option). Yes there might be things they have done ahead of her, but there will be things she has done ahead of the English kids. And she'll still only be 8.

Please please stop trying to compare two very different systems and using language like behind/ahead as that's just not right. Posting on Scotsnet might help too.

There's a thread in Education about deferring in Scotland. It may help you to understand the starting ages for school. I'll try to find the title.

Please google the council website for where you will be living, and read the Education Department page. You will get a good idea of how Early Years education works.

Also try reading up on Curriculum for Excellence. And posting your questions on Scotsnet.

"Applying for Primary Schools - Scotland - help!"

You may find something useful there.

There is no choice involved, an August birthday would be squarely in P1. I'm a teacher who has taught in both England and Scotland. The curriculums are different so don't fit into a perfect switch. She will be in P1. Enjoy your move, I agree Glasgow is brilliant!

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply, you've been so helpful.