Delaying school start for summer born child

[Piper22]

Hi,

Has anyone ever/ or is anyone considering delaying the school start date for their summer born child?

If you have done this, would you mind telling me about your experience? Do you regret it, or would you do it again?

Thank you

@bigbluebus but maybe she struggled just because she wasn't academic and Same could of happened
Also how recently have studies been done and is it the same in private schools ?

I have two summer born (July) children. Delayed one who has SEN and was best thing ever from an emotional perspective.
Didn't delay the other who is thriving

Surely it's absolutely obvious that younger children will not perform as well academically as older children at a population level.
I'm not sure there really needs to be a study for that.
But, somebody will always be the youngest. Somebody will always be the oldest. Everybody else inbetween.
Short of having one birthday per teacher, there's really not much that can be done.
Except from NIMBYING of course.

@worriedatthistime, from what I know private schools show a lot of leeway with school age range.
Grand son could have delayed at EH, but their 3 form entry is set by age for the first few years, so everyone in his class of 20 is born May-Aug

@fallfallfall see thats not the case at my friends kids private school all started together and she has an august born
Just be interesting to see if they show the same results with summer babies

@ChairCareOh oh do you have links to other studies in other countries ?

For the poster who asked about grammar/secondary school - there's another Facebook group for parents of delayed kids as they move up to secondary.

In the guidance it states that you have to contact the school/admissions authority to request delayed entry to year 7. They have to prove that it would be in a child's interest to skip a year (back into their "normal" cohort) - this would be very difficult to do if the child has always been educated out of cohort. I contacted the local high school and they said they'd have no problem with keeping in the adopted cohort.

Grammar schools are a bit more resistant- many in the Facebook group are challenging them so there might be a definitive way forward in a few years.

Personally we felt that it was better for our dc to be in the right year group for him, as early as possible, rather than him floundering in the year above with the potential for him to find school a difficult experience (that would definitely have happened). We'll work out the rest as we move forwards.

@ChairCareOh you keep stating this but haven't attached any links
Of all the summer children I know they have done same or better than older peers , some of the older ones have also not done great but its down to many many factors

My son is an August 23rd birthday and I didn't defer. This was heavily influenced by the fact I am an August 30th birthday! I never struggled at school, but I appreciate everyone is different.

Personally, I would have been self conscious in my school years if everyone knew I "should" have been in the year above.

@ChairCareOh its not very recent though is it and do we only measure success by school
And grades , I mean if a child leaves at gcse level with 5x a and another with 5 x c but then by alevel where you yoursef say not so noticeable and they both come out with 2x A , but then you ged one goes on to uni or a great job , the other has a older baby and doesn't work, by a study the younger one is less successful but in real life
I think each child should be judged whats right for them rather than a blanket statement

How does it affect school applications? Seems a bit unfair someone might miss out on a catchment area school place as the spaces have been taken up with children who deferred from the year before.

My DD was born end of August, youngest in the year. She was interested in learning numbers, letters and what words said before she started school, and was actually bored the first few weeks. One thing she did struggle with was the playground - she didn't like lots of active children and some being mean. Overall, it was the right thing FOR HER to start school when she did.

She's now 20 and I'd say the most confident of the class (I still know a lot of Mums). She's the only one of her class on a year abroad with uni, absolutely loving it, very confident now and strives for the best in life in terms of academic and social terms. There are times over the years I've felt it's obviously she's the youngest in the year, but she's always been well liked.

I think you have to determine what's right for your DC rather than your own worries.

My DS has a very late August birthday, he could read before he started school so academically was always fine. He has a masters now.
I’d concentrate on making sure your DC has skills such as making sure they can dress independently.

It really depends on the child. I have two August born boys and their development curve has been completely different. DS1 is now in a super selective state grammar - top ten state school in the country. In many subjects he’s in the top ten per cent of the year (the school actually tell us this). His day nursery struggled to support him so we put him in a private school at three. I recognise that he is exceptional - well I do now - I had nothing to compare him with as a toddler! DS2 was fine in pre school but he struggled with Reception when he started more formal learning. He had extra support since year 1 and still has this in year 4. However, he has developed massively in the last couple of years and is now ahead of age related expectation in maths. It’s writing and spelling that he’s still having help with but he has improved a lot. I wouldn’t have held him back at his current school (they have the capacity to provide the support he needs) but had he gone to a state school I think it would have been the best thing for him from an academic point of view to be held back. The only thing is that he’s huge…taller than all the other boys in the year despite being the youngest. He would have looked ridiculous in the year below and because he is very sensitive I think it would have made him very self conscious. It’s not an easy decision but, as with everything with children, one size does not fit all!

You know your own child. I wouldn’t have thought twice about my daughter as she is pretty articulate for her age and was desperate to go to school a year before she was actually due to. She was so ready to start learning.

@JS87

How does it affect school applications? Seems a bit unfair someone might miss out on a catchment area school place as the spaces have been taken up with children who deferred from the year before.

But then the year above that would have more spaces that those children would otherwise have had. They don't get two school places, they get one and they apply for their place at compulsory school age in the same way as everyone else, there's no saving spaces for a year.

I have a summer born DD That advice I got was it was aimed really at boys who are more disadvantaged. I didn't delay and she's fine. In fact getting on really well.