Moving to the UK

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We are planning to move to the U.K. next summer with 2DC, the eldest of which would be entering year 8 next September.

Can anyone point me towards some resources of what stage children are expected to be at in terms of maths, English and science at that age and any other academic info? Seeing as school is still at home for us (we’re in the US) we thought we should use the year to make sure he’s up to speed rather than having to cram catch up tutoring over the summer when we move

Should add I saw the post below but we would be looking to enter the state system, not private. We would probably be based in the SE but not sure grammar is what we’d be aiming for

Going into yr8 would suggest you look at some keystage 3 text books..
They are more universal also bbc bitesize cgp have wide selection but do preferred colins.. mymaths also used at ds school..

You won't get a place unless you have an address and depending where u are moving to may have no places .very close..look at the council website under in year admissions (there are none in yr 8 in my local Borough last week...however lots of movement in London so that may change)

Some schools finish key stage 3 by the end of year 8 and some by the end of year 9, depending on when they start their GCSE courses, but I'd definitely get hold of some CGP workbooks.

Some subjects, eg History, it won't really matter if they're not familiar with topics covered in the past, but make sure they're up to speed with Maths and Science. Years 8 and 9 are reasonably relaxed I would say - they're the weird in-between years between being new to secondary school and things getting serious, so a good time to join.

Super helpful Thankyou

Yeah @averythinline we’re aware of all the hoops and admin we’re going to need to do re addresses etc. We don’t know where we’ll be yet so not much point in looking into it in depth but I’m aware of the process for all the potential counties and boroughs we might be looking at so we’re ready to go once we’re ready!

Hopefully we can get hold of the text books from here or get someone to send them over

If you are moving to the SE for Y8, then I would be very cautious about places like Kent which are grammar areas.

Entry to state secondary schools in England is allocated during Y6 for start at Y7. Grammar school places are fiercely competitive and the chances of getting a place outside the normal entry point - even if you can ace the scores in the tests - is extremely slim. As a result there are very few true comprehensive schools in grammar areas.

I would suggest moving to areas that have a lot of good secondary schools to choose from to increase your chances of getting one you would be happy with.

What age is your younger DC? Applications for secondary need to be in during the October of Y6 for the following autumn, so you might want to bear that in mind when looking. Not all schools have a sibling policy either at secondary.

Yeah I’m aware of all that but Thankyou. When looking at areas we have several priorities and one of them is schools because I don’t want to have only one decent school to choose from

Younger D.C. would be going into year 5 and is fairly ahead already so I’m not as worried

Oxfordshire, is where you need to be. No grammars, excellent state schools. Not oversubscribed. Really rural in parts with good transport links

@littlefireseverywhere interesting, we’ve been looking at Sussex but honestly at the moment so long as we can get to sussex (where my family are) quickly and London easily by train (for my work) the SE is our oyster at the moment until we know what DH will be doing and where. He doesn’t want to move back to London and wants a rural experience, I want a town so we’ll prob end up on the outskirts of one, I think it’s important our teens have independence getting to school and friends’ homes

I'd think about asking for him to go into year 7, unless he is a complete social butterfly, just from the point of view of him starting a new school and a new system at the same time as everyone else.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840002/Secondary_national_curriculum_corrected_PDF.pdf

That can give you an overview. BBC Bitesize is a good website for practical practice.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk

On this website, you can identify areas with more than one good school. I don’t know about Kent grammars, but I’m in outer London and very very few places in grammars come up. It’s very difficult and takes a lot of preparation to get a place so very few children leave once they’re in.

Thanks for the resources @JoJoSM2 I’ll take a look. I’m not desperate for him to go to a grammar school, just want to make sure he’s not behind when we start.

I avoid strongly avoid that @sashh mainly because he’s older in the year and already 5’7”, he would stick out like a sore thumb with kids a year younger than him and I worry would be a bigger target for bullying

I'd echo the CGP workbooks.
I'd also look at Oak Academy. Its was set up to deal with lockdown learning last school year, and us running for all of next school year.
How old is the youngest? Having spent some time with kids in a school that ran parallel English and US curriculums, the Englush one is very head in the lower years, it evens out late elementry/middle, and then the topics diverge top end of Middle school /high school. So if the youngest is below about 8yrs old, look very hard at the maths and english expectations.

Youngest is nearly 9 but above her grade level, will definitely make sure in terms of maths she’s up to speed but not worried about reading/spelling etc

Oak Academy has been recommended by a friend too, will check them out