Holding a child back in primary school.

[Finfon]

My DS is about to begin Y2 but he has a late August birthday and just turned 6 last week. I am pretty concerned about his reading and writing and lack of interest in either I have been quite laid back up till now but am really worried about him going into Yr2 barely reading.
I am considering asking if he can stay in Yr1 for another year but this would be at a different school that we were planning to send him to next year anyway. Does anyone have any experience of keeping a child back a year, it would be with new children so it would not be obvious to his peers. I'm really not sure what to do for the best long term.

DD1 is starting Year 2 today, and 2 of last year's Yr 2s are staying on in the infants for another year (so repeating Yr 2).

I think the problems can arise later as many LEAs are not keen for children to start secondary school at the "wrong" time. I'm not sure what will happen at DD's school later on - whether these kids will skip a year, but they have mixed classes (Y3/Y4 and Y5/Y6) so if they do, it would probably work okay.

In our LEA you would not be allowed to start secondary out of year group, so by repeating year 1 you would be storing up big problems for later. I would look at talking to the Yr 2 teacher about the specific help your DS will be given in Year 2, to help him reach the expected level for his age. If he is emotionally and socially mature enough for Year 2 this would be a far better route IMO.

We are planning on doing it with DS who is also an August birthday. However we are currently in Budapest and he is at an international school and we will be moving him to UK (most likely) after Year 5 but are planning on him repeating that year. I don't want him starting secondary at 11. We are lucky though in that we will be putting him into a private school so there is more lee-way.

DS has just gone into Year 4 and struggles with fine motor skills and maths and I just want to be sure he is confident with these things before secondary. I also feel that having been the youngest in the year for so long it will be good for him to be the oldest.

We have already spoken to the school we have in mind and they are OK with it.

Thanks for your replies about this. I think the LEA is ok with this in theory. One of my main concerns is the reactions from classmates about hime being in the wrong year etc. But I'm trying to way out if that would be cancelled out by the positive affects of being the oldest in the class and having a chance to catch up.

I think you need to speak again to the school about what provision they are offering to your son in his correct year group.

The only children I have ever known who were taught out of yeargroup were forced by the LEA to return to their correct yeargroup when they went up to secondary school.

Thanks this has helped clarify things in my mind a lot. My DS doesn't have SN or an IEP etc. he is just a quite typical 6 yr old boy who has little interest in reading writing at the moment. I'm feeling now that I'm overreacting to even consider holding him back and will focus on making him get enough support in his correct class and hope that as he matures so will his interest in the academic side of things.

As Buda has indicated it is more common to repeat, or even be promoted a year in the private sector. There is a boy in ds1's class who repeated Year 2 and has remained a year behind (and he is a March birthday). The children are aware of the fact but he seems to ave fitted in easily enough.

Buda, have you checked with the LEA concerned what they would do with your ds when he reaches secondary age? Certainly in ours, he would have to go straight into year 8 to catch up with his cohort. Just make sure yours won't do the same - that strikes me as the worst of all possible worlds

Seeker, the LEA can't dictate how a private school allocates its pupils to classes. And provided you stick to the private sector you can usually transfer within the yeargroup you have been taught with.

Sorry, missed that it was private schools we're talking about. Ignore me!

Wot LGP said.

He's have to go from yr 5 to yr 7 probably which is a really bad idea.

Can you ask for extra support/some time with the yr 1s in literacy hour for eg?

Reading yr later posts, if he isn't on the SEN register and doesn't have an IEP (my DS1 is/has both for difficulties with reading/concentration, and he is in the "right" year) then I think maybe you are worrying unnecessarily tbh.

The whole 'keeping them in the year group' thing makes me really cross!

DS is 5th August. A friend of ours has a DS who is 1st Sept and in year below DS. I KNOW that my DS would be totally fine in that year. His confidence would be greater for starters. One of the boys in his current year will be 9 tomorrow. So there is almost a full year between them.

There should be more leeway. There is NO reason there can't be. Ireland manage it. My nephew has just started school and he was 5 in Feb. He started with 4 year olds. The rule there is that you CAN start at 4 but you don;t have to be in school until the term AFTER your fifth birthday. It doesn't seem to pose any problems.

In fact , you don't have to send your child to school full stop.

You could always home educate, maybe just until he catches up if he is struggling, or indeed permanently.

I did request that one of mine stayed down a year and did 2 lots of year 1 but was told they would have to start secondary in the same group as his age, meaning somewhere along the line he would skip another year.

He did not stay down but I have to say, it all suddenly came together, the reading and writing but not until the end of year 3. But he did catch up of his own accord. He was just a late starter.

I agree with you Buda. The whole "the LEA won't allow it" with regards to a child staying down a year (or moving up a year if appropriate) makes me apoplectic with rage. Why on earth should it matter to the LEA so much that children are kept within their consort based on an arbitrary cut-off of birth dates at the end of August? Surely what's best for each individual child is what's important. You'd think so in an education system wouldn't you? Bah. It makes me so mad.

hi i am desperate to pull my daughter back a year she was born on the 31st august so she is the youngest in her class and she is really struggling. i feel that she would be so more confident if she went back a year, there really should be something with lea that means the parent can make the decision!!