School full time at 4

@Sugargliderwombat Some authorities and schools are dead against delayed entries. It's improving over time but parents still face a fight in some areas. Sounds like your school and LA is one of those. If they're actively mis informing parents by saying that a child has to move back to their correct year then I guess less parents will fight the decision. And it will put a lot of parents off from applying for a delay in the first place.

But there's definitely no requirement for children to move back. And arguably once they've had their delayed entry it's very rarely (if ever) going to be in the child's best interests to move back into their original cohort and miss a year of school.

Luckily we (currently) live walking distance to about, 6? So, I’d hope so. We live public transport distance to many more so I’m sure there’d always be options. If all else fails we’ll just homeschool year 1, but would take a lot of schedule juggling with work/studies etc.

Overseas here - my kids started infant school at 3 and 2y 9mo (youngest in the year). One month part time and then full time the rest of the school year. They've been absolutely fine, even my more sensitive boy. I guess it's like preschool at first, very play-based, gradually winding up to more like reception in the year they turn 5, where they start reading and writing more.

I really think that if your child is happy and content at nursery now, OP, she'll be the same at school.

I had no idea! Unbelievably my school moved a child into their correct year group in year 3. I wonder why on earth this happened if it wasn't necessary. My council website all but says moving to the correct year group will happen at some point...how bizarre.

Will there be a space for them in Y1 @BeezHoney?

Ok, sorry, misunderstood your post, or got mixed up with another one. Been a long day.....

I didn’t say nursery was replacing reception. I said home learning was replacing it. And My child isn’t born in the summer. I want them to enjoy their childhood for an extra year, that’s all.

While most summer born 4 year olds are perfectly ready for school at 4, BUT many are not, for a variety of reasons, and as parents we have to be guided by our gut feel.

Ours was to delay our DD and in hindsight it was exactly the right thing to do, she is just coming to end of Reception.

Big difference. Reception teaches the buiilding blocks they will need for Year 1, Phonics and so on, and also carry out the EYFS Profiling. A nursery/preschool will not do the latter. The Department for Education have stated that nursery/preschool cannot be seen as a substitute for Reception Year.

You can make requests to schools for a delayed start into Reception.

I really would not skip reception year - a lot of the building blocks are taught in Reception, and your child would be entering Year 1 a 5 at a huge disadvantage. The Department for Education have stated that nursery is not a substitute for Reception.

The Facebook group "Flexible Admissions for Summer Born Children" may well be of help to you.

@Sugargliderwombat Strictly speaking they can suggest your child should return to their 'correct' co hort at any point in their school career.

However they have to demonstrate how it'll be in the child's best interests. Given they'll have formed friendship groups and they're suggesting forcing the child to miss a whole year of education it's clearly never going to be in the child's best interests to move back to their original cohort. Consider how hot they are on attendance - then consider just how much time they'd be 'missing' of their school career if they moved back into their original cohort.

I'm on a huge summer born deferral group and you don't hear about this actually happening. And if the school or LA tried to force it then there's a lot of support available online to ensure that it doesn't happen and the child's best interests are upheld.

You do have to reapply for the school place on the transition to secondary school though. But that's just a minor formality when the time comes.

Whereas I resented being too young to enjoy Freshers Week at uni as I was a very young looking 17 at the time!

"Defer" is where you start a child in the chronological school year, but later on, e.g. January or April. Deferring or attending part time is the absolute right of the parents - the school cannot stop that if that is the parents choice, no matter what they may tell you.

"Delayed entry" is starting Reception on reaching compulsory school age, which is at the start of September after a summer born child reaches 5. You do need to get agreements from your chosen schools for that though, as it's not a right.
More details in the Facebook group "Flexible Admissions for Summer born Children" where parents considering delaying their child will get all the information, and the RIGHT information they need.

As always with threads on this subject in this place, a lot of misinformation is bandied about (Child will have to miss a year, or must start in Y1, will lose Nursery finding, etc etc blah blah...).

Ask the head but legally he doesn't have to attend full time. If o wanted a day with my daughter when she was in reception I told the school and it was fine- I didn't need permission until the term after she turned 5 (eg when the early years funding stopped).

...and it's often the lack of maturity, especially emotionally, that can hold a child back from progressing at school. WE delayed our July-born DD and she started Reception seven weeks after her 5th birthday last Sept. She is bright, confident with spadeloads of sass... but she does not have the maturity to handle it all.

It was absolutely the right thing for her, had she gone in 2022, it would not have gone well. As it is, we have had emotional/maturity issues this year, and there may be some ADHD type of thing going on, but that will take a long time to sort out. I hate to think how Year 1 would have gone for her this year, had she been there.

Don't just think about academics when deciding if your child will be ready for school at 4 and a smidge.... emotional maturity plays a HUGE part, it really does.

My youngest daughter born in May, was part time for reception. She used to have Wednesdays off. This was due to health reasons

My youngest son who was born in June, was full time right from the start. He is the youngest of 4 so has always wanted to be with his siblings

Deferral is really common in Scotland for winter-born babies (which I guess is our equivalent of English summer babies. Latest figures show about 45% of January and February babies are deferred so they are 5.5 when they start v 4.5 (and we are doing that with DD, who is a Feb baby).

But England seems to have a very different philosophy about deferral generally, which I learned on a similar thread recently, and attitudes seem totally different, as deferral here is generally seen as a positive thing, not a 'holding your child back' thing.

My son is 31st august so born on the cut off day. He started school 2 days after he turned 4. He's now well over 6 foot and academically thriving. I'm glad I didn't hold him back but of course you worry it's only natural.

My son was born end of July. He was really ready for school at 4, and already spent three full days in daycare. Transition was easy and he loved it (reception is great - he didn't enjoy the years he had to actually do proper work)!
If she's bright and sociable she sounds ready to me.

Have you not heard of fake ID? 😆

Someone else said this and i asked them to post a link to the updated info? My council website still saying that when moving to secondary they have no obligation to keep them in the same year group? Or when moving schools.

DD1 will be 5 at the end of this month, so started school last year having turned 4 at the end of July. She found the first term hard at times in terms of stamina (she'd come home really tired), but coped socially and academically really well. Her stamina improved every term, and she's thrived this year. Being one of the youngest doesn't necessarily mean they'll struggle a lot.

DD is an August baby and just finishing Y3 now. She was at f/t nursery from 11 months so didn’t find it difficult at all, she has loved school.

DS was 4 in May and starts in September. He’s also been in f/t nursery since age 1 and I don’t think he’ll struggle with the long days. He is far less able to listen than dd is though so may find that aspect hard.

DS school has fluid indoor/outdoor early years classes to allow them free flow throughout the day which is great.

We could go back to the bad old days of a reception intake each term so the younger ones would be plunged into a class where ten would have been there since September an additional ten would have started in January having done well in a small class with the younger ones starting in late April having to break into established friendship groups and older children knowing the system. Then a few weeks later moving up to the formal setting of year 1.

Alternatively, as a summer birthday myself, imagine not being the last of your friends to be old enough to drive, drink, be allowed into venues etc. Imagine actually being 18 upon finishing a-levels and being able to celebrate in the same way as the majority of your friends and classmates.

There’s pros and cons.