To Decelerate School Entry

[Bl00dyH3ll]

My daughter was born 26th August due to start school September 2022. I just don't know what to do 🥺. She's small for her age and I worry that she will visibly be the youngest and struggle. Statistically speaking she's likely to be at a disadvantage, who wants to deliberately place their child at a disadvantage? A year is a huge difference! Children in her year group would have learned so many skills when she was being birthed, from words to walking! I can absolutely see the difference in a September/October baby from the previous year, yet no difference between her and October babies who are 2 months younger. As a summer baby, I was all good academically but fell short socially so I just feel she's likely to fall behind in one of these areas.

No developmental issues and is perfectly fine at nursery with children her age, aside from speech regression last March when the nursery closed and lockdown began she didn't say a word for 6 months, not even mummy but her speech is now spot on. I do worry about her ability to deal with change and pressure at this young age. Another concern is potential covid restrictions and I don't want her first year to be tarred by the current crap.

Gosh, why couldn't she have been born on her due date - 1st September!

Hi OP, I deferred my late August son to start last September for not dissimilar reasons to you and it was the best decision we could have made. He is thriving in a way he simply wouldn't have been able to do without that deferred year.

You will get a lot of stupid advice, conjecture and opinion on this topic on this forum unfortunately as many are against it for no sensible reason so I'd suggest you head straight over to the Flexible School Admissions Facebook as they are fantastic and know everything!

I had a relatively straightforward time going through the process but it is rather a postcode lottery. Good luck OP in whatever decision you make

I don’t know about delay school start - but rather than comparing her to Sept born babies (12 months older) or October born (2 months younger), maybe consider where she is compared to June/July babies (2-1 months older) and see how you feel? There will always be a youngest in the group but it’s not as if the rest of her class is all nearly a year older. Half will likely be closer to her age/development than a Sept 1 baby.

YANBU at all. I have made the decision to defer entry for my son who ‘should’ be going to school this year and will be sending him next year instead. He’s an 18th of August baby.

Look into when she will start. Most places will expect her to go straight into year 1 so that she's not out of sync with the correct age group.

If she starts in reception a year later, when do you anticipate her skipping a year? Secondary school will want her in the correct age group for GCSE.

I'm in Scotland and it seems to have become increasingly common to defer. My daughter is among the eldest in her class, and if she had been born a week earlier she could have started school the year before. She absolutely wouldn't have been ready, and I'd have deferred her.

You'll get a lot on here saying someone has to be the youngest which is true but the option is there so that you can do what is best for your child. I'd wait a bit longer and see
Both of mine are late summer born. Dd1 is top of her class even though there are children who are over a year older in her class as they delayed. Sending her at the right time was best for her. Dd2 will start the same year as yours and I'm watching atm because she's definitely not where her sister was at this age. I'll delay without hesitation if I think it's best

Mine is the youngest in the class. It’s not great. He’s bright academically so has no problems. But his interests and maturity lag behind, he finds it harder to sit still all day, and I feel as he gets older this gets more obvious. If I’d had the option I’d have definitely waited. There’s no rush and no need to add extra pressure to childhood.

Following this thread as we’re in exactly the same position OP. Our child was born on 30th August. So 4th birthday then start school less than a week later.

It’s my understanding that if we defer a year then our child will go straight in to year 1 rather than reception. To be honest, that’s putting us off deferring but don’t know if that varies depending on where you are in the country?

Hi @Bl00dyH3ll my dd is mid August born and inhad the same dilemma as there was such a massive gap between her and the September born kids. However by the October half term there is no way you would have been able to tell.

My only advice is do what you think best, but make sure you research your council's policy. Not all council's will allow deferred entry into reception. A lot will insist that the child still joins their year group so you may find your dd is no better off.

My daughter’s birthday is almost the same and the situation was the same. We tried standard year entry against our better judgement and she was disadvantaged hugely as she was physically small and could not cope with full time school, caught every big totally exhausted, not able to learn etc. Used to have to collect her in the buggy! Moved house and changed it then in lower primary so she’s now the oldest in the year but still quite small! It’s has changed her life and probably will forever. Best decision we have ever made I urge you to do this if you can. Hugely beneficial.

I have an August born but a year older than yours (due to start school this year.) in summer 2019 I felt the same as you, that there was no way she'd be ready to start and we'd probably have to defer. A lot can change in a year.

Does she go to a nursery? I've had lots of conversations this year about whether my dd will be ready for school and her pre school are adamant that she is ready and that she needs school. Perhaps have a chat with your nursery (if you have one) over the coming year and see where they think your dd is

Quite a lot of the data on the impact of being a summer born is muddied by the fact that until recently and in some places these children started school later, so the term they would turn 5. This meant August borns would miss out reception completely. Add to this the fact they they are younger when they do the assessments and much is explained.

Every year I teach August born children some who have delayed some who haven’t. The ones who have delayed have NEVER been at a disadvantage, have NEVER had to have interventions to ‘catch up’ and have never not met National targets. I cannot say the same about the children who stayed with their year group. County authorities it so they stay with their new year group. Children have to stay in some type of education until 18 so taking exams in their new year group isn’t a problem either as some poster suggested.

I have an August born baby and he was fine. I wouldn't let a child miss out on the reception year as it's all play based learning and in year 1 they obviously start to learn more. Why would you want your child to go straight to year 1 when in reception they make friends and get use to being in school.

The school cohort is meant to cater for all children in that age range. So don't compare each end a look at how all the August-borns of that year will be there, as will, all the small DC as well as the tall ones.

Councils are not permitted to have a blanket policy of refusing all requests, they must consider each one on its merits (but they do not have to grant them). Some are more flexible than others and will allow those close to cut off dates to be place a year behind. Others only grant permission if there are exceptional reasons (such as developmental delay)

Also, when researching your councils policy, find out if this automatically means she will be able to transfer to senior school with her classmates, or if she will end up missing either year 6 or 7 if she has to join her age cohort at that point. Chances are you'll be fine, but check and get it in writing (you might need it later).

And check carefully with new council if you move house.

@Seashor It could limit FE options as you are only entitled to funding until 19. This usually means students can resit a funded year of college/sixth form should it be required.

I don't know of any secondary schools that will accept students out of their correct age year. The one we had, went straight from y6 to y8.

As PP have said, it depends on whether you are allowed to defer a year and have her start Reception in the following year’s cohort (so she’ll always be a full year below throughout school) or if ‘deferring a year’ actually means going into Year 1 when she starts and not doing Reception at all.

It’s unusual (in England) to be allowed the former. They don’t like it when the child gets to secondary school age.

We started our son in Reception at just turned 5, he is in Year 1 now and we are so pleased we delayed his start. His birthday is mid august, should have been born in September. For us it wasn’t about him being the youngest, we just believe 4 is too young to start school. If we had a system where they don’t start formal education until 6 like some other countries, we probably wouldn’t have done it.

No way would he have coped had we started him at the “correct” time.

Definitely look up the Facebook group mentioned above, they are far more informed of the law and the guidance than anybody else. There are already people posting that she will have to start in year 1, or that she will have to move year group at some point, which just isn’t true.

Only you know what is best for your daughter, so look at the options and decide. Other people’s opinions don’t matter.

The ones who have delayed have NEVER been at a disadvantage, have NEVER had to have interventions to ‘catch up’ and have never not met National targets. I cannot say the same about the children who stayed with their year group.

This says a lot about the wrongness of National targets, that they don’t seem to be talking the full range of the cohort into account.

OP, your DD is not even 3 yet so it’s hard to imagine her in school. You have the option to request a deferral of reception to the following year. If granted she will NOT have to miss a year later on! Or she could start reception after Christmas or after Easter. You don’t have to make up your mind just yet so I would see how you feel when you have to apply.

My son was one of the youngest in his year and we kept him back. I'm so glad that we did. He would have coped academically but was much more mature a year later.

You can defer however be prepared that it is likely once she is starting high school she will be put back in the 'correct' year so away from her friends.
My DD has just turned 4 (last week) and I didn't consider deferring as IMO I think that taking her away from her friends when she's older will be more damaging than her being behind for a couple of years. She has however been in private nursery 2 days a week since she was a baby and been at the school nursery since September full time (9-3 daily) so I know she will be fine starting in reception in September.

My son’s birthday is 27th August. Keeping him back wasn’t an option when he started school. It was a choice of starting with his correct year group, or missing Reception and going straight into year 1, which I didn’t want.
He’s 15 now. Academically he’s been fine, but socially it’s disadvantaged him a lot. If I could have deferred him I would have.
OP you know your own child. Personality has a big impact here, on how well kids cope.

I don’t know where you live OP but could you delay for a term? January start rather than a whole year?

By son is a late June baby and behind in his emotional and social development, him starting school at four was a huge mistake, he would have been so much better if I has deferred a year.

He started at four and it wasn’t the right thing for him, getting him to school was a battle, once there he wouldn’t settle and I would usually have to collect him. I then switched him to part time (all summer born children can attend reception on a part time basis until the summer term), this did help, but school was still very problematic and he would sometimes become so upset at school he would be physically unwell. I was just about to remove him from school completely when covid arrived, so like other children in the UK he missed almost half of reception.

Those additonal months made a huge difference, he had caught up a bit more on his social and emotional development, his attachment difficulties had also improved. I was dreading the first day back this September, but he was absolutely fine, he now has friends, takes part in group activities etc, he didn’t do any of those things at all in reception.