Should we defer our DD one year since she is not native English speaker?

[Twins78]

Hello,
We are an overseas family just moved to London and have a DD who is end of August born. I will enroll her to an independent school for Year 1. However, she should be Year 2 as per curriculum. Headmistress says she will be better of in Year 1 due to her English and her age, but I am thinking secondary schools already. Some selective schools do not admit kids out of their year groups.
I believe she should be in Year 1, but she might miss some school options for secondary just because she was deferred.
Any thoughts?

Well they'll get an extra years worth of fees from you and that's the only benefit I can see here

Putting her down a year may have implications later.

How old will she be on 1 September this year?

Age 5, ad she should be Y1. Age 6, and she should be year 2.

I'd ring your likely prefered secondary, and see if there is someone there who would advise about out of year placements. But, for Agust birthdays, there is now a right to defer school entry for summer born kids (and your daughter meets this criteria), so secondaries are likely to need to adapt in the following years as these greater number of deferred kids make their way through the school.

In all honesty at that age, I think she will pick up English very quickly, especially as your English seems pretty fluent from your message. If you decide to stay in the chronological year group, I think she will catch up pretty quickly.

I wouldn’t hold her back, at that age she will catch up and pick up English quickly.

It would extremely unusual to get permission to do this in the state sector - English As Additional Language on its own is not seen as a special educational need which would require a child being educated out of year group. There would need to be something else going on too, eg dyslexia. This makes me suspicious that the private school are doing this to either make their lives easier (in terms of having to put effort into teaching your child) or to make more money.

This shouldn’t be an unusual situation for a Private school.
They should have a plan on how to support your child to catch up in the appropriate year rather than take the potentially easier route of putting her back a year

Even if she has no English now, I can guarantee she'd be pretty fluent by the end of the first term. Kids pick up new languages so easily, especially when they're immersed all day.
I speak from experience.

It's an option in most areas now for summer term born babies to be put in the year below so shouldn't cause an issue further down the line in most cases. If in independent school either + or - one year is not uncommon die to different schooling systems. Australian's for example are often put in the year below. I would do what's right for now.

I'm surprised other posters are so in favour of putting her in her year group. Is she small for her age, confident, ahead with recognising words or reading.
Some in her class will be a year almost older.
If she is confident and won't feel pressured by others mostly behing ahead of her I'd send her but being the slowest/last in everything due to age is something that could have longer effects imv.

• due not die

My DS is 9 and a native english speaker but living abroad. I wish I’d put him in a year group down, he never catches up. He obviously speaks the language fluently for socialising and general school life, but he fails every year because he just doesn’t have the nuances and means of self expression that his peers do. His fluency is the equivalent of a native 7 year old they explained.

I was a child moved to foreign country with no English, as well as my sister. We were put in the right year group. We caught up pretty soon.
I wouldn't worry too much about not being a native speaker, kids learn quickly.

In the state sector deferring for a year would be possible and secondary schools wouldn't be an issue. There is a Facebook page about this which has a useful advice. In the private sector it might be more complicated as each school will have its own policy. I agree she will pick up English fairly quickly but those with EAL often struggle with having the breadth of language that kids who hear English at home. Might depend on how competitive the secondary school you plan to go for is.

I'm not surprised at the lack of knowledge about delaying school start for an August born unfortunately.

I would hold her back a year. She's August born, doesn't speak the language and the Headteacher is recommending it.

In terms of secondary school, I agree with a PP about speaking to secondary head teachers so you know what their stance might be. But delaying is so common now that it's highly unlikely to be a problem.

There's an excellent Facebook group - flexible school admissions for summerborns. They won't be able to advise on private schools but you might find other parents that are going down that route and could discuss with them. Good luck xx

I think it entirely comes down to secondary schools. If you’ve done your research and she’ll be able to stay in year then go for it. If she’ll end up having to skip a year later on I’d go straight for Y2. If her Maths is okay they’ll just need to give her extra support with her reading (which you can help with at home) and the rest should come fairly naturally. I taught a child who joined towards the end of Year 1 with no English at all but by Year 2 was doing well in all subjects, had plenty of friends etc.

Do what's best for her now, not in 5 years time. If she's got time to grasp the basics now, she's likely to do better at 11, then 16 and 18.

A good private school would facilitate her developing language skills but keep her in her peer group. What other support are they offering? You are correct that it may present issues with selective schools later. Can she read and write to any extent in either language? Have you tried any holiday activities to promote her English?

I'd enrol her to her age year. She'll easily catch up.

I had many migrant pupils (arrived in my class with no English) who did exactly that, incredibly fast. It's astonishing what little sponges children are.

I would put her in the year she should be on based on her age, not language level. There's lots you can do to help her improve her English and other subjects, but being 'kept back' a year may have more negative implications that aren't as easy to over come. I went to school with a boy who was kept back to due being in hospital for most of 1 school year, and unfortunately he was bullied by the other boys and excluded by many of them as he wasn't their age. I'm not saying this will happen, but the social implications would be, for me, something to be aware of more than the educational.