To be shocked deferring by a year has become this common?

Are you familiar with families with two working parents, or indeed working single parents?

Oh dear oh dear. So glad you’ve spent so much time on this. I’m not going to do the same. It would be a complete waste of my time. You haven’t used any logical arguments. It would be easy to pick apart almost every single line here. But, as I say, it would be a waste of my time. You clearly feel bad. Why not deal with that.

It was explained to the parent back when he was due to start in reception. We showed them the LEA guidelines which explained that moving from KS2 to KS3 could mean the child being put back into the “correct” cohort.

I wonder if there would be grounds on which to get a judicial review on that? It would make for an interesting case.

Love a good bunfight at the intersection between class and education.

If I was feeling provocative I might suggest that dyslexia is another middle-class myth, but that would be derailing 😁

There is never an easy answer for children at both ends of the school year. Years ago my August born friend had one year less at primary than others and was still a little behind academically than the autumn children when starting secondary. The autumn children were always the brightest as they had more time at school.
My September born DC was bored at home at rising 5 and could only go full time several weeks after his 5th birthday. He went to a large school with a mixed age intake of July to September children. He was upset when most of his friends went to a new school a year before him. He was then put in a mixed class of 2 year groups with children 2 years younger than him.

On the contrary:

1. Parents claiming universal credit will have 85% of their childcare paid for the additional year and will still get 30hrs of free childcare until the child goes to school at 5.

2. Parents earning under £100k still get 30hrs free childcare and tax free childcare.

3. Parents earning over £100k will have to pay the cost of the additional year in full.

Deferring to 5 is a far more expensive choice the higher your income is, if you use childcare. It is far, far cheaper (even proportionate to income) for lower earners to do.

No school HAS to accept a child out of cohort.

They do in fact HAVE to. And there is a process in place to ensure that they do. Just because they say they don’t want to or that they won’t it doesn’t make it true or legal.

The don't have to start until the term after they turn 5 so you could mix a term of nursery and then a term or two in reception to then go up to Y1.

Most children aren't 'leaving their family' for the first time for school as it is. My children went to nursery (for longer days than they go to school). If I'd deferred DS1 he would have had another year at nursery, not another year at home with me, because I'm not at home - I have a job.

Yep, the sport I coach has two year age groups and all that counts is what age you were on 1st January. It's pretty sweet if your birthday is on 2nd of January and you get a whole year of competing against smaller kids, but then you get promoted to the next category and start getting thrashed again by the kids two years older than you.

I had a July baby and an August baby. The July baby wasn't ready for school so we home Ed for a few years. The August birthday child was ready and started at the right age.

We have had some from my nursery group start and a couple are managing fine but one could have done with staying with us another year.

Oddly with DD2, born in the middle of the year, most of her friends now as a teenager are a year+ older in the year above. I would never have said she was grown up for her age but it's maybe to do with having an older sibling.

Oh god. What illogical logic. Such a poor sensationalist extrapolation. Can you explain the “logical” steps for me again between 1) I don’t try to game the system to benefit myself at the expense of other people and 2) some children experience neglect and abuse (a criminal act) so I must do the same to my children?

Honestly, tell yourself whatever you like to make yourself feel better. That’s what cognitive dissonance does to you I guess.

Nope.

I applied your exact stated logic to other parenting scenarios.

You stated that parents should choose not to defer their children starting school (even though research shows clearly that starting school at 4 is not developmentally appropriate and therefore can be - and often is - damaging). You stated that they should choose not to avoid this negative impact on their child because other parents might not also use their option to avoid this for their own children.

Everyone also has the choice whether to scream at their children, whether to play with them, whether to read to them, whether to show them affection. I'm interested in whether you apply this same logic to all parenting choices open to all parents: that it would be "unfair" for you to do anything for your children that other people might choose not to do for theirs even though they can.

If you are logically consistent, then based on your argument presumably you never hug your children or spend time with them and play with them or read to them etc, because some other parents will choose not to do these beneficial things even though the option is open to them, because you would consider this "unfair".

Likewise presumably you do harmful things to your children on purpose to level the playing field? Some children are treated unkindly and shouted at constantly. Would it be fair if yours isn't? Surely that would give th an "unfair" advantage?

If not, then your original argument about deferring school until 5 being "unfair" and how your "conscience" and "values" wouldn't allow you to because other parents might not choose to make the same (entirely free and open to all) choice makes no sense at all because you are being logically inconsistent.

Parents on Universal Credit don't have the option to defer and receive another year's respite from searching for more hours.

So it's not them.

I started school at 7 (independent school in the UK) and can't believe people send their kids off at 3 years old sometimes! That's just so depressingly young for a tiny child to leave their family. 😞

That sounds very poor practice. Here, deferred children stay with their cohort throughout the school journey, which is surely just common sense? I don't think the parent is at fault for this one!

No school HAS to accept a child out of cohort.

Well, that is ridiculous.

What a ridiculous system. Here they just go to secondary after completing their 7 years at primary, whatever that age might be.

I would have definitely deferred my August born if it was a choice when he was in Reception. He left school with qualifications but he would have probably had an easier time academically in the year below. He is very sociable and in the early years his best mates were other summer borns which may or may not have been a coincidence but I think it’s normal to want your child to have every advantage available.
Obviously not all summer borns need deferral but it would have done my son no harm at all to start things like phonics (which he had no interest in ) a year later.

I think being summer born worked well for DD1 as she was so strong academically always- when they did national curriculum levels she was assessed at the level of being the average for two years ahead. It meant she was one of several kids, mostly 6 months+ older than her who were bright and it was just a normal thing.

I was September born and also very switched on academically - and tall for my age- felt like an outlier and I stuck out like a sort thumb until secondary school.

We discourage it, partly because it can cause problems further on. This year we have a boy in Y6 who is “out of cohort”. His birthday is in August, the mum was adamant he needed to defer so we agreed (after pointing out the risk of the following).
It is now time for current Y6s to be applying for secondary school. The school that mum really wants her son to go has said he can join NOW and go into Y7 (missing the rest of Y6) or hope there is a place in Y8 next September. They will not accept him out of cohort. No school HAS to accept a child out of cohort.

In Scotland, 55% of Jan/Feb babies are deferred to start at 5.5. It's as many as 98% in some (affluent) areas and as low as 37% in others, which tend to be more deprived areas. However, you get another year of funded childcare, which in Scotland is 30 hours for everyone, which does help.

My August born son deferred a year. There were 2 other boys across the 2 reception classes that also did. Of my NCT group of 8 (all with summerborns born close together), 2 of us made the decision to defer, 1 seriously considered it but didn't in the end. For us, it was completely logical - my son has always been very young for his age and was quite late with some milestones although no additional needs. We felt like it was giving him an extra year of childhood and didn't really see any argument for not doing it. The fact that we moved area not long before he could've started school at just 4 helped make the decision even easier - there was no worry that he was left behind while his nursery friends left for school but tbh the benefits would've outweighed that for us anyway.
Don't worry what anyone else has done - you know your child and have made your choices based on what's right for him just as other parents have for theirs 😀

It’s not that straightforward for sports. All the sports that my kids have been involved in are regulated by the relevant sporting body - the FA, England Netball etc

So a year 10 football tournament for example will be for all pupils aged 14 or younger on the 1st September of that academic year. An older child who has deferred a year at reception age would definitely not be permitted to play. They would play with the year above.

This is not just for elite sport but regular inter school or inter club sport competitions.