Transitioning School Age Children from US to UK

My British husband & our 2 sons (9yo& 4yo), and I are planning to relocate to the UK (both my sons and my husband have US & UK passports). My 9yo is finishing up the 3rd grade here in CA as our school district doesn't allow the start of school until you are already 5 years old and my son is a November baby so he didn't start Kindergarten until he was nearly 6. This puts him a year behind in the UK. How will this be handled in the UK? He will not be comfortable being the oldest by nearly a year but he also is not academically advanced and I worry he will not transition easily to a jump in grades either.  We are considering putting him in a private school for the first year to try to help make the transition easier (he’s a bit timid and already dislikes school so we hoped a private or international school might help him—smaller class sizes, more attention from teachers, etc) but we could not afford to keep up his private school education.

Does anyone have advice on how to handle the transition? Any stories good or bad that we can learn from?  We live in a very progressive and somewhat sheltered area (the SF Bay area) and I must admit I worry that my son is going to be in for a shock leaving our area (UK or US for that matter).

Thank you in advance!

I believe kids are grouped by age, regardless of ability. 

They should be fine.  It's more if kids start when it's secondary school here that is more of a concern.

You are doing opposite of us, we hope to move to the US around those same ages.   

You are doing opposite of us, we hope to move to the US around those same ages.   

KFDancer, may I ask why you're moving back? Is it a work thing or is there some reason you don't want to stay in the UK for school years?

KFDancer, may I ask why you're moving back? Is it a work thing or is there some reason you don't want to stay in the UK for school years?

We prefer the US education system to the UK system.  My husband is certainly a success story of the UK system though.   

Mine are still young (3 year old girl, 5 week old boy).  A lot will depend on what kind of students they are.  The UK system is exam based, so you MUST be a good test taker to excel here.  Also the pressure to know what you want to be when you grow up at a very young age.  This path is then the path!  I had no clue that I would be doing the job I do now at 16.  If I had to pick back then, I wouldn't have made the right choice. 

The US system is more forgiving.  If you aren't a good test taker but are good at papers, presentations, projects, and participation, you can still do well.  Also there are so many paths to a university degree (community college, acceptance of more "mature" students, easy to go back to school in later years if desired).  And the cost.  I just looked it up and a 4 year degree at the school I went to is $17k.  Three years in the U.K. is £27k!

Our plans could certainly change but as of right now, we plan to be in the US prior to the start of secondary school.

I also think they start too young here.  On a local group, people frequently ask for tutors for their 5 and 6 year olds.  In my opinion, those kids should be playing and in after school activities, not buried in books worried about math!

Like I said, I know many many success stories with the UK system.  But you've got to fit the mold.  I really hope my kids don't have special needs, otherwise we'll definitely need to go back.  I would not have done well here (but am very successful due to the US system).  Needless to say this is just my opinion and not fact!

I, too, hope to have my kids back in the US for high school for many of the reasons kfdancer has. When I moved here my kids were 5, but hadn't started kindergarten in the US, and we were required by law to put them in reception when they moved, even though they were in school for less than 2 months. I think that your son will very likely be skipped ahead from 3rd grade in the US to Year 5 in the UK, as everything, as said, is done by AGE not ability.

My boys spent the rest of reception and most of Year 1 playing catch up on phonics, reading, etc...luckily they are quite good at math and science already. I would say they are at or slightly ahead of their peers now, but it has taken the full two years for them to get there. However, I also find the school has had a lot of support in place to help them get caught up...from a Reading Recovery program because they missed all the beginning reading, to one on one help with other teachers, mentoring with an older child, and so forth.

Just to give another viewpoint: my daughter is a March birthday so she'll be five and a half before she starts school in August. We've been told that the school doesn't give homework, that they'd rather have kids spending time with their families and doing out-of-school activists like scouts, sports, etc. Her P1 year will be play-based.
So far so good.
Good luck with the move.

Just to give another viewpoint: my daughter is a March birthday so she'll be five and a half before she starts school in August. We've been told that the school doesn't give homework, that they'd rather have kids spending time with their families and doing out-of-school activists like scouts, sports, etc. Her P1 year will be play-based.
So far so good.
Good luck with the move.

I should totally move to Scotland.  Everything sounds more logical up there!

Just to give another viewpoint: my daughter is a March birthday so she'll be five and a half before she starts school in August. We've been told that the school doesn't give homework, that they'd rather have kids spending time with their families and doing out-of-school activists like scouts, sports, etc. Her P1 year will be play-based.
So far so good.
Good luck with the move.

This is true for us. We only get homework on Fridays and it is due the following Weds. So we generally do it over the weekend so I don't have to worry about tired stroppy kids after school. Also, so far, they only get one sheet each for Math and English, plus a list (5-10) of spelling words each week, plus they are expected to read for 10 minutes per day and have a reading diary to fill in (we normally manage 4-5 days per week).