To ask any teachers this question please

[Desperatetobeamummyonedaysoon]

Do you believe summer born children.. particularly aug born are at a disadvantage or do you believe it's not an issue.. as in they are all in a class and taught the same and irrespective of age they are either "academic" or not and will do well (or not) irrespective of age. I.e it depends more on of they are academic or not, not their age?

I have an aug born boy and i think hes fairly bright/ average but compared to his peers..not so nuch!

Also what about socially? He seems youngs for his year group... which he is! I worry he will get easily led when hes older? Hes only 6 at the mo lol!

Yes there's research to show it makes a difference, but that won't be true of all summer born boys

I’ve taught from yr1 to yr6. It makes a big difference in yr1, much less in yr6!

I have a summer born boy who is now 13, there is no difference between him and his older peers- academically at least. Puberty hits a different times anyway, so physically they are all at very different points. DS is nearly 6 feet tall, several are similar, some are smaller.

Research suggests summer born children score, on average, 16% lower in GCSEs.

I'm a secondary teacher. I have not the slightest clue which kids were summer born and which weren't.

I find it can show for the younger ones in a class at the beginning of primary, but tends to even out a bit by the time they’re 7/8. Especially with reading etc, if they’re struggling a bit they catch up as they mature. That’s just my experience though, although yes, there’s research around being the youngest in a year. Probably much to do with how children start formal schooling too early in the UK (especially England & Wales) but hey, that’s another issue!

I teach secondary and genuinely can't tell who is born when. My primary teacher friends can often tell both rough birthdays and who has older siblings

I have an August born. The research bear out that the disadvantages persists.. all the way to university and beyond, in academic achievement and in sport.

No set of stats can predict the outcomes for your child.

Mine is very bright, socially is more comfortable with younger children (he is 14) and he is very short... genes!!

Doesn't research prove it all evens out by age 7. Pretty sure it does.

It certainly makes a difference at Reception. If I had a summer-born child, I would certainly consider delaying their start to school, for reasons of emotional maturity, before I even considered any academic skills.

(I'm an Early Years Teacher)

OP, you might find this of interest
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0938k8v

Research shows it makes a difference academically.

Makes a difference in team sports too. The bigger kids in the year more likely to be picked for teams which gives them more practice, increasing their skill which means they are more likely to be picked in subsequent years.

Both mine were summer born. One did exceptionally well academically and one was very average. From a teaching perspective IME it makes no difference whatsoever in secondary school

I am a secondary teacher too. Honeysuckle the fCt you don’t know which are which proves nothing...maybe all the ones you think are struggling are summer born.
Research, as PPs have said, shows that on average, summer Brons do worse. It isn’t the case for every child, but on average it is.

Statistically there is a difference that lasts throughout schooling, summer born children are also more likely to be diagnosed with SEN. Thats’s not to say that you will notice it in your own child or in a class if you’re a teacher.

Agree with PP it is less obvious as they move through the school.

But I still think it has an impact.

My son is a June baby, he’s 12 now and is top sets for most subjects at school, his best friend is the same and he was born in August.
We did notice a different in the first few years of school, more in emotional maturity than academically though if that makes sense? I remember his year 2 teacher saying something about him (can’t remember what now) but then immediately dismissing it when she released he was summer born

I've taught all primary years, Y1 at the moment. It does have some effect in the earlier years as pps suggested, both academically and socially I've found. However, there are always exceptions. I really wouldn't worry about being summer-born as I think it does tend to even out.

I'm a primary school teacher and would say it entirely depends on the child. Some of the highest attaining children are summer babies. Try not to worry about summer babies in school, put it this way you never speak to someone at work and go 'oh they're a summer born that's why they're not promoted etc' I'm sure your child will be absolutely fine and love school :)

I'm only a TA, but I can usually tell who the summer born boys are. They tend to be more immature and 'behind'. Not always, but frequently. Not so much with girls.

Not trying to be goady at all here just trying to understand. When does this summer born stuff end? Surely if we say Aug born are disadvantaged start them all a year late suddenly the July born are disadvantaged so we say start them a year late and so and so forth?

My August born boy would definitely have been better in the year below. He is toward the lower end academically but it's socially that he really struggles.. He's 9 now and still not really making progress with his peers. He gets on much better with the year below. He also keeps missing out on the sports teams by 1 place but does well when they combine the y4 and 5 together. There will always be some for whom it didn't make a difference but for mine it does. 😒

How population level statistics play out at an individual level is a unpredictable thing.

my august child learned resilience and a work ethic from being last to 'get' everything in eyfs and ks1. He struggled so much with reading and a lot of it was just maturity. another child might have lost confidence and given up on schooling and another again might have found reading easy but struggled a bit with play and so on.

I've taught reception up to year 3. I can usually tell who are the summer born children. However, this is not the case for all children.

It totally depends on each individual child.

DD is summer born yet she was at the top end of the classes throughout primary. Especially noticeable in KS1. She thrived at school.

Yes. Not always, there are always exceptions, but generally.