When did your April born DC start school?

[SidneyP]

There is another thread on here about OP wanting a mid year born DC.

My DS was born at the end of April and I'm now starting to wonder when he will start school. I can't work it out. will he be at a disadvantage to those who were born later in the year or will it work out more advantageous?

Mine were born in April & May, I was born in April. I don't think that's all that bad. I really felt for a couple of children who turned 4 the day before they were due to start school. Both struggled immensely for several years.

My May born DC went to school with the rest of his cohort in the September after he turned 4. Not noticeably disadvantaged as he was ready for new experiences and relatively able academically.

My eldest is a late April baby. Didn't even consider for her to defer a year. She's in year 3 and towards to top of her class in reading, writing and maths. It might help that most of her class are spring and summer born with few sept-dec born children

He'll start school at 4.
My daughter was born in May and half her friends were born before but quite a few are Spring babies. No disadvantage or advantage. My son was born late July but he was big for his age and really ready for school even though one of the youngest in his year. I was a full year to 20 months younger than my classmates (spring born but skipped a year when moving countries - which was odd as my two years older sister was not and ended up just one year above) and it wasn't a disadvantage for me either.

Your child should start school the September after the April when he turns 4. However, it is possible to delay your child’s entry for a year (with the agreement of the LA/school) if your child is born after April 1st, so that might be an option for you if you felt your son wasn’t ready. We did that and our DC1 entered school a year later than his peers, it was absolutely the right decision for him. As well as being a summer born, he also has SEN so definitely wasn’t ready for school.

The september after turning four

Why would you defer? I get the consideration for summer babies (I won’t defer my August baby) but April isn’t particularly school year young!
You child will start school the September after they turn 4

Thanks everyone. I was a late May baby and I do feel that I struggled a lot academically.

Has anybody else deferred for a year and it worked out better for their DC?

Confused.

Last day of August, I could understand the question?

My end of May baby started in September with everyone else and it made no difference to him.

I'm early April and started just after my birthday (1970s) and still to this day, I felt like everyone knew each other and knew the class routine, which made me feel like an 'outsider'.

Mind you, the teacher was a horrible woman so that probably didn't help.

I agree that April isn’t particularly late in the school year unless there are other circumstances to take into account.

Early may, they had two intakes. So mine started the Jan after the September

Only problem with a summer baby, if they are fairly confident and meeting all their milestones etc is that the funding kicks in for them so much later. So a child born April 2 won't get 3 year funding until the September, 5 months after their birthday. Some summer born children struggle at school, some don't. Some Sept/Oct babies are bored of preschool in the last year and more than ready for school so get frustrated.

DD is April born, she started the September after she turned 5. She’s been fine at school, just tired the first term. She’s in year 2 now, no noticeable struggles academically. I’d honestly only consider holding back a year for August born or additional needs.

DD1 is April born and started the September after her 3rd birthday.

Sorry, should add that was the nursery attached to the school! She started reception the same time as everyone else in her class.

@02AngusDuck out of interest, what year did your DC go into? I wished I had kept my Dc2 back for a year. He was late April and has some sensory issues and he found foundation too much. He did better in year one. Have a dc3 and he's 21months now and wonder if he's the same, can I keep him home a year and then put him straight in year one? He's a may baby.

If you search OP there are some other threads where people discuss how deferring worked out for their children. I found them useful when we were deciding. There’s also a FB group called Flexible School Admissions that have some very useful information.

Every child is an individual and develops at a different rate. What’s right for one definitely won’t be right for another, if you’re prepared with plenty of information you’ll be able to assess what’s right for your child. I was April born and even now remember being desperate to start school and absolutely loving it, but as I said before, it would have been disastrous for our DC1 to start school at 4 years old. Having an extra year was a complete game changer for him. Our local LA and school were very supportive and recognised the benefits too, which helped.

@Chiosahoy Our DC went into Reception, some schools are reluctant to do that and want them to go straight into Year 1. We felt that Reception was important for our DC as a gentler transition, but your DC might cope well.

Started school in the January when she was coming up to 5. However she had attended an excellent 9-3 Nursery for 2 years beforehand.

Swings and roundabouts...daughter a September baby and was ready for school long before she started.Son a July baby and was definitely not disadvantaged apart from not starting until the January which meant he missed all the Christmas/Nativity fun !! Also it meant the class were split between September intake and January intake which took a good year for the friendships to sort themselves out !

My early June DC was more than ready to start school in the September after she was 4. I never really considered deferring her entry. It depends on the child though, really.

My dh is a may birthday and went to school in the September after he turned 4. My friend has a july birthday girl and she went to school in the September after turning 4. No problems for either of them. I think it's just individual. My brother is a January birthday and struggled socially with school when he started. He was ok ish academically

Where I am most children go to the local nursery school at 3. My April born DS started full time in the October after he turned 3, was a little later than expected but there was a bumper amount of kids all starting around the same time that year.

My Daughter is April and I think she would already be ready for nursery school. Unfortunately she won’t be able to attend until the September after when she will be 3.5