Seeking help from my f-list

[bk_forever]

Hi you wonderful people, I need a bit of info if you can help.

When I was at school, nearly 40 years ago, we went from infant school to junior school and then to secondary school, but I know it's different now, so how does it work?

What grades would kids be in at age 6 and upwards until age 16? I need to get this right for the fic I'm writing. I'm going completely AU with Jack and Ianto's school days. I know some of you are British teachers, so.... help please?

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[ally-p-x.livejournal.com]

It depends where you are setting the story. Where I live (Essex) we still have a 3 tier school system. By the sounds of it you are about my age and so the system here is the same as you would remember i.e Infants up to 7, Junior school for 7 to 11 and then Secondary school up until leaving age. As far as I know final year is year 10, so just work backwards!

[bk_forever]

Thanks.

Hmmmm. Well, I'm setting it in Cardiff so maybe I'd better check out the school system there.

What IS leaving age these days? I left school at 16, but do kids have to stay on to 18 now? Or do they move on to college at 16? It's so confusing.

[silver_sun]

My son is starting school this September - so I've been looking into this lately for real life stuff. What I've found is this.

Children start in the September following the 4th birthday and will start in reception class. So for this year the September intake will be all the children whose birthdays are between 1st September 2009 and 31st August 2010. (If their parents want to they can keep the child back if they think they aren't ready until the first term after they turn 5 - almost nobody seems to actually do this as the child might find themselves starting mid year and playing catch up for the rest of their first school year.)

Primary school is years Reception through to year 6. Secondary years 7 though to 11. (Here in Yorkshire it seems to be all 2 school system (primary and secondary), but where my mum lives in Surrey they still use the 3 school system. (Infants, middle and secondary.)

Depending on where in the year their birthday is a 6 year old will be in either year 1 or year 2. This because some will start reception at 4 and a few days or some (like my son) will only be a few day short of their 5 birthday when they start reception.

Assuming using Ianto's birthday of 13th August he'd have started school in the September following his 4th birthday. So he'd have been about 4 years and one month when he started and likely one of the very youngest in class. (only children born in the august of the same year, but later in the month would be younger than him.)

By the time he had his sixth birthday he'd be in the summer holidays just before going back to start year 2.

He'd start secondary school a month after his 11th birthday.


(My son's ended up with the opposite - his birthday is mid September so he'll probably be the oldest in class, as he'll turn five just a week in reception class and he'll be almost 12 before he starts secondary.)

If it's set with them turning 16 before September 2013 the next bit doesn't apply.

For anyone leaving school up to summer 2013 you could leave school at 16 and go and get a job. From September 2013 you have to stay until 17 and from September 2015 you have to stay until 18. As GCSEs end at 16, so 17 and 18 year old they have the choice of either taking their A-levels/NVQ etc at their current school if offered (not all schools this option), go to a college or take up an apprenticeship which is at least 2 years long.

[bk_forever]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I'm keeping Ianto's birthdayb as August 19th, not sure where I'll put Jack's or if I'll even need to decide on a birthdate for him for the purposes of this fic, though he's probably a few months older. I'll try to figure that out tomorrow when I'm not half asleep, just so I know where I am.

I think with Ianto's birthdate at 6 he'd be towards the end of year 2... does that sound right? I can't get my head around this at the moment. If he was 6 and it was just before Christmas, would he be year 2 or 3? This might take some working out, lol!

[silver_sun]

Ianto would be in year 2 at Christmas when he was six.


So it go

19th August 4 birthday
Early September start of reception year.
Christmas, Easter Summer holidays etc.

19th August 5th birthday
Early September start of year 1
Christmas, Easter Summer holidays etc.

19th August his 6th birthday
Early September start of year 2.
Christmas, Easter Summer holidays etc.

19th august 7th Birthday
Early Sept start of year 3
Christmas, Easter Summer holidays etc.

repeat until

19th August 10th Birthday
Early Sept start of year 6
Christmas, Easter.

July end of year 6 and finishes primary school
19th August 11th Birthday
Early September starts secondary school.

[bk_forever]

Thank you, I think my dozy brain should be able to follow that! I'll probably have Jack just a couple of months older so they'll be in the same year.

[bk_forever]

Thank you, that should be useful!

[iolo1234.livejournal.com]

Silver Sun is completely correct. If you need any other school details such as Ofsted or anything pm me and I'll be happy to help.
K
xx

[bk_forever]

Thanks, K!

I'm currently trying to work out what year Ianto would be in if his Birthday was August 19th, he was 6 years old and it was the end of term just before Christmas. My brain has completely stalled and I can't figure out if it would be year 2 or 3. Once I get that nailed down I think I'll be able to work out the rest, but my brain doesn't work at this time of night...

[lilyrose225.livejournal.com]

Hello. I doubt this helps, seeing as I'm American, but if you ever need to know about American schooling here it is! XD

Kids start school at age 5 (or slightly before) in September and have elementary school (starting with kindergarten) for either 5 or 6 years, depending on your count. After that, middle school, usually from the years of 5 or 6 (again, depending on the count) to 8. 7th and 8th grade is sometimes considered junior high. And 9th through 12th grades are high school (secondary school), and after that's college.

Hope that's not confusing! (and maybe helpful in some world where they're, Idunno, in the US for some reason?) Cheers! ^.^ Much luck with the story!

[bk_forever]

Thank you, that may well come in useful someday =)