Summer born children seem really behind?

[Shouldnthavedoneitthen]

So everyone in DS’s class now has their work online for all parents to see so I’ve had a look (yes maybe I shouldn’t have but It’s a boring life at the moment)

I’m shocked to find that all of the kids doing really well are the ones who had birthdays in September/October time and the least well are those yet to turn 6. (Year 1)

Of course this makes perfect sense, the older kids have had nearly an extra year of life to learn things than the youngest but it is plainly obvious... maybe ds’s class is an anomaly but is this the case in most schools? Do the younger ones ever catch up? How is this fair on them?

I feel sad, DS is a late August birthday. I knew his writing and reading needed improvement but the difference is shocking...

They generally are caught up by ks2. We refer to them as summer born and most schools highlight them as a vulnerable group that's looked at when assessment is done and data produced each term. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I’ve heard it’s normal and is supposed to balance out eventually

I hope it does as DS will be just 4 years when he starts school. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect what was a 3 yr old 2 weeks before to be at the same level as a child that’s already 5

Yes normal, age is taken into account when doing assessments etc usually catch up in ks2 but first few years can be tough. We deferred our summer born.

My ds is a late August baby. He couldn't even hold a pencil when he started school. He's now in Y6 and is doing absolutely fine: loves maths and science, has a passion for Roman history (!) and is a voracious reader. I did worry to begin with, but by Y2 there was no difference between him and the older children. Honestly, your ds will be fine.

Fear not DS is a summer born age 5 year 1 not deferred.

It's very clear that whilst I was pushing DS out in August his peers were weaned, sitting up, possibly pulling themselves up/walking and about to turn 1.

It's glaringly obvious he's so far behind bless him, but it evens out. Don't panic!

My August born year 1 he’s ahead in reading and maths but his writing is shockingly bad. I assume he would always have been a bit rubbish at hand writing as there are kids in reception who are better. I wonder if he just isn’t physically developed enough. My point is if you just looked at his work you would assume he’s behind but he’s isn’t.

Statistically summer born children do worse throughout school. Most professional footballers are autumn born for instance.

My eldest dd is summer born with a july birthday.

I was so worried with her starting reception. She looked so tiny compared to some of the others and she was very behind with her work in reception and year 1. However she caught up during the first few months of year 2 and now going into year 4 in September you wouldn't be able to tell she was one of the youngest.

I does all even out in the end. Honestly please don't worry.

DD2 is May and she's reading books that a classmate has given us because they're too easy for him the difference looks huge at this age because the a year is 20% of their lives, of course it's huge. But it does all balance out.

DT’s - July born. No problems at school. Both got all A’s at GCSE and A level. All children are different regardless of when they were born.

Depends on the kid, I'm an August birthday, didn't do me any harm. I could read and write before I started school at 4. My dd1 could read and write at 3, all kids learn at a different pace, my other dd was 7 before she got to the same level.

Statistically summer born children continue to do worse on average. DC1 is a summer born preemie and still way behind in Yr 4.

But it’s important to remember that that’s on average. There’s plenty of other factors that influence how well a child does, and there’s plenty of summer born children who do perform very well at school when they’re older.

Yes it's common and yes they do catch up.

Dc3 is late August born and behind in Reception, below national average in Y2 SATS and above national average in y6 SATS.

Dc1 is early summer birthday and behind in Reception, national average in y2, above national average in y6 and has A star, A star and B at A-level.

DD is late Aug baby. Now 11 and in yr 7. Started at a grammar school, on the gifted/talented register, fab at maths.
She's short and is the smallest in the school, she looks young and on occasion can act younger than her peers.
Most kids will catch up by secondary.

People freak out about summer born dc, both myself and DH are summer born, he was born right at the end of summer. He has a PhD form Cambridge I attended just a red brick as he likes to joke. I could read really very well before I went to school and he took his A levels when he was 16.

I was a whole school year behind for my age after coming back to the uk after a period abroad and my school having no place for me in the correct year. I hadn't been at school abroad so went into year 1 age 4 and my birthday is late November so I was miles younger than the rest. Seems mad thinking about it now.

I'm a doctor now so it didn't hold me back academically. I was poor at sports and had poor concentration when very little though. Once I hit secondary school there really was no difference and thankfully I grew early so wasn't noticeably smaller than everyone else. I really wouldn't worry OP but I do get where you're coming from.

How can you see other childrens work?
How do you know how old other children are?

Is this in the UK? I can't imagine their data protection policy allows for this.

My DD1 was an August baby and left handed! The poor child could write anything on the whiteboards because her own hand would just rub it off again.
She is now just finishing yr6 and too of the class. As Pp Said by the time they reach ks2 the gap is not significant. In fact she got excerpting in her ks1 sats.

Everybody is in an English classroom is usually born within a 12 month period .

I assume that the parents have submitted the work for the teacher to show if necessary. I've seen schools (including secondary) show photos of the children's learning.

Statistically summer born babies do less well and boys do worse than girls. There will always be exceptions.

It will equal out also when it comes to certain exams they get an advantage because of their age ie. 11 plus.

All children are different regardless of when they were born.

This. My two are summer born (late June DD and late July DS) and they're either easily meeting or exceeding expectations at school (Y2 and Y1).

When a child is born is just one piece of the complex childhood puzzle.

I've got a summer born boy. He's just about keeping up but I'm not worried at all. I am a secondary teacher and some of the kids (boys and girls) that have been high achievers at A-level and gone onto excellent unis have been July and August birthdays. No one talks about it at secondary. I think as long as the child is average or above in terms of ability, they will catch up and be totally fine within a couple of years.

My best friend was the youngest in her year. She’s got 2 undergrad degrees (both firsts) and a masters from Oxford. Summer born babies can thrive, I wouldn’t worry about it.

DD is May born and year 1, has quite a few classmates born before Christmas but she’s actually quite far ahead of them all. She’s working at about one year ahead in both maths and English and before lockdown she was the only one in the class expected to get full marks in the phonics screening. Emotionally she’s obviously younger sometimes but even that gap seems to be closing.