To think DD should get place at nursery over children deferring reception?

A. We can’t afford to defer and pay nursery fees double as we have another child and our mortgage is coming out of its fix.

B. I wouldn’t anyway. He’s supposed to be middle of his year and learning age appropriate stuff. I don’t believe he would be disadvantaged. The only reason he would be is because of people deferring perfectly average children making him the youngest of a peer group spreading 1.5 years. It’s these parents disadvantaging him. Not me because I am doing what we are supposed to be doing by sending him to school in a normal year band.

Some children are just not ready to start school when they have just turned 4, some are.

Its really quite silly. The curriculum in reception continues the same EYFS as in preschools. Its really not the huge change people make it out to be. I say that as a parent of a prem baby who snuck into a late august birthday of the year above and wasn't deferred.

Our preschool stopped guaranteeing spaces for third years because they were losing money over it. You can't get people to take up a space for the first if you can't guarantee they'll have space to stay for a second year, it was losing them business.

Of course it does. Older children always have an advantage, especially in the early years. But if everyone with a summer born child deferred them, the children born in spring would then be the ones at a disadvantage. Where does it stop?

In France children are required to start school the September of the calendar year they turn 3 (meaning some of them are still 2). No one cares whether the child is ready or not.

Some children are just not ready to start school when they have just turned 4, some are.
I don't see why it should bother you if someone decides to defer entry because they don't think their summer born child is ready for school. And I don't think it has anything to do with giving them an advantage over other children .

It sounds as though the nursery just assumed the children would be leaving not that the parent changed their minds. It also doesn't sound as though you had a firm offer from the nursery for a full time place just a message to say it should be no problem .
Its annoying for you but don't see any reason why why you should be given priority over other children. Hopefully a full time place will still become available for you.

@Nchangeoif it’s pissing you off why don’t you give your son the same advantage and defer him?

@whatcanthematterbe81
Your opinion is based on circumstantial evidence regarding your own child. Please point me in the direction of the research that shows that there is no advantage to deferring a summer born . As I said I am very researched in the topic and there are many studies which say the exact opposite of what you’re saying. We based our decision to defer on this fact. There are literally no documented disadvantages to deferring.

That is great that they have confirmed your DCs place.

If the nursery confirmed the place for your DC then you should get the place.

Someone has to be the youngest, but the disadvantage is lessened if the youngest has a bit more time under their belt, i.e. a youngest who is 5 will be less disadvantaged than a youngest who is 4.5.

We have deferred our son, who is january born (in Scotland) and might therefore have been a full 11 months younger than the older kids (more if those older kids were also deferrals from the previous year). He'll now be a little over 5.5 when he starts school and therefore one of the oldest in the class. If other parents make the same choice as us then the youngest in the class is likely to be nearer 5 than 4.5, and thus there shouldn't be such a stark difference.

I agree with you. You requested it first. Why should others leapfrog over you in the queue because they've changed their mind at the last minute? Tell them you are still taking the place they offered you in March and confirmed in May.

Completely agree. People round near me are doing it and I do like these people but with a small May born boy it’s pissing me off. As it’s skewing the year group by a year and a half as opposed a year.

This - you should have written if you wanted a written response. You phoned, they assumed there would be plenty of reception leavers, and then they presumably got written requests and fulfilled those.

If you're altering a contract, ALWAYS put it in writing.

@Firefliesaremagicwow so defensive. As you have your experience of your child not being ready to start, I have my own which is the exact opposite. I guess some are more ready than others no matter the age, and that’s ok if your child needed an extra year. Some of ours didn’t

No parents are deferring because they have educated themselves on the topic and made an informed opinion on the massive amount of evidences which shows that summer born children are at a disadvantage. Why would you not do the best by your child if you’re able to financially afford another year of nursery fees?

That should come before people who haven't enquired about a full time place til now, whether they're deferred or not

I'd focus on the fact that they verbally confirmed that a full time place was agreed, and you've arranged your work around it. They have already made an offer and you'd already accepted.

Agree - this whole deferring thing is going insane.

Parents are deferring as its easier, especially if there is another sibling at nursery. It's more logistics than anything else as well as the explosion of kids with additional needs that get deferred. I wonder if a lot more kids get deferredsince the introduction of 30 hours. We used to breath a sigh of relief when childcare fees ended.

Could you point me to the research that shows there is no advantage? I reached the topic extensively before deciding to defer our DC and there is significant evidence to show that summer born children are at a disadvantage not just at school but throughout their lives. They are more likely to go to prison, more likely to have mental health issues, the list goes on.
We could find no reasons not to defer DC and it has turned out to be the best decision we ever made. They are thriving at school.
It really winds me up every time this topic comes up on Mumsnet. So much misinformation and uninformed opinions. It is very easy to defer and they will not go into Y1, just start reception a year later.
In regards to the OP this has nothing to do with deferral. The nursery should never have offered you a space and then gone back on it. However it surprises me that the kids who are deferring affect your DC place. Surely babies and pre schoolers are in completely different rooms and require a different ratio. I think they have made a mistake and are bullshitting you

Im surprised than several parents are doing this because deferring costs the parent an extra year of nursery fees. That’s serious money.

Good luck!

There’s no advantage tho. Unless your kid is really behind in speech and/or struggle to learn basic ABC there’s barely any difference between that 12 months and school is when you start to improve. If anything it’s a disadvantage. They might be better (than themselves a year prior, not better than others) in their year but they’ll be still in nursery with the babies!

Both me and my son are young ones and have done great. I’m no genius but def better than average in school. They’ll be gutted if their kid is a bit of a dim wit anyway and still bottom of the class. Cringe. Also, fuck paying an extra years childcare cost on the off chance your kid might not be bottom of the class just because they’re older.