Changing Schools at Sixth Form Pros and Cons?

[MrsJAlfredPrufrock]

Anyone with any insight?

My school had no sixth form so I had to choose between the posh, private school's sixth form that had plenty of Oxbridge candidates but was an hour's round trip away, or the local, not particularly good further education college that had a focus on drama. I wanted to do science but couldn't be arsed with the travel wanted to stay local so I could make better use of the day, plus a whole load of bitchy classmates were heading to the other school and I really fancied a break, a fresh start.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, didn't need the pushy teachers as I put enough pressure on myself to do well. As a few people mentioned I actually found it to my advantage when I got into Cambridge as I was better able to organise myself and didn't find it too much of a shock.

If your dc is selfmotivated to get good grades, let him choose which college to go to. It encourages independence and self reliance. Otoh if he's a bit of a slacker, probably best to keep him in an environment where he has structure and discipline (not in a punishment sense, in a work ethos sense!), but he will resent being made to stay - he must be involved in the decision or he might subconsciously rebel a little if he's somewhere he doesn't want to be. Visit both schools and help him come to the correct decision.

I moved at sixth form, from a local independent girls school to a boys public school (boarding with girls at sixth form). I'm not sure academically it was a particularly good move, I did get to do some courses that weren't available at my previous school but the discipline was fairly terrible (lots of very very privileged kids who felt they could lord it over the teachers and frequently behaved very badly). However moving away from home was great!

I'd look at the options and discuss them with your ds. At 16 I think he should have some input into the decision, but bear in mind some of his motivation may not be the best (I'm sure I was at least a bit swayed by how sexy the boys looked in their uniforms!). I think that political leanings is a perfectly good reason though - if he is getting very irritated with his classmates that could cause friction and disengagement especially if he is going to study social sciences (I did politics and economics so I have some understanding of where he is coming from, although at 17-18 I was horribly Tory).

Not much to add to above posters except:

• at this time of year ime from 2 DC lots of DCs say that they are moving for sixth form. This number decreases substantially as it gets nearer to the exams.
• AS modules can be a problem in the January. DCs have to hit the ground running in September or it can be a hard slog. Although you can retake some universities don't like retakes. If however you are doing the IB then this is easier as there are no external exams until the Upper Sixth.

My DD dithered about moving for sixth form. In the end she decided that she didn't want to leave her friends so stayed at her all girls school. She doesn't regret it and took university in her stride afterwards.

I did it after sitting my GCSEs in 1996. In fairness, I come from South Somerset, where most comprehensives are 11-16 and then you switch for 6th form. Most of my friends went to the local college/s, but I went to a state boarding school that took day pupils for 6th form. I found it really good - I was able to get away from some of the people who bugged me at my old school, and still kept in touch with my closest friends. I went on to become prefect and Deputy Head girl too, so I don't think it's true whoever said that your DC wouldn't get to have those roles.... I liked the fact that I ended up having a very mixed social group througout 6th form - I wasn't always going out with the people I went to school with, as I went out with my friends from my old school (and their new friends) too. This made it much easier to get away from the cliques, etc, that I found hard to deal with (I was very much a tomboy during school....).

Another vote for changing: I moved from a good state comprehensive to a big (3500 students) further education college (ie one that was 2/3 vocational courses). Importantly this college also promoted students getting into Oxbridge/winning national competitions etc in the local press, so whilst the results as a whole may have been worse than some of the local schools, they did try to stretch students.

The weirdest thing was...no bell! You had to watch the time yourself, and then there was no detention if you didn't hand work in (unless it was actually coursework), just a realisation that you were cheating yourself. It does make going to university less of a big step.

I had to change, school didn't have a sixth form, but instead of going to college I went to a little one which is ages away from where I live. I hated secondary school, and knew that on the lesson side of things, A levels would be along the same lines, but the change was amazing. It depends on the school, obviously, but the people were lovely and friendly and I couldn't get over it. Everyone seemed to be friends with one another. I went with two friends and that helped, and made more in the first term, but otherwise I didn't need to make friends (I have AS, not exactly gifted in that area) because it was a really safe place. At my old school, if you didn't have friends to keep you safe, it would just be scary. Changing schools worked out perfectly for me, and I'm probably a lot more antisocial/lazy than whoever the OP is talling about!

I changed schools then.
It was due to complex family reasons, but it was the best thing I ever did.
I went from an all-girls private school for my GCSEs to a mixed boarding school for my A levels.
I got some much out of it, I loved it.

I think it's a very natural time in the school career to change. There tends to be a big change between 5th and 6th forms anyway, even within the same school. Also, many children change schools at that time, so you don't stand out as the only new pupil. It's not hard to make new friends then.

DS changed schools for 6th form. EARLY DAYS, but he is MUCH happier. he swapped from a private school to a state FE college.

ds2 moved to big FE college in September to study A levels - it has an Ofsted outstanding rating. It takes nearly an hour on the bus to get to. He was at local comp 2 miles away before that. I've had trouble getting him to go to school since year 5 - since September he has attended every day. Not sure he is working very hard at the moment but he has good friends and is enjoying it and attending lessons and completing set work.

I would keep him at the school he is at. It is quite popular here to swap from private to state FE for sixth form and I really don't see the point. The results are much worse.

I think the argument that you need to go to a big mixed comp 6th form as good 'practice' for uni is a complete red herring btw. Totally possible to go from a single sex private 6th form to uni and absolutely hit the ground running and thrive. Most private schools worth their salt will have taught excellent organisational skills along with the academic ones.

"I would keep him at the school he is at. It is quite popular here to swap from private to state FE for sixth form and I really don't see the point. The results are much worse."

The results wre only worse because the ability range going into the 6Th form is much wid. If your child is an A candidate, they will get As in either school.

"much wider"

yeah, maybe seeker, I know there is a commonly accepted wisdom that A students will do well whereever, I just happen to disagree with it! Anyway I wouldn't risk it unless my child was very unhappy and I was very disillusioned with the school/broke.

I think I'm with you though vimonoff - I think Sixth form years are possibly the most important ones in which to have really good teachers and teaching. After that, at Uni, it really will be more down to you.
( Except of course, Early Years, which I've always worked in, where all those "dispositions and attitudes" to learning and social skills are developed so crucially )

BTW my dd is at excellent state Cathedral School, and hope she will stay there for Sixth Form, although she will have to get at least Bs in subjects she wants to continue with in order to do so. So, though we're hopeful of this, it's always interesting to hear of a variety of possible options.

Seeker "The results wre only worse because the ability range going into the 6Th form is much wid. If your child is an A candidate, they will get As in either school."

I thought you thought fee-paying education was purchasing advantage?

My best guess is he would get AAAA in his A levels if he stays where he is and possibly AAAA if he goes to the comp. Which will be fine if he wants to go to Oxford but not fine if he wants to go to the LSE (as they ask for an A* in their standard offer for economics). We could also top up with a couple of 1:1 tutored sessions each week, which might help close the gap.

14% of the sixth form population are in fee-paying schools. That's significantly larger than the 7% of the school population as a whole in fee paying schools. So clearly the well-trodden path is to a fee-paying sixth form.

I would rather he stays where he is, but he does seem to have thought it all through quite carefully so I'm inclined to support him. It might not come to anything as he has to write a personal statement .

I did it, didn't have a choice as my (independant, all girls) school didn't have a 6th form!

For me, Cons:
It was a massive shock to the system. I went from having 29 people in my year to having 35 in my form which was one of 6!
It took a while to settle in, making new friends at 16 is much harder work than when you are younger!

Pros:
I got to meet alot of new friends from a variety of backgrounds.
It forced me into being alot more independant.

Mine went from independent to local comp in September. The comps exam results are as good as the previous school. He is loving it. One of the things he is really enjoying (apart from a lack of uniform, being able to grow his hair, not having to shave!) is having friends on the doorstep. He is still predicted the grades he needs for medicine, and in fact the support has been better here than at the independent school. We even had a maths teacher give up a couple of hours over the Christmas holidays because she was worried about his confidence. Brilliant!

My DD is looking to move from her school to 6th form at a local college at the end of this school year. The college has a broader range of A level subjects and the results are just as good as her schools.

I loved moving to sixtth form college, albeit I didn't have any choice as the schools in our LEA didn't have attached sixth forms. Some people are suggestign that makinh the change isn't worth it purely because he feels liek a change, I would argue that this is an excellent reason. A group of about 8 of us went from my school to the same sixth form and I loved beign able to start afresh with a new group of people. The move certainly didn't stop me from being driven to get into medical school but I felt a bit more grown up in the process.

As someone else mentioned, we don't get a choice in Hampshire. But do look at the results for Peter Symmonds College, if you think schools can do better...

I think it depends a lot on the child - I hated the sixth form and would have preferred a college environment. Didn't get great grades as I wasn't inspired, and was too busy rebelling against all the restrictions. I've done ok but on the whole think I would have been happier and got similar or better results in a college (would have done a vocational subject I was really interested in rather than dry old A levels, though).

I moved from a comprehensive to a top sixth form college. Mainly because my school was ok for GCSE but rubbish at A Level. I also was at an all girls school and the college was mixed.

It was one of the best decisions I made. There was more choice in courses and more people with aspirations of university.

I'm surprised that we have so many examples of going from Independent to State as I thought that, typically, it went the other way round (as per MrsJAP's statistics). Is this a sign of recessionary times?

I think, as ever, it is best to ignore generalisations and see what is best for your DC. School A may have a fantastic track record of getting medics into Oxbridge or School B may secure a lot of apprenticeships but if neither of these are what your DC want then it's a bit irrelevant. Do you know either school's specific data re success with Economics and/or LSE?

BTW we are an all-boys school who take in girls at sixth form. After five years together, they have their established pecking order eg everyone knows that Fred is best at Maths and Harry at English etc. It comes as a real shock to the system when the girls come in and start beating them. It's a bit of a wake-up call.

I personally liked the idea of going from first to sixth, and having all those priveliges and different uniform I'd seen since I was 11 - although I do remember looking around at the time. I'm glad I stayed, just because I'm a bit of a sentimentalist and like continuity I think!

I quite hope dd (now in year 10 so we'll be thinking more seriously in the Autumn) stays where she is, as the sixth form is quite new and I'd like to support it) - but we'll look around at the other sixths in the city too. Many year 11s do move round here, either because their original school was 11-16, or just because they want a change, or to go to college - all the ones I've known to do so have been pretty confident in their decision and seemed happy, although I think inevitably the first few weeks are a little daunting. Certainly where I worked, you couldn't really tell by Christmas who'd been there since September and who since year 7.

I think probably if he feels it's the right thing, it is - two more years in a place you feel you've outgrown could be quite tiresome.

Bear in mind though, that he might change his mind - I was dead keen to go somewhere else almost up the last minute, and all about the change and casting off the old and all that, and then thought noooo, I want to stay where I am!