School full time at 4

[Holeymoleyy]

My DC turns 4 at the end of July. I received the letter a few months ago and applied for her school place. The offer came back and it says she is to start school full time from the 6th September. There didn’t seem to be any option of part time

She currently goes to nursery, who are not able to keep any children on who turn 4 before the start of September term and they were encouraging all parents to apply for a school place

She is very bright and sociable and her confidence has grown a lot since going to nursery so I have no worries there. I just hope that I’m doing the right thing. Any opinions appreciated?

I worried a lot about my daughter starting school aged 4yrs 1 month (birthday 4 August). She actually took to it much easier and less emotionally than her sister, who was born 5 September and therefore started school aged exactly five. You never can tell.

My DS was 4 at end of May and was completely fine at school, it took some getting used to but it was the same for my oldest DC who was the oldest in year so its not age dependant. The tallest and most 'mature' child in my DS slass is the one born on 28th August so dont put too much focus on your DCs age as it really might not matter.

Whereas I was very unwell during my 3rd trimester with a baby due at the end of Sept and nearly had C-sections in July and August. I was thrilled that she was eventually born in the early hours of 1 Sept so that she'd be very ready for school by that time (as she now is). My priority was that she should be born as healthy as possible and I felt like it was a bonus that she has a smoother start to school, but now I see I have missed out on a "no-brainer" £12k holiday...

As I’ve said before you can aim/hope/wish for whatever you want, doesn’t mean you’ll get it does it? There are pros to having a summer baby, was trying to assure the OP that those pros are all true for her situation. Glad it’s made you laugh though.

@FlyingSoap Tbf plenty of people ‘try’ for a Sept/Oct baby for academic advantage & they don’t get ridiculed.

Your reasoning is just bonkers, you know about free funded hours right? I hope you’re both young and fertile. I guess those of us who took a long time to conceive find it triggering to hear people talk about conceiving a baby in such a precise way. I wouldn’t get too hung up on it, just be grateful for a baby, when the time comes.

Thank you! I know nobody can ever get what they want, you get what you’re given and you adapt! But there’s no harm in wishing for a certain month just like some people would rather have either gender first. Doesn’t mean you’re devastated if it doesn’t go that way, far from it

I was the youngest girl in school when I started, thought that was brilliant, was very pissed off when a new girl joined and her birthday was a day after mine!

Well I didn't plan to have my kids during a certain month lol, but both came out 3-4 weeks early anyway. My August due date baby was born in July.

He is finishing Reception soon and will be turning 6 during the Summer holidays.

OP It's not too late to defer as CSA (compulsory school age) is 5, but you would need to look for a new nursery quickly if yours won't accept. All the nurseries I spoke to were fine with having a 4 year old. In Reception they do play a lot, but I find there's also a lot of reading/writing etc expectations and apparently Year 1 is a big step up.

My twins are 11 and just finishing year 7. Their birthday is 30 august and they loved school but one in particular got tired. When others were doing after school swimming and ballet, we waited until they were well into Year one for that.

long term impact has been confidence. It’s very obvious in reception that some dc can write etc so even when dtds were in Year 4 and it had all balanced out, they felt like “everyone” else was more intelligent/able. Even in Year 7, dtd1 will say “I’m rubbish at maths” … she’s in top set and doing brilliantly. I’ve explained to her my theory of where she got this from and how that changes for summer borns as they catch up during years 4 and 5.

dd1 is February born and she was so so ready for school. There’s never a perfect time but I think it’s about understanding your dc and working with them. I think them being part time when others in the class are full time would just create and even bigger virtual gulf.

Mine were due 3 October so August wasn’t the plan but neither were twins.

Thanks all. I did realise it was just that one of the schools we visited and put as our second choice said that ‘full time school is sometimes too much for a 4 year old, so we would offer part time e.g 3 full days or 5 half days’ And a few mums I know their 4 year olds will be doing part time so it just made me think

She has had her induction day and absolutely loved it and says she wants to go back so that’s a good sign!

My 3 year old is due to start school next September. They won’t be going to reception - for me, they’re still so young to be sat indoors (and still) for All those hours 5 days a week. So skipping reception, and will send to year 1

@BeezHoney if it is a good reception they won't be sitting still and indoors 5 hours a day

A large majority of it is. As opposed to not going at all, where I can facilitate museums/outdoors/going on trains and buses/following their lead and engaging in the stuff they are actually interested in, with no pressure just purely lead by fun and enjoyment.

Thankfully my Mum didn’t give it a second thought when she sent me to reception age 4 + 2 days in the 1980s.

There has to be a cut off somewhere. There will be other summer born kids. IME, as a summer born with 2 summer born kids, they tend to gravitate towards and form friendships with those around the same age.

This seems to me like an extension of wrapping them up in cotton wool. Which is really not doing children any good.

@FlyingSoap that's a risky little game 😀 you could easily be ending up with a September baby and pay a whole other year! If it's that vital to save on some nursery fees I'd be starting next month hoping for April/May at the earliest. To be fair, it's not something I ever thought about but it makes some sort of weird sense as you will pay less nursery fees if you time it right!

@BeezHoney if you are going down that route I would do reception a year late rather than straight into Y1

My son is a mid July baby and I was actually annoyed that he had to wait until after Christmas to start in reception. I felt that he was missing out on all the Christmas fun etc and friendship groups already established amongst the September starters .
It never occurred to me that his actual age was a problem.
He was absolutely fine and being one of the youngest was never a problem…different story when all his friends hit 18 before him though!

If you believe that the content in reception, can only be learnt within 4 walls, from a book and by a teacher, then you’re wrong. So, for us year 1 will be absolutely fine. I appreciate the concern though ❤️

Two of my kids have July birthdays (both boys) and started school just after turning 4 and were fine, they seemed quite little to begin with but by the end of primary you wouldn’t have guessed.

They will have to make the jump back to their normal year group at some point. Schools are very used to summer born babies, yours won't even be the youngest there will be a few at least born in August. Part time would not work. They will miss big chunks of the day and miss out on developing friendships. Remember school is only 9-3 and most of that will be playing.

Deferred children stay with their cohort now.

In Wales this is standard that they start when 3/4. Some schools do part time for a while but lots are straight to full time. My 4 year old started at 3 and 9 months and has been fine, as have her friends. She was in full time nursery beforehand which helps though.

This is the weirdest logic I've ever heard in my life. Wtf. You do you though.

I have a July child and I didn't even consider deferral as I had faith in the school and my child's ability to be resilient with a new challenge.

We did part time for three weeks and I have to say as a working parent that's a ball ache juggling things.

See how they go and keep an open line of communication with their teacher and adapt as necessary. They'll be tired but by half term they'll have got used to it more.

As they go up through the school years you won't notice birthday months at all - we're year 3 now and we're on target and up amongst those born in September. Each child is different but just have faith.