Delaying reception start by 1 year - Any advice?

[shithebed]

My daughter is due to start reception this September. She is an August born child and I have just made the online application with the local authority to register her for reception.

However, while she is a very bright child I have second thoughts. I do not think she is ready for school yet. She is basically a baby compared to her peers.

The difference between her and someone who is 11 months older than her is huge. She currently goes to a nursery attached to a school and hates going "to school", she begs me every morning to let her stay at home, etc.

I believe the nursery teachers are doing their best but she might feel out of place because she's so much younger than everyone else.

I'm getting very stressed about her starting school with the wrong mind set, if she is not ready she will hate it, will not be able to integrate well and will feel inappropriate.

I don't want her to feel she is not good enough (because she doesn't match her peers developmentally).

Is it too late to try to delay it by 1 year? I don't mean a term, I mean a September 2020 start. And what do I have to do, where do I start?

I think speaking to the Head would be best, they can tell you exactly what to do.

There's a girl in my GD's Nursery class, who has repeated a year. I don't think she, or the other children think anything of it, I know none of the Parents do.

There's a lot more pushed onto them, now. They are so little.

My DS was 4 and a week with hearing difficulties when he started school, he struggled at first not emotionally, just to keep up academically, the school was brilliant and I wouldn't change it..
He is now in year 5 and is doing just fine.

I would let her stay in nursery.
There's no rush and she will then be the top of the next cohort.

The only thing I'd say is reception is a much gentler introduction to school compared to Year 1.

Reception is very play based and (in my school at least) teachers and TAs help with coats and buttons and stuff. Year 1 is very different. Tables for sitting at virtually all day, the kids know they do literacy every day except Thursday and numeracy every day except Tuesday, they have assessments and a lot of the phonics they learn are based on the phonics they (very gently) started learning in reception. Even things like lunch time and assembly time-reception is a much gentler introduction to both.

I hear you, but do speak to th head teacher/EYFS coordinator. I know kids that are still only doing half days, being slowly built upon to full days because they are struggling with the adjustment. This may be a good alternative for you?

My dd was late July.

Youngest and smallest in her class. She was actually fine and became very far ahead the other academically.

What I would suggest is the you check the secondary school they will go to, if you are going to defer starting.

In our area some of the secondary won't take children who have suffered when they have completed year 6. They move them when they have completed year 5.

Dds secondary is one of them. So you could find your child being moved without their friends.

I don't see the issue in deferring or not deferring. Good luck in making the decision, it's not easy.

She won't be smaller than all her peers, in a class of 30, you're likely to have plenty of other summer borns. Ds2 was due on August and then born prematurely in July, he was by far the smallest and quite 'young' in reception but did fine with full days from the start, and in year 2 is now doing extremely well and performing above expectations across the board. If your DD is bright, there's also a good chance she'll be bored with another year in nursery - Ds2 never liked his, but much preferred reception with a bit more structure, learning lots etc.

A lot of schools and even local authorities are not aware of the updated legisltion. You’ll be given all sorts of incorrect advice just asking here unfortunately!

Join the flexible school admissions for summerborns group on Facebook and ask there for advice on your area and read all the info in the files. They will help you so much!

Where do you live? Some areas will accept any request and some will really make you fight for it. But do it! It’s your right to start reception at 5.

I wouldn’t want my child going straight into year one (which year would she be going into? Reception a year late or year one?). Year 1 would be a shock, they do maths and times tables, it’s less ‘fun’. Reception is more gentle and play based.

I have an August baby and he’s in reception, he’s doing really well.

Have you spoken to the nursery about your concerns? Are you sure you aren’t projecting your concerns in to your child?

DC will start in reception at compulsory school age and not miss reception.

Not all schools make them miss receptoon. They just start reception a year later

Hey - not too late but very tight for time.

If you want to read 29 pages of "my child was fine" vs "mine isn't" along with lots of misinformatio try this thread ...www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3473165-Summer-born-babies-am-I-wrong

If you want more info and find out what your options actually are have a look for Flexible Admissions for Summerborns on Facebook and you can get advice there.

Essentially you have a matter of months to ask.to delay til 2020 via letter with details as to why and supporting evidence, research then often, meeting with heads of your preferred schools.

You may get very quick agreement and be fine the experts in the FB group can offer lots of help and advice. You don't need to withdraw your application for this September either so you would still have a place if you changed your mind or wanted to send her part time next year.

Good luck !

I'm on a schools admissions committee but all local authorities handle this differently so please call them next week and ask what the procedure is.

Your choices are

1. delay start of reception by deferring entry. this is at the LA and school's discretion and in our area is extremely difficult to organise. We've had parents bring in teams of lawyers and still not managed to get agreement to defer entry. Other LAs agree without requiring much evidence. Its important that you know what your LA will do.

2. start school a year late and go into year 1. There's no guarantee that your preferred school with have a space in year one. they are not obliged to hold one for you. Your child will be behind their cohort unless you have done the reading/writing/phonics at nursery or home.

Latest research says that there is no benefit to delaying entry. Summer born children are disadvantaged even if you delay them.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-44155068

Talk to your preferred schools about how they support summer born children before making a decision. I have 2 summer born, one has started and one due to start. both are in their normal cohort and I wouldn't consider delaying them unless they had additional needs (which neither appear to)

That research only looks at phonics results. It doesn’t consider emotional and social readiness which is one of the main reasons people seek CSA reception start. I mean if you actually read past the headline the DfE itself says ‘A DfE spokeswoman said "the phonics check measures a specific skill and doesn't tell us anything about a child's development more widely".

So it’s pretty meaningless research in my opinion. No one does this so their kids get better phonics test results.

@rnbrie what did the DfE say at the end of that article???

@Angela712 the end of the article says

"We know the Reception year is an important part of school life and we want to make sure no child misses that year of their education because they have summer birthdays."

I'm being facetious as I do know what you meant to refer to which is the previous paragraph about the phonics check.

In my area it's almost impossible to delay start into reception a year late and the DfE state no child should miss reception. so for my children, in my area, I will not choose to delay their start straight into year one. Which is why I advised the op to speak to her LA.

Please don't worry my eldest couldn't even string a sentence together when he started nursery and when he started reception he was far behind his peers but now he's in year 3 and thriving. He's a June baby.

@rnbrie - ha! Yes, the end of the article not just the final par!!

Can i ask which general area you are? It is s postcode lottery sadly. Where i am the LA agrees if the head does. Oddly all the academies agreed and the community school hasn't (yet!!)

Held my grandson back a year.... beginning of June baby
Never looked back
Wished I’d done same with my son... beginning August baby... what a fuck up that was

I would think carefully. If she is bright she may be bored. Dd is end of June and most of her friends are, she is physically small but middle to top range in class, socially this is the right age group for her. Still socialising with 3 year olds at nursery would be difficult for her based on when she plays with cousins etc. I don’t like the idea of keeping kids back for the sake of it. It just widens the gap for the younger ones in their correct year, someone has to be the youngest and someone has to be the oldest.

Someone will he younger of course when that youngest child is barely 4 years old according to lots and lots of research they may struggle and never catch up.

If school starting age this country was more sensible then the difference but be vastly reduced so it wouldn’t matter! But as it stands it is 4 so people who disagree with such young starting age can request CSA reception start.

Starting at 4 is madness anyway as compulsory school age is 5! Stupid system.

It may be different now but when my DD was at primary there was a girl with difficulties held back. When my DD went from year 5 to 6, this girl was made to go from 4 to 6, to fall in line for secondary. I thought it bordered on abuse.

My DDs had lots of friends who were young for their year and did really well.

@Angela712 in greater London. Head accepts LA recommendation and LA have so far fought battles with three legal teams and won them all for deferred reception start at our school, no idea about other schools. We've had one deferred entry approved for a child with SEN.

@RNBrie the recent LGO decisions may impact that but some LAs do reject most applications while others accept 100 per cent. If a school refuses all requests there are legal grounds to claim they have a blanket policy which would be a stucky wicket!

If she can delay a year and go into reception then, id absolutely do it. We deferred ds (Scotland) and have never regretted it.

If she would go into year 1 it needs a lot more thought.

I teach reception and a number of times I have had August born children who are amongst the highest achieving both socially and academically.
I really depends on your child. If she is bright she should catch up academically but my worry would be that she might miss out of the skills of finding her own way to the toilets, coping in the dinner hall, being with bigger children on the playground.