Unfair to defer summer borns

Older doesn’t always mean bigger. I’m in scotland so rules are different. my January born daughter could have started school in August at 4.5 years old. I didn’t want her to go to school that early. I wanted her to thrive not just survive. Best thing I could have done for her socially and academically. She is the oldest in her class but is actually the smallest by far.

No nursery at his school

The admissions authority makes the decision. Where I live the admissions authority is the local authority for most schools. They can consult the head teacher if they wish to but are not obliged to.

I went through the school system starting in 68

Born end of Aug 64

I spent one term - 12 weeks - in induction ( no nursery ) then the rest of the year in the next class up, then followed on till the end of Primary

I was 10 years and 3 weeks old when I went to a secondary of 2000 girls - I was the youngest. I was in a class with 11+ girls - and they started their 12th birthdays at the Christmas

Yes, looking back I was very disadvantaged . I didn't have a thing in common with anyone in my year, they were starting periods, looking at boys, reading Jackie , going to discos , whilst I was still going out to play in the street and still on a curfew of 8pm

Secondary was lonely . But I was ok with the school work, I kept up with classes and did ok

Little sister has a Christmas birthday and things had changed a lot , she stayed a year on in primary and went to secondary as one of the oldest and had a totally different childhood

It is the Headteacher ad the lead professional who has the biggest say in whether they accept the deferral or not, so it is absolutely to do with school.

IMO it should only be used as an absolute exception for children who are significantly unwell or have significant educational needs.

How new are these policies?

The last update was in November

The last update was in November 2024

Sorry, I should have said more. I was posting in case others reading the thread would benefit from that information. Would a school nursery have been able to accommodate him? Childcare for children with SEN / developmental delays (not saying this applies to your nephew but just a general comment) is a huge challenge.

@LovelysummerdaysYes good point, and I wonder if in those areas they are more likely to have composite classes too so the age ranges are more fluid anyway. We have a couple of rural schools near us where there are only two or so classes encompassing the whole seven primary years, so you might have 4-8 year olds in one ‘class’ anyway.

But he wouldn't have been able to stay at nursery as too old

Um yes it is - depends on the secondary schools' admission policies - one of our local ones lets them into Year 7, another one says they have to go into their correct cohort so Year 8 if they have been deferred.

They can no longer do this since the law change.

Some schools will try, but the law is on the side of the pupil staying with the same cohort all the way through now.

How new are these policies?

You can defer because of SEN / developmental delay as well.

That’s really interesting. I’m in a high deferral area and it tallies with my anecdata. I did think also that a lot the high deferral areas have a low population density and I wonder if school transport plays a part. Having a lengthy commute by bus seems a bit more manageable when older.

Um yes it is - depends on the secondary schools' admission policies - one of our local ones lets them into Year 7, another one says they have to go into their correct cohort so Year 8 if they have been deferred.

I’m interested in how they have to compete with those children - do you mean by the time they come to graduate high school? Within kindergarten it would seem likely that the older children might need less support, benefitting the younger ones?

The cost issue isn’t a factor in the UK as I’ve said above as families continue to be able to use their 30 hours funding for the year they defer their child.

Out of interest per my last post I just looked it up and around 50% of children born in Jan and Feb (which I guess would be the July and August born kids in England as nearest equivalent) in Scotland are deferred entry to p1 (so go at 5.5 instead of 4.5), higher in affluent areas but still pretty prevalent in deprived areas too. That tallies with anecdotal evidence - we are in a fairly affluent area, certainly not a deprived one, and I would say well above 50% for deferral rate. I’m not sure I would say pretentious, I don’t think affluent and pretentious are synonyms in any way, but there is clearly something about better-off areas and families that promotes deferral, whether it be better access to research on the topic, more flexibility financially, more value placed on making the most of education when parents are themselves well educated or academic, etc.
I’m sure studies have been done on the topic. But even in the most deprived areas, more than a quarter of our ‘summer born’ (Jan/Feb) kids are deferred.

‘Figure 5 shows that the estimated rate of deferred entry to primary school increases as the area deprivation of a pupil's home postcode decreases for those born in January and February. 35% of pupils born in January and February living in SIMDquintile 1 (the 20% most deprived areas of Scotland) deferred entry to primary school, compared with 55% of those living in SIMD qunitile 5 (the 20% least deprived areas).

For pupils born in January and February, by far the highest deferral rates were found in Shetland Islands (89%), and Orkney Islands (86%). Perth and Kinross (70%), Angus (64%), and Highland (64%) also have relatively high rates of deferral for this age group in 2018. The lowest rates of deferral for pupils born in January and February were found in Clackmannanshire (23%), North Ayrshire (25%), and East Ayrshire (27%).’

I don’t think you’re being entirely unreasonable, and I say that as someone who deferred all three of my children. We’re American so no reception etc, but they all went to kindergarten age six when they could have gone at 5. (I have one July born and two May.)

Here in the states we see a lot of inequality along income lines; many parents with lower incomes cannot afford another year or preschool or childcare and send their children as soon as they can. Statistically they’re more often behind academically already, and now they have to compete with children up to a year and half older than they are.

I don’t know what the solution is, but I know it’s all only likely to get worse here since our department of education and social programs aimed at helping children from lower income families are being gutted by President Voldemort.

I agree with you OP. We're in Scotland, where you can automatically defer your child if they are in the second half of the age cohort.it means that rather than a 12 month spread of ages, classes are likely to have more like and 18-month spread, which is a huge range - to be comparing a 4.5yo with a child who is turning 6.

It also has a knock -on effect on nurseries where a pre-school room is potentially accommodating children from 3yo to nearly 6. And where children needing a nursery place for longer increases pressure for already limited places.

Ireland has this lee way too and my local authority in England approves deferrals automatically for summer born children. I really had no idea other parents would be upset about me taking this option as I just saw it as a choice we could all make.

My daughter is August 28th, she starts school in September - no additional needs or SEN but I just think she seems so bloody young. She won’t be 4 until a week before she starts school. I also have 2 other summer born children (June & July) they started as normal to, but they didn’t seem as young as she does. Maybe it’s because she’s my youngest. I am a little concerned, but also realise someone has to be the youngest and she may well catch up. I fear I would be fighting a battle if I tried to defer her and I’m not sure she’d thank me in the future either.

My Sept born nephew started school unable to speak in full sentences. He was 2 days off 5 . He probably could've done with deferring but not allowed.

No I get that, but to say that being the youngest doesn't matter just isn't correct, it does matter even in teenage years.

I don’t disagree, I have seen the evidence. But many people can’t get past the idea of competition, so I’m just pointing out that one key part of the decision is making sure a child is ready for the situation we are putting them in.

Okay yes there are stats on this for sport alright but just in terms of school, which is the main focus of this thread I think? The issue of being “summer born” and any disadvantage comes about by starting school at just turned 4 which is too young for some children.