Scottish School - Early Application?

[JacktomyDaniel]

Hi
I’m looking for some advice from people who don’t know me! I am a teacher and when pregnant with my March born son prayed he wouldn’t be February as I didn’t want to have to defer him which I absolutely would have as I think 4 is generally too young for school.
In reality he’s now turning 4 in March, 6 days after school cut off.
He knows all initial letter sounds, letter names and the numbers and number value to 20. His vocabulary is sophisticated. He can write his own name and can paint / draw to an identifiable level.
My dilemma is do I go against my gut and apply to have him go to school early? I’m not concerned about early primary but worry about puberty/exam age in the future.
I really need advice as need to decide in the next week.
If I apply the application has to go to the education board and he’ll then be assessed by an Ed psych before any decision is made.
Thanks for reading!

Sorry edited to add that my concern about leaving him in a nursery for a year would be lack of challenge/potentially disruptive behaviour due to boredom.

Your son and my son are in the same boat except my boy is 9 days I am also in Scotland I have no idea how it all works tho good luck

Only my opinion but absolutely do not do it. I'm also a teacher in Scotland and deferred my own son ( Feb birthday) and it's the best decision definitely. Admittedly, I am all for kindergarten at 4- 7 and formal schooling at age 7, as in Scandinavia/ Japan as learning through play is so much more important than writing and reading at this age. It's also about social and emotional education and making them ready in this respect for school.

He'll be confident and ready by age 5, you won't regret it.

There are also rumours that Glasgow are moving the dates to end of December cut off, so all children born in Jan and Feb will not go to school until age 5.

Thank you!! I think I know this but needed to hear it from others. I never would have imagined I’d even be considering it!!

You haven’t said if he is emotionally ready? Only if he is very mature would I consider it, but generally I would say definitely don’t. What would he gain from going early?

It’s so true what they say about it being completely different when it’s your own kids. I’ve lost count of how many other parents I’ve advised to defer!

He’s one of those “been here before kids” quite wise beyond his years. In saying that he also has been known to have a frustration bite of a friend in the not so recent past

Ps I'm in secondary and ever year when S1 arrive I can tell who are the Jan/ Feb birthdays ( and your son seeing he'll be even younger) they are invariably less mature and socially confident: no wonder when they can be a whole year younger than the oldest classmates.

I write this as the parent of now adult children. I would not advise having him start school so young. Keep him at nursery until he is five. The problem is not primary school - the problem comes when he goes up to secondary school. If he starts school so young he will still be a little boy when he has to move up and will be in classes with much older boys who will be much bigger and much more mature. He will struggle fitting in. We did not defer with my eldest (now in his 40s) and to this day we regret that decision. His secondary school years were hell for him. His younger brother was over 5 when he started school and his entire school journey was so much better.

Consider carefully the transition from primary to secondary.

I was a march born kid in Scotland and almost the oldest in my year, which I always quite liked. My mum has always said that she was so glad I didn’t have to go a year earlier and that she feels it made a difference for me academically and socially. Hope that’s some help!

My mum put my sister into school a year early. She was born on the 2nd March and my mum said it was the worst thing she ever did. Early primary she was fine but towards the end of primary she started to really struggle with the social side of school. When she went to secondary she never really made friends but had to stay on till the end of 5th year as that was the earliest she could leave. She ended up going to college to do her highers as she never got them at school.

It can be such a hard decision, especially when he's a " been here before ". My DS2 has always been like this, but being a November birthday there was never any decision to be made, he was going the Aug before he was 5. He absolutely hated P1, he just wasn't ready emotionally, despite being ( and still.is at age 12) a smart cookie who picked things up easily. He grumped his way through P1, regularly asking when he could just stay home with me ( I was/ am PTime). P2 onwards he lived school, I genuinely think he just wasn't ready emotionally.

You'll know best, but think carefully before going through all the red tape. Good luck.

I know this is only anecdotes but the only children I've known to start early. Have either ended up repeating a year in Primary or really struggling socially in secondary.

just don't my DD is a early december birthday and academically she is fine and she is sensible but she is just 9 she is in a composite class in village school so some of the other girls are 11 and can be a bit mean to younger ones that still like unicorns etc I wouldn't have deferred her however another girl a few weeks younger would have benefitted from deferral

I think in general boys benefit from deferral even more than girls

back in the dark ages when I start school they had split entry so you started the term you were 5 my birthday is easter so started in April, so I did 1 term and a year in first infants by sister being an autumn birthday did almost 2 years

personally I don't think anyone should be in school before 5 and P1 is not as play based as YR in England

you don't want him going to uni at just 17

Loved not lived.

PPs discussing the other end at secondary it really is palpable who are the younger ones are. I'm a November birthday and didn't struggle socially, really, but I was 16, almost 17 going to Uni and, looking back, did struggle socially and could have got so much more out of it if I'd been older.

I have two March birthday daughters in p1 and p4. Both would have been learning-ready and neither emotionally-ready at 4.5. The Jan/feb birthday kids are struggling. I didn’t think you got the choice to send a March birthday child a year early?

I don’t know anyone who regrets deferring their child.
One of my main considerations for deferring DD wasn’t her starting school young, but her finishing school young.
DS was deferred. He did get a bit bored in the last term of nursery, but it made him far more resilient starting P1 at 5.5 rather than 4.5

I have a March born and a February born.

The March born cruised through primary and secondary, but being that bit older for Nat 5s and then Highers made a huge difference. He was a PITA at primary as he wasn’t really challenged, but in the later stages of secondary it’s definitely a plus.

My February born (not deferred on the advice of the nursery staff) is very sociable and loved primary and early secondary. But, I think he would have found Nat 5s at 15 very hard, and we took an opportunity to move south and step back a year, which so far is proving the right thing to have done.

He might be ready to start, but he will be so young when he finishes.

I was born in late Jan, so was barely 17 and a half when finished 6th year and I went to university. In retrospect I was really young going to university, and would have probably benefitted from being a year older.

Thank you so much everyone. I totally agree and I’m sure he will benefit him.
Really appreciate the advice.

I have a January born daughter who I didn’t defer. She’s bright, emotionally mature, has lots of friends and would definitely have been bored stupid st nursery had I deferred her the way I planned. However now that she’s coming towards high school age I can see a difference between her and her friends, they are interested in boys and gossiping, she still wants to play. We’re currently toying with the idea of sending her to private school and having her repeat p7.
I don’t think there’s any advantage to being younger than all your peers when going through school to be honest and given the chance again I’m not convinced I’d do the same. And no way would I send a March baby a year early, esp not a boy.

I wouldn't. I have a Jan born who started school at 5 and a half and has sailed through, not struggled. Making choices for 4th year just now and will be in all Nat5 classes. Really embraces all aspects of school, I'm not saying they're perfect by the way, typical teenage attitude 😀

My friend put her DS when he was 4.5 and he hates school because he's had to play catch up, not just academically but socially and physically too.

I've heard lots of people regret putting them at 4.5 but nobody regretting waiting.

I didn’t regret putting my February born to primary at 4.5 - he thrived and did really well, both socially and academically. He coped fine with S1 and S2 as well - but that extra year was starting to niggle. I wouldn’t have wanted him to go to uni at 17.5 either.

Mum of 3 boys here in Scotland, I totally agree with PP who say wait, IME boys are not ready to make decisions re options in 2nd year at High School.
Also found quite a difference in them overall in the teenage years, I had one January baby, what a difference to the July born.