moving to uk

[Ceci03]

Am thinking of moving to the uk, but I'm worried as ds will turn 11 in July. Does that mean he has to start in a secondary school. We are in ireland and he still has 2 more years of primary if we stay here. I just dont think he is at all ready for a secondary school. He still is learning writing for one thing! would a primary school take him for a year would you say? TIA

i have friends who moved from Australia, and although their daughter was age to go to secondary school, they kept her in year 6 for one year.

If he turns 11 this coming July, then yes he will be supposed to start secondary school in September 2019.

In reality, you will struggle to place him out of year. Schools can do it, but state schools are very reluctant to and don't have to. You would need to talk to the local primaries and the LEA of the area you are looking for move to. It's complicated by the fact you will have missed secondary allocations, applications have already closed, so if the primaries refuse to take him you will be left with whichever school has places for Year 7 at that point after allocations have been made.

You would also have to negotiate with a secondary school to then place him in Yr 7 in 2020, not put him up to Year 8 as he joins.

Independent schools tend to be a bit more flexible.

Your other option could be to move to an area that still has middle schools, where he could stay until the end of Year 8, if you can. The numbers of these schools are shrinking though, and yours would need to be an in-year application (this would also apply for Year 6 if you were planning to move before next Sept), as PatriciaHolm says, applications for transfer to Year 7 in 2019 have closed, which makes it more complicated.

Are you moving toEngland or Wales or Scotland?
If Scotland I believe he would still be in Primary.
In some parts of England they have middle schools. Also years 7-9 might not be Secondary in the way you fear. And it does matter what you mean by "can't write" if it's just immaturity then that's normal if it's a learning difficulty then do make sure the school is aware and can help him.