My summer-born daughter Olivia is the oldest child in her school year.
Nearly four years ago I told Mumsnet all about our ‘fight’ to start her in reception at age five.
Olivia is now in Year 3 and enjoying school.
But other parents up and down the country are still fighting for the same right, with their children being made to start at age 4 or enter Year 1 at age 5.
This is despite assurances from the Schools Minister Nick Gibb in 2015, that ‘summer-born children can be admitted to the reception class at the age of five if it is in line with their parents’ wishes’, and the promise ‘to ensure that those children are able to remain with that cohort as they progress through school, including through to secondary school.’
A later start can be the best thing for many children. Olivia enjoyed her reception year, but the jump to Year 1 was a bit of a shock and she found some of Year 2 hard. I’m so glad she had that extra year of development behind her to face those challenges.
No one could pick Olivia out in a crowd; she fits in perfectly well with her class cohort and is thriving in Year 3.
Despite all the warnings that she’d be ‘on the wrong register’, be ‘the odd one out’ or ‘have to take her SATs a year early’, we haven’t encountered any problems along the way (although she did receive a birthday card with the wrong age on one year, but that’s about as tricky as it’s got!).
Olivia even thanks me for what I did.
I have always talked about it openly (and proudly) and explained my reasons to her. She tells me that she couldn’t imagine being in Year 4 right now. ‘I’m right where I belong, mummy,’ she says.
The truth is, Olivia knows more about the law than some staff who work in admission departments, and even some school heads. She often corrects adults who tell her she ‘should’ be in Year 4, saying, ‘I could be in Year 4, not should.’
Of course, every child is different. That’s why choice and flexibility is so important (but only if it’s fair for all). Some summer-born children will enjoy school from age four and do very well, while others won’t. Whatever choice parents make should be without judgement.
Every time I read about the summer-born issue it ends in confused debate, so I wanted to finish by debunking a few myths and ensuring everyone knows the facts.
What is the law? Do you know your rights?
The School Admissions Code requires councils to provide schooling for all children in the September following their fourth birthday, but a child does not reach compulsory school age until the term following their fifth birthday.
So, for a summer-born child (defined as born April 1st - August 31st), that’s a whole year later than when they could first enter school.
Here’s where it gets tricky. Summer-born children are still the only group of children who don’t have automatic right of access to reception at that point (compulsory school age); parents can only request that their child starts in reception.
Some admission authorities have a policy of automatically agreeing all requests while others will only consider requests if parents present very strong evidence of special educational needs or developmental delay.
It’s important to know that it’s your decision when your child starts school, whether prior to compulsory school age or at compulsory school age.
The admission authority for the school has to make a year group decision based on the best interests of your child at that point (i.e. compulsory school age). The discussion should not be about ‘school readiness’ or how they can meet your child’s needs at age four.
The question an admission authority must answer is: ‘What is in this child’s best interests at compulsory school age, reception or Year 1?’ It must then clearly explain the reasons for its decision.
Incredibly, it has been nearly four years since Nick Gibb’s assurances and promises, and in that time many children have been forced to miss reception or start school before their parents wanted them to.
There needs to be a consistent approach across the country, and soon.
For further information regarding the admission of summer-born children, please see the Summer Born Campaign website and join its Facebook group.
Rosie will be returning to the post on Wednesday 22nd May to answer some user questions
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Guest posts
Guest post: “A later start can be the best thing for many children.”
507 replies
MumsnetGuestPosts · 15/05/2019 15:52
OP posts:
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.