ajwilko Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Hi all. My husband and i are thinking about moving back to the uk, but we are concerned about how the kids will cope with school. My son is 5 and starts reception in january, he would already be halfway through yr 1 in the uk. Anyone moved back with young kids who have had hardly any schooling and have they coped and caught up? Such a hard decision to make thanx all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Hi all. My husband and i are thinking about moving back to the uk, but we are concerned about how the kids will cope with school. My son is 5 and starts reception in january, he would already be halfway through yr 1 in the uk. Anyone moved back with young kids who have had hardly any schooling and have they coped and caught up? Such a hard decision to make thanx all We moved to Australia when our son was 5 and in a similar position, he had 1 term of formal schooling in the UK and joined a class who had completed the first year in Australia but after a term it really wasn't noticeable and his NAPLAN performance confirmed that. At that age children learn at such different rates anyway and there is very little correlation between how quickly they acquire skills at the start and the level they achieve. Some children start Yr 1 being able to read and write and others don't know how to hold a pencil - some of that depends on family background and the fact that you are concerned about this suggests your son already has advantages other children don't. Which country are you moving back to? I am assuming England, when is your son's birthday? If he is one of the younger ones in his year it may make sense for him to join the year below. In Scotland parents have that choice - I'm not sure if that's true in England too and what the 'cut-off' dates are. We moved back when our son was 10 and chose for him to go in the year below - that was as much to do with his age/size/physical abilities than his learning though. he was always the very youngest in his class in Australia so it is nice for him to now be the oldest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 The general consensus from folk who have returned with little kids is that they do just fine and schools are really supportive at getting them on track if they have veered off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwilko Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 Yes the uk and yes an agust baby, 25th so would be one of the youngest. I would like to hold him back if we do decide to kove but have heard this israther difficult to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinbjulieb Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I have spoken to the Dept of Education in the U.K. on this one and they say it can be and is done but the final decision is that of each individual school. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil & Vikki Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 We are planning on moving back next year too and we now have three kids. We have sent our son back already so that he could start high school when everyone else did. He is doing really well and loves it. He is douing great at school and scouts. We will be getting our daughter back so that she can start school with the rest of the kids at the start of the new year. We have done this so that they do not have to stand out and join a class/school half way through the term. Also it gives us time to wrap things up. However, if they had to start half way through term, we are sure it would be OK. it would not be long before they are in the swing of things and making friends. Kids seem to cope better with things like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwilko Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 Thats good to know. He is only a couple of weeks off being in the lower year anyways so fingers crosses they would let us. We would hope to give him a year if school here then put him in in the january. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 We moved back when our kids were a bit older, 11 years old and had to do a few months in primary but they caught up well and settled in very quickly, they now have a great circle of friends and love it. Kids cope with this sort of thing far better than we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker78 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 YES! I moved back last year with a 6 year old who had to cope from Oz reception to year 2!!! it was awful when i realised, but they would not let her into year 1. She could not read or write and was used to a lot of play and casual learning. She went into a very structured classroom facing SATS! It was not without it's challenges but one year on and she's doing so well. Here are some things which helped; Telling the school how far behind they are, early consult with teachers Be prepared to put the effort in - read every night, do the homework Consider a tutor; we found one early on for one hour a week which has boosted her confidence and learning Be prepared for the emotional fall out from the transition Know that they will be fine! UK schools are focussed on literacy and numeracy- they made a LOT of effort with mine through utilising their teaching assistants to help her catch up. There are a lot more resources here. Ours was a story of success- it is one year on and she took her SATS after only a short time to catch up and came one of the highest in the literacy in her class! She is still catching up but is absolutely fine...for you, going into year 1 wont' be as bad. They will be fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Thats good to know. He is only a couple of weeks off being in the lower year anyways so fingers crosses they would let us. We would hope to give him a year if school here then put him in in the january. If you intend to let him have a year of reception in Aus and then move back for Jan start in a UK school, I'd be asking schools if they would let him go into Y1 that had started the Sept before. So only 4 months into the Y1 year. He should then be well placed as one of the (from what you've written re August birthday) older kids in the year group and as they are all at various levels with reading and writing and so on at that age he should find his feet pretty quick. You need to be firm on what you want from the outset and see if you can find a school that is happy to do this. Some are, some are not. I know of a few kids who were held back as they were late August babies and so started a year after IYKWIM. It did take some persistence from the parents to get the schools to agree to this for a couple of them though. If he is coming from only attending a year of reception in Aus they may well be happy to let him go into Y1 in the January in the UK school. Research your options and discuss with the schools direct. ETA - If not and its a Y2 path you will be taking, then prepare well for it. UK primary is more full on than Aus primary and I'd be getting to grips with the system ahead of the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker78 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Mine is also an August baby, so the youngest in the class and the school would most definitely NOT allow us to go into year 1 sadly. However, she is now absolutely fine. There are other young ones in the class who work at the same level as her. August babies are always difficult but holding back doesn't seem to be allowed here- as he's young, he will catch up just fine so don't worry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinker78 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 If it's any consolation i much prefer the uk system for all it's faults. Reasons are; dinner halls and lovely hot FREE dinners up to year 2 (much nicer for social skills and lots of focus on healthy eating etc), better pastoral care, lots of extra curricular activities (not just sport), more structure, more learning assistants so more one to one, and better world focussed curriculum. Downsides for me are they do seem to grow up quicker here, and sometimes i roll my eyes at what they are covering at a young age (grammar focus, and some say it's too much) but they all seem to cope ok. They do some lovely topics, which we enjoy together. I found Australia very Australia focussed, where as here, they do a much more thorough curriculum. My daughter also moans about the lack of exciting play equipment- she was quite spoilt in Oz for outdoor stuff! But that's her only gripe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tea4too Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Educational policies differ depending on where you live in the UK. However if relocating to England, the following might help.... Delaying when your child starts primary school: You can ask for your child to be held back a school year if the following both apply: - they were born in the summer (1 April to 31 August) - you don’t think they’re ready to start in the September after they turn 4 They could start school in the September after their fifth birthday. Contact the school’s admission authority to make a request. This is usually the school or local council. https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/applying ETA - I guess not much help if they are older than 5 though :sad: T x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Educational policies differ depending on where you live in the UK. However if relocating to England, the following might help.... Delaying when your child starts primary school: You can ask for your child to be held back a school year if the following both apply: - they were born in the summer (1 April to 31 August) - you don’t think they’re ready to start in the September after they turn 4 They could start school in the September after their fifth birthday. Contact the school’s admission authority to make a request. This is usually the school or local council. https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/applying ETA - I guess not much help if they are older than 5 though :sad: T x If they are coming from a year in reception it might be though. The school might be ok with placing them in year 1 mid year rather than Y2 mid year. Its worth the OP researching the schools she is interested in and approaching them to discuss. Meeting the child, seeing how he is going, where might be best year group wise, those sorts of things would all be good if approaching possible schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie77 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 We are moving back to England &my daughter turns 4in August so due to start reception in September- she does 2days a week at Montessori childcare here &I'm so worried about how going straight into reception full-time would affect her.... my try to hold her back one year but that also may have it's social issues in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwilko Posted November 24, 2016 Author Share Posted November 24, 2016 Thankyou everyone. I spoke to the education department and they said he would have to go into year 2 but its up to the scholl to asses his needs, there may be some delay due to a stroke before birth but as hes bot in school yet we dont see any. I rang a school we would like him to go to and it seems very postive as in letting him do mornings in the year below and slow transition and see how he goes all positive so far ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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