Part time reception year instead of deferring?

[summerbornschool]

Instead of deferring a whole year (SEN - ASD and also late August birthday) can a child just go part time ? Or have a day off a week?

Thankyou. Yes I think she needs some kind of nursery and as awful as it sounds I need a break as it’s just too hard

On offer day, you need to contact the school and ask to speak to/meet the headteacher.

Explain that you would like to defer and give details if your dd's additional needs.

The headteacher doesn't have to agree to the deferral, but given what you've said here, I think you stand an extremely good chance.

You will need to reapply for a school place between September and January just as you did last year. The place isn't automatically held for you.

I absolutely agree with others that you should look for a nursery place for your dd so she can start regular part-time attendance.

Is there an on-site nursery at the school? If so, I would recommend looking round there first.

But please also apply as soon as you possibly can for an EHCP. It may be that your dd would benefit from a special school place, depending on her level of need. Almost all special schools require an EHCP.

You’ve loads of time to sort this.

first, join the ‘flexible admissions for summer borns facebook group’.

second you need to check your local authorities summer born policy.

Usually it just involves writing to the schools and telling them your child is summer born so will be starting at compulsory school age and when she does will they put her in reception or straight to y1; and if y1 why is missing first year of education in her best interests? They then reply and say yay or nay.

You reject the place for this year. You then reapply for next year (to the schools that agreed they’d have her in reception at 5). Not sure if it’s different when ehcp involved - the Fb group can advise.

Then you need to find a nursery to take her; some will not understand the summer born thing so you just need to reassure they still receive the funding and she’s to be treated how they do a September born.

why would you send a non verbal, non potty trained child who has had a year less to develop when you don’t have to ? Please don’t let the minor admin required put you off.

it’s hard enough for kids without additional needs, but she’s clearly not ready. Give her a chance to socialise before thrusting her into the school environment at just 4.

Lots reject their place right up until term has started so you have time to sort it.

It doesn’t sound awful at all, of course you need a break! You don’t have to send her full time, just try a couple of days. See how things go.

On the school deferral - the exact process will be different according to your local area and what type of school it is (academy, etc). That’s why using the Facebook group is a good idea, the advice you get on here won’t be specific enough.

1. Defer
2. Apply for an EHCP now (apply directly to your local authority..yes you can , as a parent, do this and should) They take a lot of time to sort sadly and it will probably take the best part of a year if you are lucky. In all honesty, if your child is non verbal, in nappies with lots of sensory needs, communication needs and behaviour support needs, it is unlikely that a mainstream reception class is the place for her, and even more so as she hasn't been to nursery (completely understand why you haven't... it can be overwhelming for neurotypical children let alone those with additional needs).

She may be fine in mainstream ...for a while, but certainly 1:1 support will be needed and you will have to fight for that. More likely once assessments are done (assuming her needs don#'t dramatically reduce in the next year) if her needs are too great for mainstream reception and a special school place will be needed.

There are waiting lists for just about every special school in the country, unfortunately (I have worked in Special Ed for 20 years) BUT a nursery place in one would , by the sounds of things, be brilliant for your little girl.

In my class we have 8 children... rather than 30 in mainstream. 6 are non verbal , 5 in nappies, and we have one teacher and 3 TAs, which means the children get far more support, and we spend the first term or so just helping the children to settle and cope with being in school... some do part days or part weeks to help.
All the other stuff comes later, and we have OTs Speech Therapists etc as p[art of the curriculum.
I'm saying this just so you know that special school is a wonderful option if you can get a place, but at every step of your little girls education you WILL have to fight , so start now :)

My summer born 4 year old has been part time since sep he is going full time after easter to get him used to a full day ahead of going into year one. Suspected ASD/ADHD

My ds2 did part time for 2 terms of his reception year and it worked well for him. He is April born though and deferring wasn't a thing then I don't think (he is year 11 now). In your case I would absolutely defer. And don't feel guilty for needing a break.

Please ignore suggestions that she will be fine in Reception. You would be best to approach Nurseries from now, explain the situation and see if they can meet needs. You could also contact the school you added as your first choice (does it have a nursery?) and ask to speak to the sendco for advice (they may be very busy so you may be in for a wait). It is likely that any nursery will ask you to attend on a very part time basis such as 1 hour a day to see how things go and they may or may not ask you to stay/be close by. They will also likely need 1:1 support for your child which needs money and time to plan for so again, ask to speak to a senco and also please have a look at the sendiass website for further information. Whatever you do, dont delay and then just turn up for school in September.

Yes defer and do a year of nursery. That way you can choose the hours. You can start the ehcp process (or nursery can initiate) with professionals working with her. It will be a good indicator of wether mainstream will be suitable.

I think your key priority here has to be getting your DD "into the system" and getting her - and you - the support you need. I would have hoped that either the GP or HV would have pointed you in the right direction for this support but it seems that the system has let you down to date and by (understandably in the circumstances) not having her in nursery, the nursery staff have not been able to advise you.
As a PP has said, I am doubtful that a mainstream school will be the right place for your DD. It certainly won't be without a 1:1 in place specifically for her as, whilst the teacher will have support from TAs for some or all of the day, they have 29 other children to look after and even the most straightforward and mature of those may struggle on starting reception.
Unfortunately. I don't know enough about how the process starts with children of this age. Other posters have recommended various pages about summer born starters. I think you actually need to focus on the EHCP. Perhaps the MN SEN children pages might help? Alternatively, if you contact the Admissions team, they may be able to help. Or your GP or HV (even if they have been of little help to date).
The tough thing about all of this is that it requires a lot of extra effort to sort it all out when you're no doubt exhausted. Just fry and focus on the fact that the EHCP should unlock support for your DD and you which will help her thrive.

The advice of PP has been good. You will need an EHCP. Sending to a nursery who can help you with this is one way. You could also speak to your GP/health visitor for a referral to the child development centre. If you haven’t got one then getting a formal diagnosis on her needs will be essential if she needs a specialist school in the future.

I wouldn’t defer yet - mainly because she needs to be in the system - but I would contact the school you’ve applied for and have a chat about your concerns and they may also be able to offer support and advice on what to do next. They may suggest deferral or part time attendance. One of our SEN children (from nursery) was doing part time hours at school when she moved up.

My friend did this with 2 of her kids. They didn’t go to school on Wednesdays. I don’t think the school were thrilled but as attendance isn’t compulsory until the term after they turn 5, I don’t think there was much they could do. One kid was a summer baby so didn’t do any Wednesdays and the other kid was a Feb baby so went full time in the summer term. My friend is happy with her choice and it hasn’t negatively affected the kids. In your situation though, I agree with PPs that deferring sounds like a better option

@Sonolanona advice is just spot on.

I’ve been where you are, my little boy was non verbal, nappies and a summer born. He started reception with his normal cohort. BUT he had been to nursery since two, had an EHCP and is in an additionally resourced mainstream school.

I know this is really hard, please feel free to PM me if you would like some support through it. I’m only a year ahead of you.

My friends non verbal autistic DD was part time on school’s insistence and she’s only just got to full time. Started with 1hr a day, very difficult for my friend who is a single mum with no family to help.

@summerbornschool i hope you feel able to take @littlecreeature up on her kind offer of support.

It really, really helps to get guidance from someone who has so recently been through the process themself.

My dd has additional needs, and the support, help and information I received from other parents in similar situations was absolutely invaluable, and made me feel so much less alone and overwhelmed.

@summerbornschool You don’t have to accept any offers, but I would accept if it’s the school you want just in case. The school won’t hold a place for a year as that could be taking a place from another child and if you defer your DD won’t be in the class your asking them to hold. But I would still call the school, explain the situation so they know you might not be taking a place. If you have a good school they will probably be really helpful with advice.

With our oldest we decided to move after applying for schools, but because we stayed within the LAs boarders we couldn’t change our choices although it would have been over an hours commute each way. We had to wait until offer day then either go on the waiting lists or go to appeal. I was really panicking. I had 2 schools in our new area I wanted to apply to. I called them both up on offer day, one was amazing with help and advice, the other nice but not as forthcoming with advice. We got into the second school on the waiting list a week later even though we were still living over an hour away.

i suspect the LAs might be holding off calls if it’s a busy LA as offers go out soon. Do you have an email address? I did my initial correspondence with the LA when I started the deferral process by email.

IMPORTANT - You have NOT messed up.

The whole thing can be very stressful and confusing if you’ve not done it before.

Just so you know, many many schools will have lots of changes between offer day and the start of September. One year our school went from an intake of only 9 to 11 back down to 9 to 15 to 7 then finally back up to 9 by September. So much happens, people move, get into another school on waiting lists, have deferrals accepted etc…

While waiting I would be gathering as much information as possible to support your deferral application. We provided a report from nursery explaining our DD was absolutely not ready for school. As she was NT and we were only deferring because she wasn’t ready that’s all we needed, she’d been very isolated as her nursery closed down completely during covid and she’d not long started nursery before she was due for school.

Good luck

Based on what you have said you need to urgently get in touch with admissions at the Lea to explain the process, part time (mornings only I suggest) nursery, ideally local authority run would be beneficial this coming year whilst they can sort out her needs and appropriate schooling. She isn't known to them and it takes weeks to process echp's. Not being in nursery part time puts them at a disadvantage anyway. My dd is autistic and started straight into year 1 which worked well

Speak to the senco re this.. long term are you thinking specialist provision?

@Sonolanona 's advice is good (I am also a SEND Teacher).

In terms of nursery, I would look and see if you have an 'Opportunity Group' locally to you (they are nursery groups for children with special needs). They will have lots of experience with your DD's needs and will be able to help you through the EHCP process.

Once you have an EHCP, you will at least have the opportunity to consider your local special schools and specialist settings, which may or may not suit your DD better. Right now, it sounds like your DD would need a huge amount of support in mainstream (which is difficult to secure) and she might well be completely overwhelmed.

Does she have an EHCP.?
Honestly I wouldn't defere I can see why you might want too but if she hasn't already got stuff in place ,then reception might help.to do this ,my son has always been in a special school and his nursery year ( mainstream. ] was where he had all his assessments and diagnosis ( autism and learning disabilities) and him helped get a statement ( as it was then) and special school place.

I definitely wouldnt send this yr.
But it does sound kike a sen school wouod be more suitable.
They dont seem to keep to the same classes.

My summer born eldest started at 4y3 at mainstream and that was hard enough after 12h nursery a week for a yr. (We are awaiting asd diagnosis from age 10).

It seems like you have fallen through a crack having not gone to nursery.
Personally a school nurserry would have been too much. They try to teach kids, most wont be in nappies etc.

If you struggle 1-2-1 your dc wouod struggke in a class of 30 with no 1-2-1.

Some asd kids i know have repeated reception.
But its going to be too much for her at moment if napping a lot.

You definitely haven't messed up!

When your Dd is offered her place, make sure you are happy with the allocated school. If they have nursery that you are happy with, ask if she can defer and start in nursery instead.

Discuss the case with the school and explain the need to defer and likely need for flexi schooling from the year after. Many children with additional needs start school only doing mornings and gradually building this up when they are ready.

Be clear with what is best for your child and also work with the school to ensure they are able to do the best for her too.

I arranged a very similar set up with a parent last week - her child has just been allocated a place in reception at my school through his EHCP. He will be starting mornings only and we will decide together when he can increase his hours - we have a vague plan in place for that to placate the LA. As he does have a plan I need to organise education for the hours he is not attending so we have a plan for that also. Even some of my NT children struggle at first, so we allow flexibility for those who need a nap or are just overwrought by it all.

If you are able to sort an EHCP, then some sort of flexible arrangement should be possible. The end goal will likely be full time school, but with your agreement you can work up to that slowly.

An EHCP in this sort of scenario should also provide some 1:1 support for your DD which will hopefully help her access education and the classroom.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely you'll get this in place by September, so deferring the year makes sense.

EHCPs mean that she will get educational funding up until 25, so you don't have to worry about funding issues at the other end of her education, either.