Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many children roughly will be younger then my child at school

122 replies

Onlytime4000 · 30/03/2023 19:38

I’m due 16th August up likely to be induced around the 4th August would my child be very young in their school year?

OP posts:
MerryMarigold · 30/03/2023 22:03

I work in a preschool. We usually have 1-2 kids born in July/ August out of about 25 per year.

Frosty1000 · 30/03/2023 22:05

I really wouldn't worry yourself about it now as you should concentrate on the next four years before worrying about school.

My ds is mid July and there's only a couple of younger ones. Do I care? Nope as all I care about is how happy he is and whether he's learning as expected. He's yr 3 now and doing brilliantly.

Our LEA would have allowed deferral but he would have gone into yr 1 and missed year R. Totally pointless. Year R is playing and building social skills/friendships etc.

Feuillemille23 · 30/03/2023 22:06

Yes, I'm mid August and was always the youngest in my year. It didn't matter so much for academic subjects but made my life a misery in games and PE lessons where I was up against kids almost a year older (there was a cluster of kids born between September and December).

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:13

My son is an August birthday and also we’ve just moved here from Aus so he could be behind from that as well. He isn’t though. It depends on the child.
What I will say is that there are a couple of kids who are over a year older than him as they deferred, so they’re nearly turning 14 when he is still 12 - but honestly, they’re kind of looked at as a little bit….I guess behind? Because people think they’re not smart enough for the year that they’re “supposed” to be in. Like they’ve been kept back.
So I would consider holding back quite carefully and only if your child has specific learning needs because a held back child at 6 is one thing, but at 13 it’s quite another.

LakieLady · 30/03/2023 22:19

My birthday is 13 August and I was the youngest in my year in secondary and the second youngest in primary. (The youngest was my friend, whose birthday was the day after mine.)

Weallgottachangesometime · 30/03/2023 22:30

If they start at age 4 then Yes there are likely to be only 1 or 2 children younger. Obviously varies depending on the class.

Edthehorse · 30/03/2023 22:31

They will be one of the youngest but not necessarily THE youngest.

Does it matter much? Hasn't made any difference in my experience

Queeniewag · 30/03/2023 22:36

MissDollyMix · 30/03/2023 21:11

It’s very common where I live (england) for children’s I defer. Maybe it’s a regional thing. If your child isn’t ready then that’s an option. In fact it’s so common my DD wishes she had an august birthday so she could be the oldest in the class. I also have a summer-born and if I could do my time again I would defer him- just because of confidence/maturity but academically he’s in year 8 and doing fine so it’s not the end of the world.

Very common where we live too in England. 2 deferred children in Year 1 with my DC and 3 in current reception. ( classes of 30 children). No question of them missing reception or skipping a year later on either. This is their cohort for their whole schooling. I think this will only become more common.

Monsterjam · 30/03/2023 22:38

hard to say, they will obviously be young in the Yr. I have a 31st Aug child, they are one of two born in that day out a class of 6…

Hankunamatata · 30/03/2023 22:42

Some authorities will let you defer. Which I would strongly encourage from personal experience as summer born tend to have a harder time in primary

Frustratedandmotivated · 30/03/2023 22:43

My birthday is 22nd august, and I was obviously one of the youngest, as it’s the last month of birth that you would go into that year group, but I wasn’t the youngest.
There we’re about 5/6 with birthdays later in August than me.
For me it made very little difference, apart from everyone was able to learn to drive before me, and were legally able to drink before me.

Leftlegwest · 30/03/2023 22:44

In my son's class your child would have been the youngest. In my daughters class there would be about three or four with similar birthdays.

Angelonthewall · 30/03/2023 22:44

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:13

My son is an August birthday and also we’ve just moved here from Aus so he could be behind from that as well. He isn’t though. It depends on the child.
What I will say is that there are a couple of kids who are over a year older than him as they deferred, so they’re nearly turning 14 when he is still 12 - but honestly, they’re kind of looked at as a little bit….I guess behind? Because people think they’re not smart enough for the year that they’re “supposed” to be in. Like they’ve been kept back.
So I would consider holding back quite carefully and only if your child has specific learning needs because a held back child at 6 is one thing, but at 13 it’s quite another.

Looked at as behind by who? I’m so glad the kids at my dc’s school or the parents didn’t shut talk like this!

nutbrownhare15 · 30/03/2023 22:46

CaptainMyCaptain · 30/03/2023 21:12

But they would have missed out on the play based Reception year.

Show quote history

No, as summerborns you can ask for them to start at reception age 5.

Angelonthewall · 30/03/2023 22:49

I have summer borns - Dd was fine, ds was not but it was back in the day when only the most severely affected kids weee allowed to defer. Ds was fine academically, it took till his was in Year 12 before he had caught up emotionally and socially - I wish I could have fixed it for him to defer.

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:53

@Angelonthewall - just what the other kids say - not necessarily in a mean way, just in the normal way kids are. I mean, they are behind aren’t they? They’ve been kept back because they can’t do the work of the proper year they should be in?
Sorry, I’m from Australia and so really only kids who need to repeat a year are kept back.

Howmanysleepsnow · 30/03/2023 22:54

Assuming 24 kids in a class, 2 (on average) will be born in august. If yours is early august, the other may be younger.
DS was born early August. He’s second youngest. He and my September born DS (years apart) had the same late August EDD. My September born was noticeably less emotionally mature than his peers, whereas my August born is noticeably more so. Birth order isn’t everything!

FeltPenThief · 30/03/2023 22:54

My daughter is the 24th August. She was the youngest in her primary class but possibly one or two other late August birthdays in the 2 form year group.

In a large secondary school (1000+ pupils), her friend is on the 31st and there's several people she knows who have birthdays around hers. She's quite quiet and doesn't have lots of friends, so there could well be more in her year group with mid to late August birthdays.

Having an August birthday only impacts my daughter in terms of her birthday party (we do July for friends as everyone is away in August). She was ready for school at just turned 4. She does have a hereditary communication special need which wasn't picked up until secondary (I think as most kids have caught up by then and it became more obvious she was struggling in a couple of areas). I think primary just presumed it was because she was young in the year. She's well liked, has friends and is working at the expected levels.

Weallgottachangesometime · 30/03/2023 22:55

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:53

@Angelonthewall - just what the other kids say - not necessarily in a mean way, just in the normal way kids are. I mean, they are behind aren’t they? They’ve been kept back because they can’t do the work of the proper year they should be in?
Sorry, I’m from Australia and so really only kids who need to repeat a year are kept back.

That’s not the case in England. Most of the deferred children I know are deferred due to parents wanting them to start school and formal learning later on.

DuneLoafers · 30/03/2023 22:59

It probably depends if there’s a culture of deferring where you live, if there is then the children later in August may be placed in the year below by their parents so the numbers could be skewed even more to your child being young. You could do this too if you wanted though.

DS1 is July and I was initially worried as he was really unwell when he was born but he’s ready for school and I’m not worried. DS2 is end of August (was due Sept) and has also had a stormy start to life. I’m going to see what he’s like to guide whether he goes in “his” year or the year below.

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:59

Oh ok - it’s not something I’d ever come across before - someone’s got to be the youngest haven’t they?

FeltPenThief · 30/03/2023 23:01

I would add that if you want to defer and start reception at age 5 and a bit, you do need to check carefully how you apply for reception/infants/junior/secondary school. That's not to say there will be a problem, but in my LA, there is a caveat about it. Make sure you know exactly what you need to do and when. You will also have to bear that in mind if you move out of your LA area, as a new area might have different requirements.

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 23:01

Also, I forgot you start school at 4 over here. We start at 5 in Aus so I guess that gives them the extra time. They do Pre school though, which I assume is similar to reception.
My son just finished year 6 in Aus and has come in half way through year 8 and they’ve covered really similar stuff so I’m not sure why they start a year earlier anyway.

Angelonthewall · 30/03/2023 23:02

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:53

@Angelonthewall - just what the other kids say - not necessarily in a mean way, just in the normal way kids are. I mean, they are behind aren’t they? They’ve been kept back because they can’t do the work of the proper year they should be in?
Sorry, I’m from Australia and so really only kids who need to repeat a year are kept back.

Interesting you have that opinion when the starting age in Australia is a lot more relaxed than it is in the UK. My sis had led me to believe it was a more enlightened system obviously you can’t account for everyone have an open mind!

Weallgottachangesometime · 30/03/2023 23:03

Ozgirl75 · 30/03/2023 22:59

Oh ok - it’s not something I’d ever come across before - someone’s got to be the youngest haven’t they?

We’ll yes of course someone will be the youngest.