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Original poster

To get annoyed at 'summer baby' used at school

176 replies

hufflebottom · 09/02/2015 13:12

That is it.

Last time I looked children developed at their own pace and whether or not they were the youngest in the class wasn't really a factor.

I'm an August baby, I was the youngest in my school when I was in reception. But my reading/ writing was above some of my classmates who were older.

My brother on the other hand, again an August baby (August is an expensive month for us. My parents must have got really bored in the winter) is the complete opposite.

My dd (5) is on par for doing well she's a March baby. My friends kid is a week older and is just below Dd's reading level.

When did the whole children learn at their own pace get taken over by the 'my child is a summer baby so will struggle'

Am prepared for flaming

OP posts:
Iwillorderthefood · 10/02/2015 10:41

Sorry my June baby just woke up so am hurrying.

Kaekae · 10/02/2015 10:43

I have a child born in August and I do talk about this to other parents and teachers. He is actually a year younger than two others in his class. Although he has always been ahead in reading and maths he has struggled in other areas such as sports. For example at nursery and reception he was always the slowest runner and I could always notice at sports day he was not as coordinated as some of the older children in his class. Now that he is 7.5 he still lacks confidence in most sport. However, he is the tallest in his class so he has found that his height is a bonus when he plays basketball so this is raising his confidence.

I also found that by being one of the youngest in his class he was still slightly babyish, and still wanted to play games the other children didn't want to anymore. This did hinder his ability to form firm social groups. These issues are starting to filter out now that he is a bit older and he is happy at school. But I do wonder if it would have been better socially for him to have started school a year later.

VeloWoman · 10/02/2015 10:55

My summer born boy was three months early (due in september) and we managed to defer him with the help of a supportive head teacher and lots of paperwork. It has proved to be very much the right choice, lots of people wil talk about how reception is not too different from nursery now and how there is lots of support in reception but what I have found is the jump from reception to year one is a big one. Once DS started year one there was much less play based stuff, higher academic expectations, less classroom support and homework! He might have coped with reception at four but he would not have coped with year one at 5y1m. I think we would have ended up homeschooling if we had not have been able to defer him.

Theoretician · 10/02/2015 11:18

It certainly makes a difference in sport because the younger ones will be smaller

"the birthday breakdown of European soccer players: 43 percent of players were born in the first thee months of the year, while only 9 percent were born in the final three months."

freakonomics.com/2011/11/02/the-disadvantages-of-summer-babies/

Theoretician · 10/02/2015 11:22

So if you want your child to be a professional footballer, you can increase their chances more than 4x by making sure they are born in the oldest rather than youngest quarter of their year-group.

Theoretician · 10/02/2015 11:22

(Not sure I'm interpreting the stats correctly - anyway, it makes a huge difference.)

Storm15 · 10/02/2015 11:25

I have an August boy and feel totally reasonable is describing him as such to explain how behind he was for his entire reception year....

If you compared him to the September girls in his reception class the difference was....vast.

He's 6 now, in Year 2 and doing brilliantly.

I think that for the first couple of years of school, it's a very relevant point. Much less so after that.

Bettybodybooboo · 10/02/2015 11:26

Most teachers plan September babies! They should know!

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 11:33

It's been reassuring to read things, like that storm as I worry loads about DS.
When he started Reception he was very upset as nearly all the other children could write their name, he could barely hold his pencil and just scribbled.
He is doing quite well this year though, after being on the bottom table for everything in Reception (Table 5) he is now on Table 3 for maths and reading, his handwriting is still has very poor, but there are reasons for that

Storm15 · 10/02/2015 11:49

My DS still has shocking handwriting Rocket! But having literally been unable to read or write anything (including his name) by the end of reception, I was told at his parents' evening this week that he's now in the top third of his class for literacy and numeracy. He was so behind in reception - he wet himself on an almost weekly basis for the first term and would fall asleep instantly when I strapped him into the car on the way home he was so shattered poor mite. We thought about holding him back a year but with hindsight, I'm glad we didn't.

Don't worry, your DS will catch up I'm sure.

Zucker · 10/02/2015 11:52

I'm not in the UK but can you not just send the child in the next year so they would be 5 starting school. That's what happens here in Ireland. So long as the child starts school before age 6 the parent can choose when to start.

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 12:00

Yes I had exactly the same with him wetting, and being shattered etc. I had tried to get him as ready as I could, as I have a younger DD who went to play groups everyday except fridays, twice a week I would make sure she went to an afternoon one so DS could come too after nursery, to try and prepare him for a full day.
Of course it didn't work!!

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 12:02

Hi zucker
This is what I was saying earlier, tbh I can't see how that would be a help, more of a hindrance? As he would be the youngest, and would have missed a full year of formal education compared to others, I think it would just make him doubly behind?

Zucker · 10/02/2015 12:13

He wouldn't be the youngest any more though being 5 starting school. Why would he be compared to those who have started school already, he would only be compared to those he started school with, so not behind anyone.

We have a free year childcare/education scheme before the child starts school as a taster or run into real school. It teaches them the basics of listening to teacher, holding pencils, alphabet, counting etc etc.

I guess the system is so different in the 2 countries though. What has happened in Ireland though is that the average starting age for school has risen so its more of a rare occurrence for children to be barely 4 years of age starting school.

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 12:19

Oh I see what you mean.
They have it here where they don't legally have to start until the term after they turn 5, but they go into their 'right' year, so if I had of done that with DS, he waould have started at 5, but gone straight into year 1 and missed the whole of reception.
I know you can defer them sometimes, but seems to be very difficult/pot luck as to where this is allowed

Zucker · 10/02/2015 12:22

Oh god that's not fair at all! I understand now the problem.

TheWordFactory · 10/02/2015 12:32

I have Summer born babies and prem to boot.

Of course their development was going to be behind older children. Obvious.

So I pointed this out to every parent and teacher at their school. I'm sure some rolled their eyes and thought I was making 'excuses' for my DC's skills. That when they were born didn't matter and they were just not very able.

I refused to allow anyone to pigeon hole them that way Wink.

And I was proved right. Down the line; both extremely able, achieving more than many of those September babies these days.

PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom · 10/02/2015 12:33

I think that, whilst flexibility on start date has its appeal, I can also see real problems:

  • One possibility is that it effectively pushes up the starting age. Which is fine, but is a rather round about way of achieving that;
  • One risk is that it is (for want of better terms) the educated, engaged, financially stable (enough to have a SAHP, or to be able to pay for an extra year of childcare) who defer. Thus meaning that potentially some of the most vulnerable children start school a lot younger than most of their year group;
  • You might just end up with a wider age spread across the school year. Which is even more difficult to manage given that the spread across even 12 months is so great. Even assuming all parents assessed the maturity of their child at entry correctly, they don't mature at the same rate, so you have a challenge there.

I wonder if research has been done on those things?

DancingDinosaur · 10/02/2015 12:41

I was a summer baby and I struggled. I never caught up at school and left school with no qualifications. I've more than caught up, and overtaken many now, with a first class degree, a masters degree and a well paid job. But that was achieved after re-sitting exams in evening classes to get the qualifications to get in to uni. I think its a problem for many of the younger children in class.

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 13:26

el l done dinosaur that's brilliant!
It goes to show though, imagine how many leave school in the same circumstances, but by that time have totally disengaged with the education system, or have no confidence, seeing themselves as less intelligent, less able etc
It's so easy to see how these things happen, especially things like SN, where it's not picked up and diagnosed early enough.
My brother is dyslexic, my mum had to fight the school tooth and nail to prove that he wasn't just 'lazy'. He is extremely intelligent, but just struggled getting the thoughts in his head onto paper....

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 13:26

That's meant to say Well done btw!

MargotLovedTom · 10/02/2015 13:51

At our school from YR1 to Yr 4 they are in mixed classes, so Class 2 is the 30 youngest of YR1, Class 3 is the 15 oldest of Yr1 and the 15 youngest of Yr2, Class 4 is the 30 oldest of Yr 2, and so on up to Class 7 being the 30 oldest of Yr4.

I do think this helps in terms of the summer born children not always being the youngest in the class, depending on if they're in a mixed year class at the time.

shrunkenhead · 10/02/2015 13:52

I appreciate not everyone has the luxury of being able to plan their babies so as to avoid the well-documented issue of summer babies being behind in many aspects until they catch up, and I do feel for those with fertility issues/history of miscarriages/premature births etc so apologies if anyone thought me harsh. I just think not enough people give thought to the timing of their child's birth/research the stats prior to conception etc etc

RocketInMyPocket · 10/02/2015 13:56

Even if you could 'time it' things still go wrong.
I think that's a pretty ridiculous thing to say.
I probably 'timed' my pregnancy perfectly, with DS being due on the 9th September.
Didn't stop him arriving right at the end 9f August though.....

shrunkenhead · 10/02/2015 13:58

Teachers plan their sept+ babies for two reasons, to make the most of their mat leave and because they know academically it's in their best interest.