Yr10 DD's school closing - please help me think it through.

[TheCheeseTax]

My girl is Y10 at an independent school. It's sadly closing at the end of the academic year.

DD has autism, diagnosed, but does well. She's academic, strong, stubborn. She loves hard and has friends. She is quirky, can come across as aloof.

We are considering school, both private and state. But here's the thing - we can't find anywhere which matches her current subject's boards exactly.

The school we'd like to send her to has her friends there and more will likely
join. But none, not one, of the subjects match the current board.

Our boys' school matches the subject spec for only 1 bit at least she'd have 2 friends there and her brothers (but she might not ever see those friends).

There's another school which matches the specs (not sure if all, but a lot of them) but she knows no one there at all.

There's a school which would be v diff to anything she's known which can match all but one and we'd have to take her through somehow (but we could make it work).

Does anyone have any insight on how damaging it can be for a Y10 to move schools and have to start her subjects again for the new boards? The schools are all confident (save for the last one) that they can manage her (and whoever joins her in the move) and they have the space, time and man-power to do so.

Help, please. I am so sorry for my lovely girl. She's putting on a brave front but the thought of moving schools is eating her up.

Thanks guy x

Would you be able to get her to repeat year 10? I appreciate it is an extra year, but academically enable her to do the full courses for every subject.

The content is often the same even if the boards aren't. Worth actually looking at the exam specifications.

Have you looked at state boarding schools? I would recommend them.

State schools are usually reluctant to take pupils at the start of year 11, because of the reasons you’ve outlined, regarding different subjects and different exam boards. The majority of the content is covered in year 10. Would it be possible to repeat year 10 at an independent school, with the best match of subjects she’s been studying?

I'd be asking where other pupils at her current school seem to be heading to. My reasoning is that a school taking in a group of pupils who have missed one part of the curriculum for a subject will find it easier snd more cost effective to arrange group tuition rather than for one single student. There would also be a feeling of solidarity. Could you move her straight away so that she only has two terms of GCSE 'mismatch '? Even if it meant paying two lots if fees this term, it would still be cheaper than repeating the whole of year 10 as others have suggested.

@TheCheeseTax I'm sorry.

The really big thing is that she is academic and stubborn, so she will probably be determined to make up for any problems during transition.

Have you talked to the school you’d like her to go to? The first one you mentioned? having friends there is really important. She doesn’t need the stress of settling in difficulties.

You could ask them if she could have assessments with the teachers concerned so that they can see any gaps now, giving her the summer (and maybe some extra tuition or a crammer) to get to grips with the board she’s changing to.

Do you know whether they’re doing the same texts for English Literature

I hope Starmer is reading this to see someone else’s education being played havoc with because of his mean-spirited 20% tax. As we know the likes of Eton, Harrow, etc will not even notice whereas cosy little schools that helped kids with additional needs are often fucked.

Even if the exam boards are the same, the school could teach the curriculum in completely different orders so it’s not as simple as matching subjects and boards unfortunately.

Most teaching will be done in year 10 with mocks early ish in year 11 - just before or after Christmas ime and all of the teaching done by Easter in year 11 which really doesn’t give much time for catching up.

i would go for the school that will suit your dd the best and repeat year 10.

I'd send her to the best fit with all her friends.
Drill the school on what they would do. It should be perfectly possible to map ( maybe with help from current teachers) exactly what has been covered and where the gaps are, and plan to fill them.

Agree that Lit texts important but nothing that soms summer reading and revision aids/notes can't help

As others have said, they learn everything in year 9 and 10 and then year 11 is going over what they learnt. 1st mocks is November of year 11.

I would find out exactly where others are going and speak to senco too. If she has EHCP you could ask for review and repeat year 10

The one state school we're considering have said because of the circs they'll see if they can accommodate her. There is more continuity here with the boards, but they couldn't see her through her Geography so we'd have to consider online schooling for that, or a tutor, whatever.

The other schools are confident they'll plug the gaps. But they would say that, wouldn't they...? Private v state isn't a concern for us, all we're worried about is walking the line between as much continuity in learning as possible and perhaps a few friendly faces.

She would be so gutted to repeat the year, but it is a consideration we've been pondering.

I am so cross and upset that all these things that are completely out of her control will have an impact on her happiness, her contentment, her mental health and her grades.

I was feeling chipper about it this morning (well, as much as one might). Not so much now. I feel like crying - my DH is raging and I get it but have had to ask him to stop: it's making my heart palpate!

x

if you look at other threads for Yr11 you’ll find that a lot are still finishing the content and exams start in 2 weeks.
I think it’s doable as at the end of the day maths is maths, biology is biology etc
you have all summer to sort plugging gaps

Labour really screwed these kids over.

It’s not my experience at all the Yr11 is just revision. Maybe at some privates who do options in year 8 and in effect start gcse in Yr9.

Is it IC? If so I would move to YC, loads of the children will be heading there and they are preparing to manage the transition as smoothly as possible. I would then use the savings from private to state to tutor privately and get up to speed with any changes in the content.

So did schools that continued to advertise for new pupils until a week before they decided to close. Shocking. Happened near me and to a friend on mine elsewhere . They weren’t making enough money

I agree that if you go state, tutors will help plug gaps. We are doing that for a diff reason as my dd missed a lot of school in yr11

Well obviously, yes because the kids are now getting taxed 20% on their education.

I’d look closely at the two schools which can match the specs/all but one, and not worry so much if she knows nobody. What do you mean by ‘We’d have to take her through somehow’ ? Through what?

Even if the content and exam boards are the same the new school could be doing them in a different order. I'd try to find somewhere she could repeat the year.

@GoatsOfNavahoe yes but bigger schools and those who planned for it have not closed. It’s smaller ones which were struggling really anyway as far as I’ve seen. They were barely surviving due to drop in demand for other reasons.
Some clearly buried heads or tried to frantically recruit. All businesses should plan several years ahead and worse case scenarios

Yr11 is really tough so don’t underestimate friendships. Esp if this doesn’t come naturally to her. I have a yr11 DD who is ND

To some degree maybe they did. However my youngest DC’s school closed in 2014 due to falling pupil numbers. Independent schools have been closing for several years. My old independent primary school closed in 2019 and reopened as a state school because it was another that was no longer financially viable.
Fortunately my DC was in Y9 when she moved but there as an issue with the language she was studying not being taught at her new school. That was resolved in Y10 when the new school introduced it as a GCSE.

Yes it’s mainly smaller not for profit preps closing, you simply can’t plan for targeted state punitive policies designed to close you down. 20% tax on the kids themselves, business rates increase and NIC cost introduced half way through the academic year. I know it will be reversed when they’re gone, but how many kids will have lost their schools to be turned into flats by then? Utterly unforgivable politics of envy.

There’s no maybe about it, they did. It’s actually hard to believe a government implemented this.

To add insult to injury, studies in from Scotland show it’s a net cost to the tax payer:
https://commentcentral.co.uk/the-cost-of-taxing-education

A net cost of 60 million and 900 jobs in Scotland
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/economy-vat-private-school-fees-jvjwc20f9

What a f**king shocker that taxing children’s education isn’t a good idea !

That’s not what OP is asking about tho is it? Wants advice on next steps.
my point was merely that schools that knew they wouldn’t survive should have morally declared this earlier if kids were their priority