August baby at a disadvantage to Sept baby?

[peachytacos]

AIBU to think that having a birthday in spring/summer won’t massively affect how successful your child is in school long term?

I completely understand in the first few years at school the difference is significant, as a year is such a large jump, but surely as they grow older it evens out?
I’m ttc no 2 and was speaking to my close friend about it today who told me its mean to ttc this month in case I end up with an August baby
She’s naturally very blunt and doesn’t mean anything nasty by it but she strongly feels that a baby born in August is at a massive disadvantage throughout. I know it’s highly unlikely to happen anyway but it’s made me think.

Thoughts/opinions please!

Although the individual stories posted here are interesting, there are always different experiences.

In my mind, more importantly, research shows that when you are born DOES matter, and this has been found out not just to be at the primary years but many years later. Here's the link...

www.ifs.org.uk/publications/4073

Woodifer, for most LA schools in Egland it is essentially the head teacher who gets to decide if you can delay your DC starting. and they generally decline unless your child has a significant issue with a diagnosis with medical evidence etc. Most kids aren't diagnosed with issues young enough. The school will say that their teachers can differentiate enough to accomodate your just turned 4 year old in a class with children who've been alive 25% longer.

I'm an August bday and was fine. My sister was an August birthday and really struggled. My DS is an August birthday and has died on his arse bless him. The teacher who we were told could differentiate didn't get why DS's co-ordination was poorer so he struggled to zip his coat, and why he couldn't grip his pen properly. He's Year 4 and still struggling. Would I have kept him back a year? In a heartbeat; his writing was no better at the end of Reception than at the start. Would the school have agreed to me doing so? No. And secondary school can also refuse to take them out of year so they have to jump from year 5 to year 7 if you keep them back. Just to completely fuck these kids over.

I'm sorry but it makes me so angry how struggling summer born kids are treated in this country; they are far too young to start school and then get tested and graded through phonics tests and SATs just to show how utterly badly they're doing, and you still see the impact at GCSE.

DC4's is late July born. I was concerned and considered deferring but he loved school from the beginning and it didn't knacker him out unfortunately and at his Yr3 parents evening last week, teacher said you'd never know he was one of the youngest and he is above average levels. Also taller and more mature than his peers. I don't think you can generalise. Older DCs are December/Feb born and all had issues starting school.

HighburyHattie It really mattered to DS1. he wanted to drive asap at 17 like his friends and he wouldn't have used a fake ID.
It was quite serious to him that he couldn't go to the club to celebrate his friend's 18th birthdays.

It very much depends on the particular peer group.

Yes, things are all a bit more level now he's at University though.

I suspect being summer born has an effect that more positive elements help overcome.

Educational level of mother in strongly correlated with academic outcomes. Interest’s parents place and showing education affects outcomes.

Mine struggled but got a lot of home support - so got passed problems and rose to top sets I supposed it might have happened anyway though it didn’t for many of the other summer born in bottom sets at start of school years.

Mine are late primary early secondary educationally doing very well at the minute. They are youngest in year and slightly later than peers hitting puberty on top that’s a current something they are aware of and dislike – height being the main worry both gone from some of tallest to smallest.

Then they’ll hit the job, driving, drinking issues later on which might be issues for them. I’m sure they’ll get past those as well.

If I could have started then later I think we probably would but I believe that comes with other problems as bigger age gaps in classes and lower economical groups less able to defer.

Like other PP has said, it depends on the child. My DP is an end of August baby and last year left university with a 2:1 in Biomedical Science. I on the other hand was a March baby and whilst GCSE's were fine for me, I really struggled with everything beyond that and dropped out of college due to the poor results I was getting.

Hi cryingshame the LA has to consider the heads opinion - but doesn't have to be ruled by it.

The statement you need to make is along the lines of "I am intending to start my child at CSA", "given we are starting then, we are believe it is in the child's best interest to start in reception" - effectively according to the admissions code they would have to demonstrate why it would be in the childs best interest to start straight into year 1.

In reality some LAs will agree on the basis of one parental letter, others will insist on a "hoop jumping" process of providing "supporting evidence" (in our case a letter form nursery).

It is absolutely a postcode lottery - depending on local authority, or in the case increasingly with Academies (where the school is their own admission authority) - it doesn't mean that it isn't possible or not worth trying.

How does it work when transitioning to secondary school if you start a 5 year old in reception? Does the child miss a year?

I’m an August baby myself and never felt it was a disadvantage throughout school. We (twin sister & I ) we’re always getting high grades, both got 1st class degrees in the end. One of my dc is August too and he was less emotionally ready to start school, but hasn’t been behind academically at all. Another of my dc is late June so young in the year but not extremely, and he was more than ready to start school! I think personalities, position in the family etc all affect it just as much as summer or winter birthdays.

I think summer babies catch up academically but as mentioned upthread you can tell they are younger by they way they act and their size.

That said, I just picked up my summer baby's CAT scores and they are much better than my Sept baby.

I’ve got one autumn born and one August.

The autumn one has had it much easier, in every way.

I think this is utter nonsense. It all depends on the support given at home surely? My sister was born in August and has just graduated top of her year at Manchester, 3 years after achieving 100% in her maths A level.

LoniceraJaponica it used to be that children had to catch up the year at some point. However, in England, the law changed a year or two ago and now summer born children can defer for a year and stay within that cohort right through their school career.
So, going from the youngest in the year to the oldest. You still have to apply for a school place in the year they should go and then ask the Governing Body of the Primary school if they can defer. Certainly this is the case in state schools in England.
Academies may be different, they usually are!

Sorry, rogue post.

@Ymamiss was she breast fed? Hope you don't mind me asking. Just that I was having this conversation with a friend recently.

I am a bottle fed end of August baby who did just fine. I cannot believe that people would put off TTC for this. Particularly as if you aim for a September baby they may be prem anyway.

No, the 4 of us were bottle-fed. To be honest, our parents never really pushed us at school (I was the first in the family to go to Uni) and we have all done well in our own way, but she is outstandingly intelligent.

DN beginning of school term, Very high up in Hospital.
DD Beginning of year UNI law.
DB August Earns loads self made.
DS August Doctor.

Nope doesn't matter either way, just a case of how said child grows up to be.

We didn't specifically"aim" for september but late Oct/Nov as obvs if she'd come early we would've got it all wrong!

The is an excellent programme on radio 4 called whodunnit - the calendar conspiracy, on this topic.

I have 2 "summer" children... I think it does have an effect on the child especially at KS1 level. (And a lot of damage can bee done in regards to attitude to learning.) But in all fairness, they do catch up eventually.
My favourite thing about this subject is that the cognitive part of the brain isn't fully developed till age 6-7... (that's the part that makes sense of reading, writing and maths.)
Generally we ask lot of our young children when they start at age 4.

We can all put in anecdotal "evidence" - my DCs went to a massive primary school with 3 classes per year, and classes were broadly set by birth. Those with post-Easter Birthdays sailed through the 11+ every year, which tends to blow out the Autumn baby theory. And it was a different class teacher , so you couldn't say It was all down to Mrs Miggins coaching them. It didn't explain why the other two classes didn't have the same success, year in , year out.

Placemarking to read properly later. This is something that's playing on my mind as we're TTC and half of me thinks we should give this month a miss to avoid an August birthday...possibly influenced by being a September birthday myself. DH is July and thinks I'm being ridiculous and that it never did him any harm

I don’t understand why posters think that one example of a child doing well as a summer born would negate the actual evidence that it’s a big disadvantage. Of course it’s not the end of the world but it’s definitely not silly to consider it.

Financially we’ve lost out though. We’ll be £800 a month better off when DS starts school so the extra year of nursery fees (he’s Oct) is a lot of money!