Children start school at 5, oh no they don't

So I would hold him back a whole year. How I regret not doing this with my son. The reception teacher put him in the remedial group for reading. She didn't call it this (it was the 'top up' group) but that's what it was. I was astonished by the immediate pressure to grasp phonics and acquire writing skills in reception year. By 9 yo he had a reading age of 13 yrs but the damage to his self esteem was done in that first year. The teacher was not personable or particularly sensitive to the children who just wanted to play and we were perhaps unlucky in that respect but there were definitely curriculum pressures that were completely inappropriate at that age, IMO.

I agree ,my 3 children were all 5 years and over .
My oldest child was actually 5 years and 4 months old because of a spring birthday.
Nursery wasn’t free , so I used playgroups and paid for this , so only a couple of mornings a week .
Then at age 4 they went to a pre school connected to the school itself which was very limited hours and days .
So I mostly had my children at home with me .
It was hard work ( no willing grandparents or relatives to give us a break ) but parenting can be very tiring .
Despite this my children’s teachers said “ oh you’ve done an amazing job teaching them to read “
Me “ ooh really I just read to them a lot and ran my finger along the words as I said them , I’d no idea 😂”

My August born 4 year old is the second youngest in his year but he absolutely loves school and is thriving. There are a few of the other little ones (4 &5) that aren’t as enthusiastic and they currently do half days - I think until end of Sept.

Even though they are not officially in school in nursery, my ds school puts the nursery (3 years) and reception kids (4 years) in the same class, they are on the same curriculum, it's a school environment and they are expected to wear uniform.
My comment was stating the benefits of this, as it was an easier introduction into the school environment.
When he entered reception it was an exact repeat of nursery year tasks etc, even nursery did sports day.
So yes some schools do treat nursery like getting them ready for reception.. they also join the same kids from nursery when they go up.
Appreciate some people don't see it the same way but ime school nursery was practice school in my case.

Reception operates on a completely different curriculum.

Look up the EYFS curriculum (play based, nursery and Reception) and the National Curriculum (much more formal, Y1 onwards.)

Learning absolutely starts before Y1, but learning in Reception is much more child-led and less target driven. I'm not sure what people mean when they say "can" and "can't" read because ability to read is something you develop over your entire education and life, but generally in Reception you learn to be able to decode most words by practising phonics and some common exception words. Very few children start Y1 considered to be literate by adult standards but not many can't read anything at all. After all, they are practising at school and at home every day, they have to pick something up surely.

Yes I was thinking that. Quite a few posters have said their DC started school just after they turned 3 etc. This is confusing the issue as that’s not school, it’s nursery.

My 3 did full days in a private nursery setting from 7, 9 and 14 months respectively but I didn’t call it school….

Children have legally to be in school the term after which/ in which they make up five. If a 4yo goes into proper early years provision they couldn't be in a better place. Choose your school on the basis of proper provision and expectations. If he's been in nursery for so long can't see that he will have any problems. Dare I suggest the problem is yours? Take no notice of what you hear go with your gut feeling.

Mine were both summer kids so 5 at the ending reception, but reception really was like nursery with some reading and writing thrown in… I would have preferred to let them start later but they had very close neighbourhood and nursery friends they wanted to stay with.
now they’re teens, none of it matters. All kids reach the same point by the time they’re 10/11 developmentally unless they have SEN and my 2 are strivers - had to to keep up with the ‘big’ kids.

There are differences, though: there’s far less time outdoors when you move into p1, activities are more structured, and story books are introduced. It’s not seamless.

If your kid is still drinking out of a baby bottle at almost 4, that ins entirely on you!

Cut off dates are different here 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
They need to be 5 already or be turning 5 by the February.
So my summer born was easy , turned 5 then started .
the other 2 are Spring birthdays so were still in a nursery school setting when aged 5 ..had to wait till the August to start ( this made it very difficult for me to be working as the nursery was only 9ish in the morning till 11.45 am ) they were in another nursery school before that at age 3 , they got 2 mornings a week 9-12

Where are these schools where learning only starts in year 1

Has there been some huge shift in the national curriculum because dc who are now early 20s went to school and it was pretty much full on from day 1

Year 1 when neither could read I was being asked what happens if they can’t read going into year 2 (dd just made it but DS didn’t) Tge teachers were at a loss in what to do with those dc who couldn’t read at the start of year 2
We changed schools in year 3 only to be met with an even more draconian regime and at the end of year 3 myself and all the other parents who had children who still couldn’t read were told that our children were so far behind and would never have the ability to catch up as they were children who would need life long care and were recommended that we should apply to the “special school” as this Ofsted “outstanding” school couldn’t teach them

Not saying there were complaints made to Ofsted but there was a surprise inspection a few weeks into the September term. All teachers and staff walked out and the school was put into special measures. I think it was the HT who decided there was no place for SEN’s pupils in his school and got rid of all SEN help. He didn’t believe in dyslexia, autism, or ADHD so in his mind it didn’t exist and if a child couldn’t do something because of a disability then they shouldn’t be in mainstream schools

There is usually no difference between a nursery and a state school’s Reception Year, except for larger class sizes. Year 1 is when the actual learning starts.

Northern Ireland here. All children start year 1 the September after their 4th birthday with a cut off point of 30th June. We don't have reception.

Don't panic reception year is really heavily play based and the learning they do is paced for the children being a wide range of abilities. They'll spend time learning numbers and phonics but playing and crafting a lot and they'll love it. Stop worrying before you get there!

I was July born and many moons ago I started school a term later than others. Now at the age of 58 the main thing I still remember from reception class was trying to fit in when everyone else all had established friendship groups. My own July born child did fine starting school at 4yrs and 2 months old.

If you have any doubts about sending him at 4 wait until he is 5. I wish someone had encouraged us to do this.

This! We don’t have to wrap them in cotton wool.

My son started half days at age 3 in nursery, I was glad he did as when he began reception he had made friends and was well adjusted.
He is very shy, I think if I'd thrown him in the deep end age 5 he would have found it much harder.

Yes, children start school aged 4 in England. September borns turn 5 very quickly but summer borns do all of reception whilst 4.
Reception uses the same curriculum as preschool and involves a lot of play.
I would be extremely surprised if there were not open events for local primary schools. Every school has them near me. You get to walk round and see the school and ask questions.
If you think your child has SEN then I would speak to your nursery about this.
Where I live you can defer a child’s start but then they typically go straight into year 1 which can cause a lot of issues. It sounds like your child is used to long hours at nursery so may cope better than you expect.

My daughter started in the September and she just turned 4 in the July before. Reception class is all play based. My daughter when she went into year 1 missed reception as she loved playing. She was quiet and wasn't ready for learning in reception and I did worry for a slight moment. She's done great now and is off to Oxford university in a few weeks.
Don't worry. Kids grasp things when they are ready and pushing it from yourself and comparing them to other children is a recipe for disaster. Don't stress and focus on your child.

All the children in my daughter’s class started at 4. Maybe there weren’t any who were slow to develop in the local area.