Changing Schools at Sixth Form Pros and Cons?

[MrsJAlfredPrufrock]

Anyone with any insight?

I should add, I mean changing schools for sixth form, after the GCSE year is complete.

Did it back in the mists of time. Went from large not very good comp to private boys school which took girls at 6th form only. Bit of a culture shock but made good friends & seriously good move for learning. Girls from girls only schools found it much more difficult. Did lose touch though with some local friends but may have happened anyway as some went to work not 6th form.

Dd1 didn't, in the end, but ummed and ahhed about it all year.

I think it depends on how happy you/she are with the current school, both academically and socially, and what options are availble to her at 6th form level.

I reckon it may be worth doing if:
she's fed up wtih current school
isn't totally happy with her peer group
wants to do subject combinations that aren't on offer at current school
new 6th form is likely to have a strong USP over and above current school.

Not worth doing just because she feels like she migth like a change, imo. The 2 years of 6th form is quite short, even more so now they start doing AS modules in the Jan of 2nd term - that's really not a very long time to settle down before things get serious. If there are niggles with current school think carefully about how much those are down to the school rather than to the individual - it would be silly to move and then find all the same problems recurring in the new environment.

Also, depending on what the options are, if she's thinking of changing to somewhere more liberal and college-y, consider carefully how well she is likely to respond to the lower level of supervision. Could be great for a motivated but slightly stroppy teen, but disastrous for someone who needs a more structured combination of handholding and kicks up the backside.

It can work well but you have to realise that they will never be HeadBoy/Girl or Captain of Sport etc. If they were never going to be that anyway then it doesn't matter much!

OTOH, if they swan in and land the Lead Part in the drama then that can cause resentment with existing pupils.

Be careful of thinking "the school is good at X, DC is good at X so they ought to thrive there". You might find that your DC is best in X at your current school but doesn't even make first team / top set in the target school.

Does the target school have a lot of newbies at sixth form or will your DC be one of a few trying to make inroads into extablished friendship groups.

There always seems to be a lot of movement at sixth form here.

I think it depends what your DC is trying to achieve by mving.

Ah lots of food for thought here.

I don't fully understand the motivation, beyond fancying a change and intensely disliking CCF (he doesn't have to do CCF but he objects to having to go to school with people who choose to do CCF). I'm not sure how serious he is really but I don't want to go along with it at all if I'm actually opposed to the idea. One or two of his friends are leaving to go and board elsewhere but in the main, his friends are staying, including his best friend (since primary school). He already knows a few people at the new school from playing tennis locally and from primary school.

The school he's interested in is a large mixed comp. He's currently at a selective boys' independent school with some girls in the sixth form. I'm fairly relaxed about it, I think, and can see some positives (although not as many as staying where he is). But I don't think I feel the need to object. My only little niggle is, will he get not quite such good grades as he would have got had he remained where he is, and might that mean the very top universities (Economics at LSE is something he quite fancies) are beyond reach for him?

Both schools can accommodate his A level subject choices.

I would examine closely which Uni's both school have sent pupils to over say last 5 years. Comp may get good results but do they get kids into top Uni's?

Why wouldn't he get such good grades? All those girl??? Dd is thinking of moving from her mostly girl's school to a mostly boy's school for 6th form- I suspect her motives!

(state, by the way, and she's aiming for Oxford)

Destinations for a comp (even a good one) and a selective independent school are always going to look different.

What you need to know is whether there are a reasonable number going to established/Russell Gp universities to study serious academic subjects (assuming that's the path your ds wants to go down). Re the likely grades, that does depend mainly on him - as with the destinations, as long as there are some kids getting top grades there are no reasons to assume he won't be one of them. But if he is used to being spoon-fed or having a lot of support/encouragement/boundaries, he may find the change quite a steep learning curve, and two years is really quite a short time to accommodate that, iyswim.

I would put your reservations to him, because he does need to decide what his priorities are before you/he can decide whether the potential benefits of the new school are likely to outweigh the benefits of staying somewhere familiar where you are known and supported.

Given the standard of state school and sixth form provision in St Albans, his success in qualifying to enter LSE is almost certainly going to be determined by the reasons he has for moving, not by the quality of teaching! The reasons given are not great, but if he feels his current school is not really exciting him intellectually and he can convince you he isn't wanting to move because he thinks he'll have an easier ride, he'll be ok. I wouldn't usually recommend moving without good reason though. It's a short enough course as it is. He might just be bored in year 11 and all schools give more freedom and privileges in sixth form.

I did this in September.
The first week scared me a lot; I only knew one person in the entire school. After the first week, I managed to make new friends, whom I now feel like I've known for years.

So essentially, the cons were the problem of feeling lonely on the first few days, having to get used to new teachers, etc.
But I think this change has prepared me more for the change to uni (I went to one primary school and one secondary school all my life and was very used to the stability) and the new school has more opportunities.

almost all kids in hampshire move for 6th form!

Volumnia - we don't live in St Albans. He doesn't want to move because he'll have an easier ride (he is a straight A* student and on a fairly easy ride at his current school), I think perhaps he feels his current school is at odds with his emerging political ideology.

cinamonnut - Ah that is really interesting, thank you. Yes, as a stepping-stone towards the independence of university, a change of sixth form is probably a good idea. I hadn't thought of that aspect of it.

He's quite a shy guy, so it's quite a big thing for him to even suggest doing something which will take him outside of his comfort zone. Which is one of the reasons I'm broadly in favour. Perhpas he feels the time has come to challenge himself?

Seeker - "Why wouldn't he get such good grades? All those girl??? Dd is thinking of moving from her mostly girl's school to a mostly boy's school for 6th form- I suspect her motives!

(state, by the way, and she's aiming for Oxford)"

I don't really understand your post. The Oxford thing is a bit of a non-secquitur isn't it?

I moved halfway through sixth form and started again (from year 12) at a new school. I chose the new one because I was desperately (and I mean it, rather than just upset) unhappy at my old school. It was the best decision I have ever made, education-wise. The ethos of the new school was much more supportive and my marks didn't suffer at all, in fact they improved.

DSis chose to move from the old school when she finished her GCSEs to mine as I was so happy there. However, the Maths teaching (her subject) wasn't as good as the old school. New school offered a better range of subjects and other teaching was excellent but she ended up having coaching from the Maths teacher at the old school - I would check that something similar isn't waiting for your DS: what is the quality of the Maths teaching like?

The other big shock was extended travelling - we went from a five minute car trip to over an hour, most of it on the bus. Difficult in winter mornings!

Other things to compare are perhaps the extra-curricular opportunities (ours had an Oxbridge week, loads of volunteering opportunities and every Weds PM off for sport in sixth form). Also whether the library/resources are as good - you use them a lot more at A level.

Re: being shy. One of the reasons I moved was that I hated the person I had become after being in the same group of people for ten years - at the new school I totally reinvented myself and became more 'me'. Your DS can be whoever he wants at the new school and he may find that quite freeing. Being able to meet everyone for the first time with no preconceptions was another fantastic aspect - something DSis didn't get the benefit of as she came after me.

"He's quite a shy guy, so it's quite a big thing for him to even suggest doing something which will take him outside of his comfort zone. Which is one of the reasons I'm broadly in favour. Perhpas he feels the time has come to challenge himself?"

That would be an important reason for supporting his choice to move, imo. Assuming he hasn't got his heart set on one particular highly specific and competitive university course, acquiring a good level of social and intellectual confidence is likely to be of longer-lasting benefit to him both at university and beyond than a few UCAS points.

But it does depend on what he wants to study - if he's hellbent on Oxbridge, or becoming a barrister/city solicitor, going to LSE or Imperial, or reading English at Warwick or whatever, then he needs to follow whichever path is likely to maximise his A-level grades. If he's an all-round above-average bright boy who will get good but not genius-standard A-levels, get into a good university but is not likely to be a future CAmbridge First (this is my ds too, btw) then I'd be encouraging him to branch out if that's what he felt was best for him.

To put it another way: there is a big learning curve between a small, protected private school and university, and an even bigger one between said small school and the big wide world. If he is a slightly shy, tentative boy then he will have to climb that curve at some point. There are arguments for doing that at 6th form, and counter-arguments for waiting till university. But if he wants to move, and there are no particular deal-breaking reasons not to, then I think I'd be cautiously supportive.

secquitur sequitur

In general I am all for children moving from a school to a sixth form college environment. It is ideal small scale practice for the freedom of university, both intellectually and socially.

It is a risk, but it may pay off with a happier experience and better application at degree level. There is no reason for his A level grades to be lower so long as there are children getting the top results in that school.

Incidentally the way he presents the move in his personal statement could make him of more interest to universities, especially a political institution like the LSE.

Pink, how interesting. I read that 6 form colleges results are lower that schools, and was thinking more about a school for DD (our secondary does not have 6th form).

My DH and I both did this more than a decade ago, me from one independent school to another and DH from a proper public school to a 6th form college. Both of us often tell people it was one of the best decisions we've ever made. We met soon after at uni at Cambridge.

From my p.o.v. I'd been at one school since I was 4 and felt that I needed to see more of the world before moving on to university. My parents have since told me that they were very very uneasy about my desire to move, but - to their absolute credit - decided to let me make the decision myself (after making sure I'd done plenty of research) and support me whatever decision I made (I looked at several different schools/colleges before choosing the one I ended up at). I took the responsibility of the decision really seriously and I think it also helped to ensure I worked damned hard at 6th form as I was determined to show my parents that I'd made the right decision!

DH hated his public school, hated the travel to it, and (like your DS) had come to a conclusion that he hated the whole ethos and elitism of this kind of school (in this he has not changed!). He moved to local 6th form college and really thrived. Had to be more of an independent learner (which is what is required for uni...and indeed, for life!) and was supported 100% in what he wanted to do at uni. Again, he wanted to show his parents and some of his old teachers that he'd made the right decision so possibly worked harder there than he would have at the old school.

He also finds it much easier to talk about his leftist principles when it comes to education than I do!

DD1 did at the start of this academic year. She went from a relatively nurturing 800 strong independent school where she'd done very well to a 4500 strong state sixth form.

At the start of the year we had really cold feet when it appeared that the A level courses she was on were all going over basic GCSE stuff because the other students needed it, so she changed to the much faster-moving IB course at the same college, along with their G&T programme.

So far it has seemed to be a really positive move for her, not that we had any choice in the matter as our financial situation did not allow her to stay. There were certain aspects of her previous school and the effect on her behaviour that I did not like- she was increasingly out of touch with what is normal life for most people, started to baulk at taking public transport etc and we felt that she needed a healthy dose of reality at a perfect time for her.

I'd say that socially the change has been overwhelmingly good for her. She is still very much in touch with her good friends from the old school and now has a whole bunch of new ones as well.

She wants to do medicine at Cambridge so only time will tell whether academically the change has been as good for her. She seems to be doing very well so far. I am very pleased that we bit the bullet and did it- she was only one of 8 leaving her year.

I changed from a non-selective mixed private school (yeah I know) to a massive co-ed state 6th form college, as did my sister.

I really benefitted. As someone already mentioned, it really prepared me for studying at Cambridge where I had one hour of compulsory contact time a week and thus had to manage my time and be very self-motivated about ploughing through my reading list/ getting my essay done/ attending the relevant lectures even though not mandatory.

At 6th form we only had to turn up for lessons (no school day as such), and if you didn't hand in coursework/homework it wasn't chased. You just got zero. The classes were still reasonably small (15ish) and i really enjoyed it.

However, my sister did the same, didnt cope with the unstructured environment and massively underperformed in her A-levels

I wouldn't worry about the grades. If anything, the state sixth form will probably have opted for the less rigorous boards so he might do better. Also, and completely cynically, he'll be a state school applicant for the purposes of Uni stats (look at port of last call) so that might actually help him.

I'm just feeling you should go to the best school you can with the best teachers possible in the Sixth form. I'm also not sure about giving DCs too much choice at this stage - they're still very young and it's going to be an important couple of years for them.
Make a joint decision, and go for what is genuinely the best for them ! HTH

I chose to - in the early 1980s. We went to college and did Diplomas and all did very well. It was a disadvantage due to travel but the lecturers had spent time in the trades they were teaching and that was invaluable. They treated us as adults and expected us to meet deadlines, without a second reminder. I secured my training contract through the course, as one local business took on one student a year.

My children will do the same because we don't have a sixth form. Yes, they have to travel and make new friends, but they have a choice of 8 places to go and so many courses, they can literally pick exactly what is best for them.

In today's world, staying at the same school is fine if they do exactly the course to suit your child, good results and teaching. But, if those things aren't in place, changing and taking on the extra travel wouldn't worry me either.