Unfair to defer summer borns

I wish that the terminology used wasn't so emotive. Children shouldn't be described as being 'disadvantaged' or 'punished' just because they are born on the 1st of April.
Likewise a child born on the 1st of September isn't automatically 'advantaged' just because of their date of birth.
There's a heck of a lot more at play than the date they made their way into the world.

I think the deferring options has mainly been used by middle class parents so their child has the advantage of being the oldest . However it should really only be used for children that are already at a significant disadvantage so that they don’t have the further disadvantage of being the youngest. Hopefully universities will start to consider age at which exams are taken.

To be honest OP everyone has the choice to defer/ delay start. If you feel strongly about you DC being the youngest then maybe you could consider it. ? The playground incident could happen anywhere as children of all ages are in the playground. I think it is a great idea for a very young child who is not ready for school but I do ageee it is being used by parents wanting there child to be the best in class.

It seems strange for April born kids to defer. I think that might be excessive unless there are special needs. However, I’m in favour of July/August kids having the option.

DS1 was born end of August. I deferred him for a term, which was all you could do back then. He still wasn’t quite ready. He was teased for still liking Thomas the Tank Engine. Throughout the whole of primary school and most of secondary school he felt socially behind his peers - puberty, interest in girls, alcohol etc. Academically he was fine, but his confidence was low, due to always being the youngest. He couldn’t even go clubbing with his friends after the A level results because he was still only 17. If I’d been able to defer him I would have, and I think he would have been happier as a result.

That’s an interesting tension, because aren’t we in a ‘meritocratic’ society which does have a strong competition for very limited resources and future jobs?

They introduced deferring a couple of years after my youngest started school. At that time if you deferred your child’s place they had to join in year 1 so lost a whole year of schooling.

I think, if anything, the deferred kids are going to be behind in their mental growth.

I think your argument kind of falls down because children vary so much anyway! Like seriously my child is genetically big (father is 6F 3") he is now 11 in year 7 and is 5F 5". He is taller than me (at 5F2") and taller than some of the year 10s.

He started reception (not deferred) aged exactly 4.5 more or less (his bd is March 1st, so 6 months and 1 day after August 31st). He was the same size as a lot of the year 1s and some of the shorter year 2s. Later the school closures from covid messed-up year 2, and in the summer he went for a visit to his new class and was taken by a new teacher to a year 5 visit and promptly brought back when someone who knew him mentioned he was going into year 3!

I don't necessarily support deferring children, but your argument that it disadvantages a smaller child by making there be bigger children in the class is silly.

I don't see the issue it was your choice not to defer.

In Scotland its very common and not seen as such a big thing (about 60% if Jan/Feb - the equivalent of July and Aug children) and it's been extended so funding is automatic to Sept-Dec children.
The majority of teachers will tell you deferral is best.

My Jan born DS1 was deferred and its done him the world of good already let alone when he reaches exam years. We will be deferring DS2 as well.

I can only go by my son’s school, they refused to allow him to go into reception if deferred. So it must be up to the schools discretion

It's no longer so, the law was clarified recently meaning that if they accept a deferral they are accepting into reception the following year

YABU

You have the same exact opportunity to defer your child. But it is your choice not to.

You can't then complain that other people take that opportunity.

Wanting to delay school entry isn’t about making a fuss — it’s about using data and child development principles to correct a clear disadvantage faced by children born at the end of the academic year.

The entire school system is long overdue for an overhaul. Starting formal education at age 4 should be the first thing on the agenda. The current cut-off date of 31st August has nothing to do with what’s best for children — it’s a relic of the harvest calendar, not pedagogy.

Other parts of the UK and much of Europe start school later, and their outcomes speak for themselves. Just because “it’s always been this way” doesn’t mean it’s right — or that it should continue.

I agree. We are in a grammar area. Many April, May, June borns are deferring as they will be a year older for grammar test and it’s not adjusted to take account.

My boy is April. He should would be in the youngest half of the year but not summer born. I wasn’t going to defer but because everyone is and he will be youngest of classes a year and a half older now I am feeling am I letting him down by not deferring?!

It’s ridiculous honestly.

“One size doesn’t fit all.”

I wish that those who are against deferral shared the same view as you.

I fully agree with the OP. Deferring should be reserved to extreme cases, summer born with for example development delay following an early birth or significant delays supported by HV letter maybe.
Someone has to be the youngest, birth date is a fair criteria, parental input is not.

You also are making a decision at 3 when you apply for school. I can fully understand the thought process why take the chance when the policy is there. The only disadvantage to deferring I can see is financial, another year of nursery fees. Hence why wealthy more likely to defer.
It’s the difference between being just about fine/managing/they’ll catch up and wanting dc to thrive.
l’m on a parents uni facebook and there’s lots of angst re young in year ones eg Kid who has worked in a care home and been able to get work experience as 18 in September yr13 is more likely to get offer on certain competitive medical/health courses - lots of places won’t have under 18s for insurance reasons. Gap year for young in year seems popular.

I deferred partly because everyone else seems to and in the next class up he’d have been really young and various kids over a year older. Generally I think we begin formal education a bit young so an extra year in nursery is often a good thing.

My child is one of the eldest (maybe IS the eldest), I'm not entirely sure. I can guarantee we haven't ever come across a disadvantage in being among the eldest in the class. Take this worry out of your head. DC is due to start secondary soon.

I am summer born June - I wished they deferred my school start - I struggled in school and could never catch up - never went to university - it was all too much for me!

And how does that work if both parents are working?

In Scotland school age runs from 1st March to end of February.

So kids are aged 4.5 to 5.5 when starting school in August.

Even then anyone with a child who will still be 4 when starting school can defer until the following year and a great many do.

We Scots are all very relaxed about it and always view the English system as 😳

Although my son’s school was happy for him to be deferred, in Year 1 they kept putting pressure on me and my DH to move him back up a year to where he “should be”.

They basically wanted him to jump from Year 1 to Year 3 and miss out Year 2. I think they wanted it because my son was academically able and so would have been to skip a year from that respect, but for us his deferral was never about academic worries, it was all about his emotional and social level of development.

And just as sport has been mentioned earlier, with regards to his football team we were told he can choose whether he wants to play with his peers, I.e the year group he’s currently in, or whether he wants to play with the year group above, I.e the cohort he “should” be in. The sports league said that parents of deferred children are always given the option to choose which age group they want to play with.

I'd have deferred your child. What is the rush to send her off to school? She has years ahead of her to study and 'do well academically'.

I'm in favour of deferring.

I agree OP. I think it’s fine to defer kids if they aren’t ready to start reception but they should give them an at home programme to catch up and then go into the year they’re supposed to be in still. So: if you want to defer your August 2025 baby to not start reception, they follow a settling programme - then join year 1 in September 2026.

UNLESS - there is some other reason like the poster whose child has selective mutism or kids being born premature etc. They are treated as exceptions and can start reception.

It might also put people off doing it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Some children at 4 years and a few days are ready for school- my DD would have been, although she's a Feb birthday.

My SD is an October birthday and was only just ready for school at 4 years and 11 months. There's no way she'd have coped if she'd been an August birthday.

There are some children in DD's class who are taller than most of the Y1s and some who are smaller than most of preschool, even though there were no deferrals in her year, and a whole range of academic ability.

You cannot judge based on age whether a child has the maturity for school; they are all different, hence why parents get to make the decision to wait a bit longer if their child is younger in the year.

If your child is being injured by another child, it's irrelevant how old he is, that needs to be dealt with.

School isn't the Hunger Games, it shouldn't be a case of the biggest being a threat to the smallest.

@ifyoudont

I completely agree with you. Schools need to address the environment/support they give before starting to apply ‘boxes’ of what they deem normal, and try to shift round children who don’t quite fit their adult-defined box.
I think a child who has been taken out of year will ask why as they get older, think there is something ‘wrong’ with them, wonder why they have a different birthday and may have trouble getting back ‘in year’.

Particularly young children who just may need a bit more time.