Need advice with daughters admission

[rabzz]

Hello my daughter will turn 4 years old on 20 august and will therefore be 4 yrs and 10 days old when starting reception. However the problem we face now is that recently ahe had a bad attack of pneumonia alongwith lung collapse and was hospitalized for 10 days. Talks of intubation were going on but thankfully it didnt come to that. She is very susceptible to catching cold and flue even now. Since dec ( thats when she had pneumonia) she has already had another cold and is not up to her normal self. We are now wondering if we should use the provision for admission deferance for summer born children and let her continue ar her preschool for the next year. Has anyone had similar experiences and can you please let me know how you coped with them. Sorry for thw long post. I will be grateful for yoir advice in the matter :)

[RedOrange21]

My son is also an August baby so I was worried about him being the youngest and struggling to keep up both socially and academically. However to date he has been absolutely fine and on track even though some of his classmates are almost a yes older. In terms of illnesses, he has had a few winter coughs and colds but I wouldn't say they were any more prevalent than in a pre-school/nursery environment. If you are worried that she will have missed out by missing pre school then I wouldn't be as it's not a requirement to attend one and they seem to have to re-teach some things anyway so everyone is learning the same method.

Hope that may have helped a bit.

[beautifulgirls]

I can understand your worry but I don' think school is more likely for coughs and colds etc than a preschool. My DD3 was seriously ill in PICU as a toddler on a ventilator and life support. She is 7 now but the first sign of any illness and she's watched like a hawk. It is so hard not to be reactionary when she's got a cold because of what we went through before but she does fine. She doesn't suffer from any more illness than the average 7 year old. It is not unusual they take a while to get back to normal after a severe illness but by September she is much more likely to be back to normal. I would consider what you would have done if she hadn't been ill and work to that plan for now. If things don't go so well over spring and summer with her seek further medical advice about the safest options and then look into a deferred entry if necessary.

[SliceOfLime]

We deferred our daughter (early August birthday) as she wasn't emotionally or socially ready for school. It was definitely the right thing for her. Some Local Authorities are more accepting of it than others - search Facebook for the group "flexible school admissions for summer born children" or google Summer Born Campaign and there's loads of info and advice on how to go about it.

[prh47bridge]

There is no guarantee that the LA or school will allow you to defer for a full year. However you can defer until next Easter if you wish. That is entirely your choice.

[HandsomeBoys]

We have a July born dc. With some issues he had with language and social concerns I was very worried about him starting reception. I actually did keep him out of school until March following the September intake.

He has caught up wonderfully. He is now in year one. In every way possible he has improved. He has a fantastic circle of friends. His confidence is growing all the time. He's at the expected levels. We didn't do any alphabet/numbers/writing with him before he started school and he is absolutely flying at school now.

He is now in year 1 so he's been at school for nearly a year. I can, hand on heart, say that I regret not starting him in September. I completely underestimated him.

Thankfully he loves school and he's eager to learn so he's at all the expected levels.

I would send her in September. You can speak to the staff about how ill she has been. It's six months away yet and that's plenty of time for recovery.

[isthishouseamidden]

www.facebook.com/groups/121613774658942/?ref=bookmarks

Just another recommendation to check out the Facebook group. Flexible admission for summer borns. Lots of lovely clued up people there to advise you.

We've applied for DD to wait until compulsory school age to start reception - she's also an end of August 2013. Just waiting to hear if our request is accepted. Fingers crossed.

[luciole15]

Look into deferring and make your decision, if it is an option, when you know if you can do it. I would say do it if you can. I wish my start in reception had been deferred, and I regret not doing it for my 4 year od.

[m0therofdragons]

I was very worried about my dtds as they were prem and changed their school year by being born 30th August.
Infection wise there's no higher risk in reception than nursery- if anything dc will be better at using tissues etc (a bit). Also you can get the flu vaccine asap in the autumn. Dd3 has just had her first sickness from school since starting in September 2015!
My late August born prem dtds are now both in year 1 and doing year 2 level maths and meeting expectations for literacy. I'm so glad I didn't keep them back but only you can make that call. I would plan to start in September but make a final decision in a few months.

[HarrassedMumof3]

I third the Facebook group for summer borns. I've applied for my August 2013 born daughter to start in 2018 and we're waiting for a decision any time now. She's too young, in my opinion.

[rabzz]

Thankyou very much for all the wonderful advice. I am looking at the facebook page as well. Hopefully we will be able to reach the right decision for her :)