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...

@FourPlasticRingsi will do. Having had two children enter school already (although they were November and March born) I can’t imagine having a child start reception just a week after their 4th birthday.

Gosh after reading this poor August born DS would be written off for life by some 😳

But he won't be, he will do his thing, he's very sporty and active, very popular, there's always a circle of children around him, and yeah ok he's no picasso or Shakespeare, he's ok at maths though. He will be what he is. He has great speach/vocabulary, speaks two languages fluently and is a natural born story teller and embelisher of events lies 😂

He has ADHD and suspected low level Autism. So is a tight jack in the box, I don't fret about it, this tiny little human being will grow up to be a man, a man that will make his own life choices, I'm just here to help him best I can and be as supportive as I can.

What will be will be 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is exactly why we planned to have our children born in September (didn't go 100% to plan of course, but glad they're in the top half at least)

There is statistically a gap which reduces over time. Other factors are far more important (maternal education, ethnicity/ culture, class, SENs).

I have had difficult secondary classes where I looked at the class list and there were 2/3s born in the last 1/3 of the school year, but it was a pattern I noticed in areas with statistically poorer outcomes anyway. If the child started off being relatively delayed in social skills, they didn't have the practical support to encourage the gap to close. It was a pattern I noticed more in predominantly white, working class areas with a history of traditional industries that required little education, and the parents weren't very skilled or supportive to their children's education. That is statistically a far greater hinderence than the difference from the month of birth.

My DD is mid August and always the youngest in her class. She’s in the top sets and always has been. Maybe she’s a freak of nature but she has never fallen behind and she’s also one of the tallest in her class so nobody would ever know she’s the youngest.

I'm struggling to see what professional footballers have to do with this . Football contracts aren't aligned to school years in any way So footballers don't turn professional in September, or sign new contracts in September.

My DD is an end July birthday and I can remember being told at parents evening that she was behind. I pointed out to them that she was nearly a year younger than the rest of her class and had two less terms of school than them. She easily caught up and ended up with 4 A levels. Where they are at 5 or 6 doesn’t matter.

My DD was a late may baby (now a late may adult). By the time she started secondary school, she was ahead and in top set of all classes. She later went on to get a 1st in her degree course. I'm not stealth boasting (well maybe a bit), just saying that to compare children at a young age proves nothing. Some younger ones will catch-up and some older ones will fall behind, all children are as different as all adults.

Yes, the difference can be huge in early years. But it gets less as they get older and there are loads of other factors equally important.

DD1 is August born and was just a dot when she started school. She is bright and excelled at reading from around age 7 but her writing and spelling are still terrible be at 10 (going to secondary in Sept).

But she is dyslexic and dyspraxic which has had much more impact on her education than the month she was born in.

There is a split in her class with lots of summer born children and lots of autumn born children with not much in between.

There is so much fuss over this, and or really isn't borne out massively by research. Yes, the oldest children in the year have some sporting advantage, but so do those with older brothers, for example, but we don't have a massive demand for those without brothers to have extra support.

This focus on deferring summer borns is just going to entrench privilege, as overwhelmingly middle class and/or aspirational parents defer summer borns, ending up with a year group that has an 18 month age gap between the child who is not only oldest but who has parents who are focussed on academic achievement, socially confident enough to appeal to the school, and can afford an extra year of childcare/ a SAHP Vs an August born child whose parents are less aware of or able to manage the deferral process and will end up far behind.

3 of my 4 are summer born, all are now at school and doing fine, one July baby has been far ahead of expectations since year 1, another is a June baby who is very academic (and my other June baby is bang on average and very happy).

I think it was American college football, in Malcolm Gladwells book, which is v competitive- from primary the best players form competitive teams so those chosen for the year team are the usually the biggest which are most likely to be the eldest. They get training to improve their skills. Once they have better skills the majority get chosen for the year teams , the young ones have missed their chance, they may have grown to match in size but they didn't iget the early training so in the end the state teams have largely autumn born players.

They will all balance out in the end, it's fine.

My sister and I were born the end of August (twins). Never had any problems settling into school. When we graduated secondary school, she was 2nd in our year, I was 11th. This is out of 100 kids

DS is a July baby and his nursery have said not to hold him back as hes a quick learner and will get bored if he does another year with them.

DS1 is a late August baby. For the whole of primary school I was told "dont worry. He'll catch up. They always do".
At secondary they assessed him for everything and anything. Apparently he is 'borderline' for a diagnosis of processing disorder and ASD (whatever borderline is). In year 9 he was awarded the use of a laptop in class and exams as well as extra time.
At the start of year 11 school agreed to let him drop back to repeat year 10.

However. Do not worry. Hes an anomaly I'm sure. I am an even later August born
I could read by 3.5. Was writing by 4. Left school with some of the highest grades in my year group.

Most children will catch up.

They catch up. They will reach their own potential.

And I bet within class there will be a winter born also struggling more. As well as summer born more "advanced" . Dont compare.
There is cut off for school years by birth date.
Inevitable to have up to 12 month ahead gap.

Dd summer born gcses all 7 8 9

One of ours is summer born. He’s well ahead the rest in reading but behind in every other aspect of learning.

My dc1 is a May baby and was really slow starting. Infact they had to stand him up in afternoons to keep him awake 🙈
He’s now in year 6 and a high achiever, so I think they catch up when they’re ready :)

My DS1 struggled through KS1. It was not until end KS2 that he started catching up. Terrible SATS. He now doing A levels and got mostly A's in his GCSE's. He has had to battle against those SAT results though and grading as a result of them. He exceeded every expectation of his teachers.

My baby is due in August so very interested in this thread

YANBU though I have no data other than anecdotal data to back that! Every summer born baby I know has been a low achiever at secondary school and GCSEs. It might just be a coincidence but it’s something I have noticed!

My son was born on the middle of August and yes looking back he seemed very young to be in school. However he already had a brother in Year 1 so for some reason that made me feel better.
Both he and his elder brother who was born in January achieved 1st Class degrees from uni last year.

But Every summer born baby I know has been a HIGH achiever at secondary school and GCSEs

Depends who you know !

Also as aside my eldest went to Steiner where they don’t really do any ‘academic’ stuff until 7. When she joined mainstream at 6 she couldn’t even properly write her own name. I thought she would never catch up but in 6 weeks she did. Easily. She is a June baby btw. Now she has just sat and passed her eleven plus with flying colours. I don’t think it makes a huge difference myself.

@Embracelife precisely

I think it is important to remember that all the work should not be expected to be done by the teacher, support them in their learning at home, make it fun things.
I was a teacher myself and did not push either of my 2 when they were little, although we did masses of fun activities together. Having spent so many years in the classroom myself I wanted them to enjoy the early years and not be constantly pressurising them at home as I knew what lay ahead.
As I have said both have done very well academically.

@CoachBombay You may find this interesting. Increased diagnosis of ADHD in summer born kids.