When to start school

[Frozengeranium]

This child is not ours yet. Just future planning.

He is May born, will come home in January. He is currently 3, will turn 4 May 2018.

With good enough reason children can be held back from school for a year if they are summer born.

We would therefore send him into YR in September 2019 (?), I think? To give him 18 months at home. He’ll do some nursery from September 2018.

Does this sound right? So the year he is in reception class he will actually finish at age 6?

Also, any views if anyone got through that garbled mess?

Ooo, really good question, Ginger. I wonder if that's why I have the perception it's mostly up to getting the head onside? Although at least one school I'm thinking of is not an academy.

I wouldn't want my DC to jump straight into Y1.

Reception and Y1 are very different in most schools. Reception is part of early years (like nursery is) and there's lots of learning through play. In a lot of schools it's a lovely, gentle introduction to school. It's not just about learning reading / writing etc. It's about learning how to be at school, how to form good relationships.

My summer term born DD is in reception. In the last few weeks the teachers have sent pictures home of the DC making mud pies in the mud kitchen, running up and down the playground flying ribbons and plastic bag "kites" on a windy day, playing in a dark den with torches (they're learning about nocturnal animals and light and dark), junk modelling, roasting marshmallows on a bonfire in their "nature zone", making pumpkin soup, divali lanterns and pictures using autumn leaves.

They don't this kind of play based learning nearly so much in Y1. Reception is kind of like a foundation year for school. DS and his class mates found the jump from reception to Y1 quite a challenge - Y1 is much more formal in our school and I suspect that's the same in lots of schools - as it's no longer early years - the DC have moved on to KS1.

I would much rather my child start in reception and get that foundation than go into Y1 where everyone else knows what they're doing and they don't. It would be a much tougher start to school IMO.
Also much tougher starting and trying to join established friendship gorups rather than finding you feet when everyone is new.

In your shoes I wouldn't make any decisions now. If he comes to you in January, that's like 7 months at home. Don't forget time seems MUCH longer to a child!

FWIW I'm May born (and bright ) and never felt like I was one of the youngest in class.

Don't forget also, that there is no legal requirement to keep a child in school until they're 5. The school may not like it, but if you feel he needs the odd day off here and there - or a longer half term - when he's still 4, there's not much they can do about it.

The guidance is pretty clear, if it's in the child's best interests to start reception late, then the authority, while having the final say, should allow that.

Yes, the guidance is clear. However, most admission authorities still take the view that it is only in the child's best interests to start late if there is evidence of significant developmental delay. Simply being a summer-born former LAC wouldn't cut it. They don't have to justify that to anyone unless the parents want to go for judicial review.

Who makes that decision for academies? Still the LA?

An academy is its own admission authority so can make its own decision. The head doesn't make the decisions although they obviously have a lot of influence. It is either the governors or a committee appointed by the governors. The problem with this is that there is no guarantee of consistency with local secondary schools.

Simply being a summer born former LAC is developmental delay- they will be delayed emotionally and in terms of attachment.

And OP can't 'just wait'. If she's thinking of delaying the start, I'd discuss with the heads and LA now.

Our LA allowed a revision to an application to be made until much later, as long as the initial application was made on time, if you are applying this year. So, the LA could apply with FCs address, and then you can update the address to yours, without stressing at the start of placement about a 'late application'.

Okay, bad news. The next court date has been delayed. Things have been put back without a new date at the moment.

It should not change the long term outcome, but means applying for January admission is not an issue. I’ve been told to just wait and ss will organise and let us know.

Gah.

So there is no placement order yet?

Why do SS approach people about children before they have a placement order??? (OK I know it is to shorten timescales for the child, but it really is playing fast and loose with hopeful adopters' emotions).

I thought you were all good to go, matched at panel, just delaying until after Christmas. If you are still waiting on court processes though ...

Simply being a summer born former LAC is developmental delay- they will be delayed emotionally and in terms of attachment

Many admission authorities simply won't accept that. They will want evidence of significant developmental delay from an appropriate expert. I am not saying I disagree with you, just pointing out how the system currently works.

We have delayed my son's admission for a year and had to gather evidence from a number of sources. However, our local school has recently become an academy and as a result, we have no guarantee at present that they will honour the LA's decision to maintain him out of age cohort now they control their own admissions (and thank you prh47 for your advice over on the education boards). The system feels very messy and UNsupportive at times like this. At the recent AUK conference they quoted a statistic that adopted children are 16 times more likely to be temporarily excluded from school during the first 3 years of primary school than non adopted children. Awful statistic showing many schools just don't understand trauma.

SEN children similarly suffer throughout their school careers. They are 6 times more likely to receive a fixed term exclusion and 7 times more likely to be permanently excluded. They are also more likely than other pupils to be subjected to illegal exclusions.

Schools really need to be much better at handling such pupils.

P.S. Glad I was able to help.

It's shocking stuff. So many children who don't fit the current system being let down.

Interestingly I had a conversation today with a professional who advocates home schooling adopted children.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

underthenameofsanders the most recent court date (the delayed one) is following a sibling assessment and a change of plan for the sibling group.

Such a helpful thread, thank you @frozengeranium as we are going through a similar decision process with our adopted daughter - trying to decide if she should delay reception and do another year in nursery. Teacher is against it (and it's a Catholic school, so they make the decision) which is making it harder for us. @prh47bridge and others, do you have any thoughts on attending reception part time or delaying entry into reception by six months instead? These options were immediately attractive to me but on reflection, seem as though they could cause more problems with settling in, learning, making friends...

@Frozengeranium, any news. Thinking of you.

@CaramelKoala, i commented about our situation on page one, that was our child came to us at three but turned four within a few months and could have started school a matter of weeks after turning 4. We go advice from Adoption Educational Psychologist and we started him part time from New Year and full time from either Easter or after May half term.

He does struggle with friendships a bit, but I don't think this is due to his starting school later. He has made friends and he has handled the academic side and much of the emotional side. He does prefer older children and when seen next to a boy a year younger he does seem to 'fit' his cohort even if he is the youngest, if that makes sense.

If your child is under 5 when they arrive then I think the law is you do not need to send them to school until the start of the term after they turn five but if they are summer born they would go straight into Year 1. So you can ask to go part time and start late.

Our issue with starting him the year below his age, was the school were not keen, the Adoption Educational Psychologist suggested not to do it and the school could not guarantee to keep him in that cohort.

I have agreed a delayed start for my adopted son who will be starting school in September aged 5 and two months. I had v. little difficulty getting it agreed - luckily all the headteachers I contacted were supportive and the Council agreed straight away. I am 100% sure that it is the right decision for him - his confidence is growing every day.

For a school/admission authority to move a child from their cohort they would have to establish that it is in the child's best interests to miss a year of school. There is a lot of information available through the Flexible Admissions for Summerborns campaign group.

Caramelkoala - I would have thought that from a social perspective it might be easier to start in September part time if it's not possible to defer a year. On the other hand I have learned of others finding it easier to secure agreement for a Reception place at compulsory school when they applied in the Autumn after the child turned 4 - then the admission authority just needs to decide whether child should go into Reception or straight into Year 1 - some people's experience of applying for permission when the child is 3 is being pressurised to start the child at school before the parent believes that the child is ready.

italian thankyou. It's looking like things might start moving again in February. We're just keeping everything crossed at the moment.

Good luck frozen.