Your experiences of moving from state to private in YEAR 9?

[AChickenCalledKorma]

We have been presented with a totally unexpected offer to have DD1s education 100% funded at a private school, starting in Year 9. She is currently in year 7. This is not something we ever expected and we have not gone looking for it. Frankly, she has absolutely thrived in the state sector so far, despite being at less-than-outstanding schools. So we are treating it as an interesting idea to consider, rather than rushing in with both feet.

I'm particularly interested in people's experiences of moving from the state sector to private at that stage. Either good or bad - just need to get my mind around the things I should be thinking about.

Maybe there are social/cultural issues that we haven't thought about? And whereas her transition from primary to secondary was handled very well by both schools, I'm guessing that this could be a lot more brutal, because she wouldn't be coming from one of their normal feeder schools. (Or maybe the new school would bend over backwards, because they are looking to widen access. Who knows!)

Anyway, would value the thoughts of anyone who's been there and done that - for better or worse!

(NOT looking for a debate about the relative merits of each sector - I've been on Mumsnet a long time and have read enough of them to keep me going!)

If she is happy and achieving, why move her?

For me, the risk of not settling would be too big, unless you think there is something really significant to be gained.

I would save a possible move for sixth form.

I think that this is one of those areas where specific information may be more useful than general, as I suspect that the issue is more intake specific to your chosen school.

The questions that I think are worth asking are:
a) are you looking at selective or non-selective schools?
i) if selective, is she prepared for that, and will she pass?
ii) if non-selective, then what are you hoping for? (Eg it may be better to save the money for 6th form?)
b) does the school you are looking at have a sizeable 13+ entry?
i) if so, do they come from a number of schools, or predominantly form a couple of preps?
ii) what is the integration process?
c) what languages are offered, and how do these compare to what she has done?
d) What about non school fee costs eg trips, music lessons?

e) depending on the culture of the school, there may be an expectation that all children have iphones/laptops etc - can she handle that?
f) is transport an issue?
g) longer holidays/Saturday school?
h) what sport has she done v what does the school look for. Can be an important part of school life.
i) when you look at the extra curricular list, are there several clubs which immediately catch her interest, or not?

If the usual route to the Senior school is 13+ CE you will probably find it academically challenging coming from the State school purely by dint of not having covered the same ground in the same depth.

homebythesea yes it is and that does concern me.

She is right at the top of her year group. In her SATs, she aced level 6 maths (nearly full marks) and missed level 6 reading by one mark. BUT I fully realise that there will be differences in the way they've been taught and the scope of the curriculum. She's not done much in the way of foreign languages - although now she's at senior school that is changing pretty quickly!

Presumably getting hold of some CE past papers is one way of finding out how different things are. Are there any other sources of information?

She won't have to do CE if coming from a state school- they usually set their own exams so this is what you should ask for. My point was that once in she may have a period of catching up to do as CE is very nearly at GCSE level. IME this means year 9 is spent farting about a bit before they start the GCSE syllabus in Y10!!!

Most senior schools do very little in way of transition, certainly not what you will have been used to from the state system.

If the school has a big intake at 13+ then they won't feel too new as everyone will be new!

Go for it, many senior schools are not doing gcses and doing Igcses because of all the changing about happening, so the curriculum may be more stable and you child not a guinea pig for exams!

Our dd transferred into an indy at the beginning of Year 9 and it was fabulous - best thing we ever did for her. But she was very unhappy the state school was not living up to its reputation and there were serious problems with behaviour. If you aren't facing those sorts of problems why would you move her. Our dd was leaving the house in tears in the mornings worried about what levels of disruption the next day would hold.

Our transfer to indie at Y9 was for the same reasons as NearTheWindmill. It was absolutely the best thing we could have done for her at the time, and has transformed her.

She was top of her year in state school, and perhaps that was why she didn't struggle academically. The other children were not ahead of her in anything, except that they had done Latin, and she hadn't. This wasn't an issue though, because she had two other languages, and they had to choose 2 from the three they had been studying.

It is a mixed school, so a lot of boys joining at Y9 anyway, though she was the only new girl. The school was well geared up for new arrivals at that point, and she fitted in beautifully.