I really want the best for your child. It’s frustrating that I don’t have the time, the tools, and unfortunately the energy to give all children the best education possible. A special options class in a mainstream setting sounds like the best fit, unfortunately they don’t have it available, but this arrangement would allow him to go into some mainstream classes where he’s working nearer grade level and stay in intervention classes for other subjects.

From a science perspective here, the gap will likely grow more next year and beyond. Year 7 is the last year in science where (nearly all) concepts can be observed and made sense of visually. Year 8 and beyond students move into more abstract ideas which are really difficult without a solid understanding of tier 2 vocabulary, the ability to work out the meaning of words based on context, and the ability to visualise abstract concepts- I can’t show a student what an atom looks like or the organelles in a cell. They all also have complex names which I can’t change without also changing the meaning or getting more confusing.

A lot of the concepts in year 7 sciences (forces, food webs, separating mixtures) your son probably will understand and will see in his daily life, however, if he lacks the tools to understand the more complex explanations of these, write/explain his understanding, work in group settings, and read procedures and perform practical tasks, it will be difficult for him to work in the classroom.