Relocation back to London

[polingc]

Hi, I am new to mumsnet as my family just moved back to London from Shanghai. My daughter who is 10 (with birth date in October 2006) has just finished primary school in Shanghai (equivalent to Year 6 in UK) and is ready to go to Year 7 this Sept. However, the school admission team of Southwark (where we are staying) said she is not within the range of school age for Year 7 (which is between 1 Sept 2005- 31 Aug 2006) and therefore not allowed to enrol to a secondary school. I think this is really upsetting as she is a mature kid and very ready to get onto the secondary school after her primary school education. While she was the youngest in her class (Shanghai's school age cut-off date is end of Dec), she always performed like her peers in the class. May I know anyone in the group that may experience the same situation and can share information? And also whether it is true that no state school will accept my daughter for year 7 (or consider her application) because she does not meet the age requirement? Many thanks in advance!

Goodness, I certainly wouldn't want my daughter starting secondary school at ten years old. If I were you I'd be pleased to have an extra year's grace and let her enjoy her return to Britain and settle back in. Children grow up too quickly. What's the rush for her to move to the next stage?

I would use this year of grace to do loads of enrichment and confidence building. If you think she is ahead academically, then pedal back on that and offer cultural and social enrichment.
London is a huge city with amazing opportunities. Most museums are free and there are fascinating historical visits to do.
At her age (we had just returned from overseas too) we were teaching our daughter to navigate in London. She would catch the tube to meet her Dad for lunch. We went to concerts and exhibitions, we also had long urban walks, the South Bank, Chelsea, the Lea Valley. We all benefitted.
I'm just saying education isn't just about school.

state schools will not bend the rules on admissions Regarding age but some private schools will

It would also be a bad time to try and get a Y7 state place as these were all allocated on 1 March. At this stage if wanting a Y7 place you'd most likely only get the schools which were less sought after or have to tercel a long way, or both. To me it sounds as though it is ideal to be waiting for another year. I love the idea of making the most of London for the year, we home educated our daughter for one term and London museums, walks and opportunities really added to the experience.

In the UK system you apply in the October prior, so you'd be applying only in a few months time and would have similar chances to those living near you rather than being a late applicant.

Look up the admissions criteria for the schools you are interested in, some go on distance, some on faith, others on a variety of other criteria. Just because you are near one school doesn't necessarily mean you will get that school if it is your preference. You will need to keep an eye on this and register with the eadmissions system at the right time and have the relevant documentation for the council.

It's hard enough for a mature 11.5 yo to deal with London secondary schools. It will be a culture shock for her as it is. Do you think she is ready to deal with Frankenstein, Jamaica Inn, Gothic novels? The summer reading list to go into year 7 included the Mortal Instruments series. There is not the filter that there is in Primary so watching films such as the Race on netflix. I suggest that you read these books and decide if she is ready to deal with these subjects.

You are highly unlikely to be blue to persuade the council to consider application to let your DD to go up a year early.

And the point about securing a Y7 place (when offers were made in March) is well made. You'd only get a place at a school which was not already full.

Whereas if she went into Y6, she would have time to have an unpressured year settling into new country and new school system. And you can join the main Y7 applications round next autumn.

I was in a similar situation; too young to go to secondary school, and ended up repeating my last year of primary, albeit in a different primary school. It was mind numbing. I still feel that I wasted a whole year of my education. Although a below-par teacher and a school ethos that I didn't agree with (huge focus on religion) didn't help.

What are your primary school options? Are there any schools near you which could support and stretch your daughter?

You might find an independent school prepared to accept her out of year but they are unlikely to have space for this Autumn now. Tests and interviews typically take place before / after Christmas. Possibly you could try for a year 7 place in a prep school which goes up to 13? State system is very rigid and you are unlikely to find any flexibility on starting age at secondary. Even if they did places are already allocated and popular schools full.

Thank you very much for all of your thoughts! They all sound logical to me although I must admit it was still a big disappointment for my daughter not being able to proceed to secondary. The thing is I have two other elder children, one going to year 12 of a private IB school and the other applying for in-year admission to year 8, so I was hoping to have at least the younger 2 ending up in the same secondary school. It's a pain to have three children in 3 different schools, esp. after relocating back from afar. And my school search always focused on secondary. However, I think I'd just have to accept the reality and make the most out of it as suggested by all of you. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!!

As I am new in primary school search in Dulwich (north), I have now put Dulwich Hamlet Primary School as my first choice for in-year admission for my daughter. However, the school looks like over-subscribed and we may not be able to get a place by September. Does anyone in the area know the schools and have any other
recommendation?

You might be better off starting with a list of those schools that do have places locally and working back from there! Ask the LEA.

If you are in North Dulwich then you have lots of good primaries nearby, which might well have spaces in year 6 as they seem to have lots of movement. Rosendale is popular, Judith Kerr is German/English bilingual (Although they are a new school and am not sure if they have a year 6 yet), Bessemer has become very popular in recent years, I know a family who found places for year 3 and 5 children at St Saviour's recently and are very happy with it. As the pp says, probably best to ring Southwark and Lambeth and ask abot spaces.

I have daughters in a selective state school and they do have one classmate who in effect skipped a year of primary school and is one year younger than her peers.

She has had no problems settling in or keeping up with the work as far as my DD knows (they're friends), despite the age difference. So it is possible in a state school.

Have you checked the admissions criteria for the secondary that your middle child is going into? Start there and ask the school directly if they're full for yr 7 in September.

But as others have rightly pointed out, you've missed the main secondary school application process and you might have more choice and a better chance of getting the school you want, if you wait until October when the process starts again.

The East dulwich Forum is probably a good place to ask about schools and places...

It's probably hard on your daughter either way but if you want a state school place, it does sound as though you're going to have to put her into Year 6. My sister and I were both autumn term birthdays and in the year above (slightly odd schools and decades ago!) - one of us stayed in that year and one was made to repeat a year as the rules changed. One hated repeating the year (but worse than it will be for your daughter as it was the same school) and one on balance ended up being a bit too immature for it higher up into secondary school. In the end, I don't think you'll regret her being back with her right age group.

I don't really have any advice but I'm living in overseas with DD born Nov and second DC due in Dec. It's the same as in China here where a lot of schools have a year grouping of Jan-Dec. So like your daughter if you are born at the end of the year, trying to transfer back into schools in the UK is a challenge.

We would be in the same situation, DD finishing primary school and starting secondary at 10 years old. We've made the choice only to consider schools that use the same grouping as the UK as a result. This is less for academic reasons but more about maturity/age appropriateness, especially as the world of British state schools is very different from international schools full of (fairly priveleged) expat children.

I am thinking to ask the school of my middle child to see if they have space in Year 7 for my youngest one. But is this a school's decision? I mean if the school decides to accept my daughter, will the Southwark Borough's school admission team object? Does anyone know?

Having said that, I am ready to send my child to year 6( if no other option available). I think the benefits of staying at year 6, as suggested by many of you in this chat group, are worthwhile too.

A state school can't accept a child outside the local authority's age criteria. Secondary school in London is tough - it's social media profiles/ travelling on public transport, hanging out in cafes, I wouldn't want this for a 10 year old.

I do know the odd state school child who has been out of their age group, some younger, some older, but it is rare and usually in primary school rather than secondary. The one I know who was older ended up repeating Y3 when they moved home as it had been indicated that it would be harder to carry through the change for secondary school. The grammars who do seem more inclined to accept those out of year group and who are older usually specify that the child applying must be in Y6 if out of their age group when applying for a place in Y7. But that won't be any help to the OP as all the grammar entrance tests are over and done with, even for next year the application dates for the tests for the grammars are mostly closed and there aren't really any in easy distance of Southwark.

In answer to the question of whether Southwark will interfere with a decision by the school is that 'it depends'. If the school is an academy it will manage its own admissions, if it is a maintained school then the LEA will have authority, if it is part of a multi-academy trust, then it depends on the admissions details as to how much influence the school or the trust have.

I'm glad you're going to plan for yr6. My DD has an August birthday and hated being youngest in her year. So much so that we promised her a gap year so it wouldn't carry on to university!

Bessemer Grange and Judith Kerr are two good primaries in the area.

polingc do check the secondary school's admission policy (likely to be on their website). If they are an academy then they will set their own criteria and handle their own admissions, Southwark council will in effect just handle the paperwork I believe (someone more knowledgeable please correct me if I'm wrong here).

If the school is a Local Authority school, under Southwark council then they might have a borough wise policy on age which would stop your daughter starting yr 7 early.

No point speculating unless you know firstly if there are any vacancies in the incoming year 7. Although depending on the policies, you might be able to get your daughter on the waiting list...

Thank you all for the advice!

Other options in Dulwich are:

Judith Kerr
Rodendale
Goodrich
Bessemer