Is it more crazy to start Nat 5's now, or start them late next year?

[52andblue]

I have been living in England (but kids went to Primary in Scotland)
Ds is taking GCSE's - poor school, not doing well, bullied. ASD.
Not on course to pass any GCSE's at present (last assessed a year ago and the grades were not predicted pass grades at that point)
School says; 'it doesn't matter if he passes his exams'. He won't do well due to the ASD / Dyslexia, but he himself wants to pass some.

I need (for a variety of reasons) to return to Scotland next summer.

I was going to wait till then and not disrupt his GCSE year - but
He is at an awful School (in special measures), badly bullied, miserable, just had a MH issue. So, I am considering changing now.
(I have spoken to his MH team who say that his current situation is contributing to his issues and a change might be wise)
He'd be 11 weeks behind in his Nat 5 courses which seems madness.

But.. if we wait until next summer the GCSE's (which will run late) will not be held until July and the Nat 5's will start in May. So, he'd still be later (not as late, but still late). So he might fail GCSE's and end up starting late and feeling out of sync then too.

Purely on an exam / timings front (as only I can judge re the other issues and don'' want to go into details) which would be 'least worst'?

@WaxOnFeckOff &
@ALLIS0N

I emailed Scottish School on Mon to ask:

'as he is returning 33% of the way through Nat 5's & has SEN and SN could you potentially informally assess him in due course and advise whether you felt he would be better with Nat 4's or 5's this year pls?
also as both kids have ASD could they have a visit / phased transition with a buddy for a day or so / access to a quieter area at lunch intially (this is the sort of thing they have in place at present)?

reply was:

'We would of course do all we could to support a transition. These are exceptionally difficult times for everyone and we would have to see what resource was available to support'.

What do you think? I am oversensitised from before but that's not overly helpful is it? I get they cant promise the earth, esp at present but I would have thought a simple Y/N re poss of Nat 4 reply poss?

I think that's a reasonable reply given you're not currently enrolled/trying to enrol and might not move up. What they can offer depends on when he arrives and what our Covid situation is then with staff!
In many subject N4 and 5 are in the same class so the teacher would naturally be assessing him as he works. Some schools bank N4 work (so if you fail N5 you get an N4 anyway, if you did all the N4 work ok).

Fair enough re resources.
I was not aware of that re Nat 4/5 so that is useful info.
Perhaps I am over sensitive from before.

At my kids school the learning support base is open at lunchtime and lots of the kids with ASD go there to eat their lunch and hang out in a quieter place.

I think it's hard to read tone and in a way, you hear what you are looking for. It doesn't really say anything negative other than that they are unable to commit. At my DSs school, a friendly teacher allowed him and a few other quiet friends to use a room for boardgames at lunch.

There is lots they can do (covid permitting) to help without extra resources or cost to just make things easier for kids who need it.

it IS hard to read tone yes that is very true.
and there is probably a learning support base open but maybe he doesnt feel the need to detail that at this stage, fair enough.
I wish he'd replied re Nat 4/5 but again he's maybe had enough Qu's?

I should have moved last Sept before all this so he'd been in time for Nat 5's starting but when we went in to see them with his current Plan at his current School (not to say that we wanted identical but that was what was helpful for him) they laughed (Iiterally) and said: 'nope'.
exH and I both came out and said: 'that's a last resort option'

If it were not for the finances I'd not dream of going back but I'll be running out of money by summer and there isn't a future here so it's last resort time again.
I guess next year is better - Ds gets a better shot at courses (though slightly tricky timings for changeover) and they will be more 'normal' re support provision as not battling 1st year of Covid affects.

Just to update:

Last week, I had a letter from Ds' Consultant giving very specific instructions as to how School were to handle his Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.
I forwarded this to the Scottish School and asked for confirmation that they were able to accommodate that given the current circs.

The reply was: 'once you are enrolled we can have a discussion about his needs and decide what is best'. Given they have ignored medical advice in the past I don't find this reassuring at this point.
The current (awful) school will do what the Consultant suggests and that might give Ds chance to feel he has more control over them before he moves (they are really difficult for him & will cause bullying)
Given he is behind, doesn't want to go and I don't find it reassuring, I am going to leave it until next summer and hope he gets a GCSE or 2 and then he can add some Nat5's or highers to that.

Thank you to everyone who kindly replied to this thread.
Please keep your fingers crossed for us ! x