This isn’t flexi schooling is it?

[Unclear]

Letting the school know that a summer born child will only be doing half days in reception for the first 2 terms then full
days for the last term - this isn’t a request for flexi schooling it is just letting them know as the child will be under csa for the full year so it’s not something we have to ask permission for but just something we need to inform them of ?

I think they can refuse it but must hold your child’s place until CSA. It’s been years since I looked at the rules though.

We have accepted the place but let them know at the end of the term and they said they don’t do flexi schooling but I don’t think that’s what it is - I’m sure a parent can chose to send a summer born child part time instead of deferring ? We don’t want to defer but full
days will be too much

No it's not flexi schooling and they cannot refuse. You can send your child in every third Wednesday only if it's raining if you want pre CSA.

Thankyou, I knew it was different to flexi schooling but i was starting to worry !

You really need to stand your ground OP as my sister is doing the same thing with my nephew as he will struggle with full-time. They had to have a meeting with the head & provide a clear rationale for this even though he is also summer born & will be under csa. Schools really don’t seem to like it but you are perfectly entitled to do it.

It’s a conversation to have with the school but the half days will mean your dc misses the fun/play element. They do learning in the morning then afternoons are often free play in the sandpit and painting etc. you know your dc but why not try and see rather than start by deciding your dc won’t cope - it there a clear reason other than being summer born?

disclaimer: my premature (due October but born end of August) twins started 4 days after turning 4. They were tired but we kept weekends clear, didn’t do after school clubs in reception and adapted around their needs in our home life. They are 12 now. We did have an option to delay or do longer part time but there wasn’t a need in the end as our own adaptations were sufficient. However, all dc are different so this is just our experience.

We did this, sent an email outlining our thoughts and intentions. School were fine with it and we continuously kept in touch during the year to make sure it was working and she wasn’t missing out. She was under csa for the duration of the school year so they couldn’t really say no.

Just came across this thread. My little one is June born.
I'm worried about how she'll cope 5 days a week in Sept.
So am I allowed to keep her off school the odd day? I don't work Wednesdays or Fridays (and have a younger child at home) , so am I legally allowed to keep her off school occasionally? Even though I've accepted the space?

Will we not get fined if this is frequent?

To add with my DD who is now diagnosed as ND we mentioned this to the school but we never had a formal conversation with them prior to her starting. As a result we felt really bulldozed in to sending her full-time as the school said she was fine & could cope with it. I do regret it in a way as although she managed reception she crashed out in year 1 with burn out.

It will depend on the school. Formal learning eg, maths and phonics only took half an hour in the morning at our school. Then it was play based learning. This is why it’s key to discuss with the school we ended up tweaking my daughter’s hours to incorporate lunch and an after lunch session. Then we gradually added on afternoons as she wanted to stay in until she went full time. It was very child led.

Dd has a diagnosis of ASD and we haven’t got an EHCP yet so that’s part of the issue . We considered deferring but feel part time is a better fit for us

Hi I’m a Reception teacher and just want to ask why you’re doing this? Why not just defer for the next year so that your child will get the full experience of Reception?

There’s no guarantee she will be any more able to manage full days then and because although she is extremely behind in some areas she is excelling academically already so we wanted to support that.

In our case she was ready for the academics but had never been in full time childcare so needed to build up the stamina for full time school, also we wanted to continue extra curriculars which were important and she couldn’t have managed both. Best decision she made, she didn’t miss out, gave her two terms to build up to full time and was full time after Easter.

I would defer. Even when your DC is GCSE age, you'll be thinking about her taking her GCSE's while still 15 when many peers are not far off 17. If she has some social and emotional delays, then even more so.

You won’t get fined, but keeping off full days mean they will miss bits of phonics and maths that are building on the previous days work. Our school really wanted my daughter in every morning for this reason.

Hi OP,

I was you ten years ago. The school refused my son afternoons off and made him go full time including staying for lunch.

We battled on trying to fit in at school for ten years, and I have now had to take him out of school entirely because he was having a nervous breakdown. It's not been good.

I think you should fight for your child. The school system is incredibly harsh on ASD kids.

That sounds awful I’m so sorry 😔 I’m definitely going to push for what I know is best for her it needs to be slow so as not to push her into autistic burnout at a young age I’m so aware of how overwhelmed she gets that I want to really make sure she has time to process everything

Thanks for answering. Obviously it depends on each school but our children would miss out on so much if they only did half days.

I was wondering the same. I taught a child who did this and their learning was patchy compared to others, they missed out on so much of the social side and deepening their friendships. Year 1 came as a shock to them.

I don’t think dd will ever struggle with the learning side of things it’s the social and emotional side she needs time with and just being in a different environment if she’s pushed it will lead to burnout I’d rather there were some gaps here and there but her mental health remains as stable as possible

She also has issues with physical exhaustion caused by over exerting her mind so we have to really pace her day to day as that becomes a big issue so I’m very mindful of that as well

If it’s the best for your child then do it. For those saying they will miss out on bits of learning - my child was in Year R during covid lockdown and learnt a hell of a lot more at home 1:1 with me! Teachers have around 30 pupils to educate, so as long as you are reading with your child, looking at basic maths etc, they really won’t miss anything by doing half days in reception!

She is likely to have some issues with learning. Maybe never with maths or science, but by KS2 most subjects require social and emotional understanding, inference and abstract thinking which can put on an immense cognitive load on an autistic child. The day also becomes increasingly fast paced, with down-time reducing year on year. I lead a primary autism resource- the children I teach are all very academically able but they have all struggled with aspects of the curriculum as well as the general social demands of the classroom.

The majority of my placements are summer born. I'm not going to say they wouldn't have ended up needing a specialist placement if they'd been deferred, but they definitely would have had more of a chance at coping at a year older. Almost all my parents wish their child could stay another year before going to secondary too.

Are you concerned for her because of challenges she faces, or just her age?

If the latter, June isn't especially young - you'd expect quite a few younger.