Delaying school entry by a year for Summer born child

[Tartan333]

Has anyone done the above? My dc was born in late July and is due to start full time education in September 2020.
My dh and I feel that this will be too early for him and we are thinking about delaying school start until September 2021 and he could go to pre school part time until then.
There are options of either starting a year later and going into Foundation or straight into Year 1.

What are people's experiences or opinions of the above?

I’m delaying my July born, I’m planning on nursery until ‘official’ school year and then school nursery before starting school the following year. I have agreed this with the school (it’s independent), but if your child will be attending state school then I’m pretty sure you need to get permission. From what I’ve read on Mumsnet different local authorities have different rules.

I would never recommend a child missing their Reception year, but am very supportive of summer-born children delaying their start to school if it is beneficial. (I work in Early Years)

Speak to the school you are most likely to get a place at and ask for their opinion. Remember though, you have a 'right to request' a late start, but it depends on the school and Local Authority whether permission will be given.

Is your ds in the nursery/pre school at the school you want him to attend?

I did. Ds went into reception at age 5.3 months and has gone through the year groups. He is now in year 2. Our local authority will want him to skip year 6 when the time comes so that he starts secondary with the year group that he would have been with had he started reception at 4.3 months. We will see ...

I should have said that in the year that he turned 5, he still went to pre school and did home learning.

I would check to see if he needs to skip a year later on, it's usually year 6 so going into year 7 straight from year 5 or skipping year 7 going straight from year 6 into year 8. Years 6 and 7 are both important years in their own way, year 6 is SATS year they also cover lots of curriculum needed before year 7. Year 7 is the year they do lots of assessmentshigh form their settings and of course settle into year grouPS, form friendships, join clubs and get to know staff etc before year 8 becomes more intense academically speaking. I would much rather a child started reception young and and be with teachers who are more than used to dealing with the age difference at this age than to throw them into the deep end missing either year 6 or 7 which will have a more lasting negative impact.

You need to ask for the year group change to be "for the life of his education". This is what happens in the Local Authority where I work, so students are not forced to miss a year later on.

Little fish even then Iwould be wary. I asked for this with my eldest who has some special needs, she was still placed on her correct year group later in her education.

I gave done this with my daughter, she's currently repeating nursery and will start reception in 2020 aged 4y and 5 days. It really has been the making of her. Things she struggled with in nursery last year she is now doing really well at. She has gone from being one of the less able children to one of the more able. She just 'gets' everything a bit more easier and her progress since September is amazing. From our experience I would wholeheartedly recommend.

She will also stay in this year group for the whole of her school life. Join the Facebook group, 'Flexible school admissions for summer borns' for some really helpful advice.

Sorry, I meant 5y and 5 days!

If you do decide to do this, as previous posters have said, ensure that it will be for the rest of their time in school and agreed by the LEA. I requested this for my DD (August prem birth) and was told yes, not a problem by the school. Was all set to go ahead until the nursery teacher commented that she was surprised I was going ahead with the arrangement and happy to skip year 6. Nobody had mentioned this, nor that it was informal arrangement the school were happy to arrange. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact I would be paying the school for extended nursery hours for another year. 🤔

We did. Our daughter is August birthday and in year 1 now, doing great no regrets. We applied to local authority and sc hool. She wont have to skip a year.

Is this worrying about late summer born dc something that’s always happened? Both DH and I are late summer born and it was not a thing back then as far as I’m aware.

DS went in to school at Easter time, we had a choice though our authority has one intake in September only now so he was just over four and it was fine.

Why do you think he isn’t ready?

You shouldn't have to skip a year. Later there is a really good summer born admissions Facebook group worth a look

Just be aware that if you are applying to an academy or free school at secondry level they are not required to accept students out their original year group , some might some refuse.

It’s worth considering OP.

What are your LA rules?

The only suggestions I would consider are firstly, your child may be ready by the time Sept 2020 comes round, it’s a little early to determine now of course.

If you want your child to skip reception and go into yr1, your child will be going in as a “new” person and his peers would have had time to form friendships etc. How do you feel about that? It may be fine if your child makes friends easily.

I was born in August, always one of the youngest members of the year group. I think it is a disadvantage personally, but school don’t always seem to accept this in my experience.

It’s not an easy decision to make to be honest. You know your child best and I wish you well with making the decision.

It may be worth speaking to the prospective school about their approach to younger children in the year group. At dd school, Yr children who are challenged by the class room setting will spend sessions in the nursery class, and sitting at tables is gradually introduced by the end of the year. Working at tables and moving away from play based work happens in the first two terms of Y1. The 2 children I can think of who are August born are no less able or well supported than those born in September.