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?

It's not that the content can't be taught in those four walls, it's that the jump between reception and year 1 is huge and they won't have had the year at school getting used to the school routines, and integrating with their peers. Sending them into a class where all the children have their friendship groups when they don't know how to follow the structure is quite a big deal. If you think your dc is too young to start school in September, then defer for a year and start reception next year. Sending them straight to year 1 would be a huge leap.

A good school has reception children learning through play, my DD has almost finished her reception year and they have their own garden for their class and do outdoor learning 4 times a week as well as P.E and their outdoor breaks. She is in a typical 2 form entry state school.

Starting school the Sept after you're 4yrs old is the norm for 99% of the population in the UK isn't it? Some schools ease them in with a week or 2 of half days but that's it.
🤷‍♀️

I think that it depends where you live or the ELC provider. In my area you can get 30free term time hours or you can spread them out throughout the year.

I don’t no if I am just a bit thick or because I stay in Scotland(don’t have reception)but what is the difference between reception and the preschool year at nursery?

@Ohhmydays Reception class has phonics and early maths... so pretty similar to "preschool" or "kindergarten" in other countries. Just part of school in England. So less formal than Scottish P1, but not more learning than nursery.

Presumably if you need childcare when they are under 4 then you will still need wrap around care for the short primary school day. The savings will be significantly less than 12k.

Do you have a link for this info? Most recent document on a council website : "Transition to secondary school and transferring school In-Year:
Admission authorities are not required to automatically agree for
a child to be placed outside of their normal year group and may
decide they will only offer a school place for the normal year
group"

Mine is the youngest in her year group. She’s done well and moving to year 3 now she’s definitely not the bottom of the class either socially or academically

They are 5/6 - friendship groups won’t be a concern. I joined a school in year 9, I settled in well.

The school routine, in my opinion, is far too young to impose on most (not all) 4/5 year olds. By delaying it a year I’m allowing my child that extra year to be just that, a child, and allowing them to be a bit more grown/mature to understand it the following year. In fact I feel like I’m doing them a disservice forcing them to do it that young “just so they’re used to it”. My child can learn through play, meet other children, have routine, learn, everything they’d do in reception all at home, with less pressure and more attention from “the teacher”.

Again, appreciate the concern. I’m glad your child’s school is fit for purpose and that they’re thriving, that’s great. Like you have done what’s best for your child, I’m doing what’s best for mine ❣️

With a July birthday she won’t be the youngest in the year. The school have seen it all before and are used to managing a wide range of abilities and maturities.
I personally sit on the fence wrt deferring. It’s quite a normal thing to do where I live and our school seem supportive of summer babies who aren’t ready to start with their cohort. My own eldest (July baby) was too old for this more enlightened approach so had to start with his cohort. In some ways it was brilliant for him. He was a bright kid who was already used to long days at nursery and he needed the stimulation - much better than being stuck at home with his sleep-deprived, frazzled mother (DC2 was a terror!) He’s never seemed to suffer academically. That said, there’s a big gap- both physically and emotionally between him and the eldest in his year. Right now he’s 12 whereas the eldest in his year are nearly 14- that’s a massive gap! He’s found his tribe (mostly other summer-born boys) but he’ll never be a sportsman! If I could do my time again, I would probably have deferred him but we are where we are. I think I will strongly encourage him to take a gap year if he wants to go to uni as I think he will get more out of it if he’s a bit older when he goes (if, indeed he wants to go at all!)

But surely if you don’t want your child sitting still in a classroom you would delay a bit longer @BeezHoney? most children find the step up from reception to Y1 a shock, more so for a child who won’t have even been in school

You’re clearly well intentioned but please come back and comment when (if) you have an august child who is little more than a toddler, looking down the barrel of full time school. Of course lots cope and are fine but I find the idea of actively aiming for what is statistically a significant disadvantage for your child, bizarre (that’s being polite). If a few months of nursery fees makes that much difference then raising a child will be financially very precarious for you. It’s a drop in the ocean of the vast cost of child raising for 18+ years.

Do you really think the issue with August babies is their height and how they look next to their peers…?! All the effort in the world can’t give a just four year old the gross and fine motor skills, emotional development etc. of a nearly five year old. The majority struggle, quite a bit. Especially boys. Why would you actively wish that for your baby???

Trying not to be rude but you sound utterly clueless and like you’re coming at parenthood from very much what’s best for you and not the well-being of the child. Can’t help thinking you may have some big surprises ahead….

In Ontario , Canada children start full time school in the September of the year they turn 4 ( even if they have a December birthday). While it is not compulsory, it is highly recommended

That’s what a good reception will be like but obviously not as frequent regarding trips. But it’s all play based, they maybe spend 15 mins sitting on the carpet once or twice a day. I wouldn’t expect reception children to be at chairs and tables often, unless maybe doing art, practicing fine motor skills etc but the majority of this will be choice. These things will be set up and they can choose where they go, what they play with, indoor, outdoor etc.

My middle child is August born, made zero difference and he was the top performer in his secondary school, now at University

I don’t think she meant because of the learning the happens. More the social skills, routine, environment , expectations.

If only. I’ve really gotten a sense of that it’s still quite structured/not very child-led, and we live within walking distance of about 5 primary schools (admittedly probably wouldn’t get in to all 5, would probably depend on which we were geographically closest to). X

We have children in reception class at our school who still aren’t five. They are absolutely fine.

Depends on your local authority maybe but the one child we had where the parent asked to defer starting until Sept this year (turned 5 last month) was told they could BUT would then have to go straight into year 1 and only if we weren’t full in that year group at the time - certainly no holding places open.

They opted to start last September with the rest of the children and again absolutely fine. He actually settled quicker than some of the older children.

That’s not my experience (as a parent or professionally). Reception is still EYFS and should definitely be child led and learning through play. It’s sad if some are not implementing this.

I fully agree with you by the way, that for most children, our system is not beneficial. They start formal school way too young. But unfortunately that’s the way it is, and in the current system I do think children that have been to nursery have an advantage going into reception, and the same for reception to year 1. It’s such a big change. When mine went from play based reception to yr 1 it was a shock.

In reception, you can tell which kids have been to nursery usually too.

Freshly 4 (to 5) years old is so young to impose a lot of school/classroom norms. In my opinion**, and I want my kid to enjoy being a kid for a bit longer. A ratio of 1:30 (sometimes 2:30 if they’re lucky) or a ratio of one 1:1, where I can also facilitate play, learning, meet ups etc etc? So yeah, I’ve chosen the latter. They’ll be a whole year older by the time year 1 comes around. Perhaps more susceptible to the idea of classroom-based learning - all whilst having had a fun, easy-going year under their belt. I mean, as fun and easygoing as life with a young child could be 🤣

The above is all based on opinion of course, and don’t forget my decisions won’t affect you or your life so you don’t need to worry too much about it. Continue what you’re doing for your child - it’s going working well for you all, and I’ll continue with mine 🥰❤️

Dts turned 4 at the end of august and started 3rd September. It can't be a surprise to you? Mine were prem and actually due in the October so were technically 3+10 when they started. They were
Fine.

@FlyingSoap

print it out & come back to us in 20 years, let us know how it panned out.

Yeah I truly hear what you’re saying.

Mine is currently at a forest school 2 x a week, which is mainly outdoors and rather unstructured. Even if it’s raining, the doors are left open and they can come in and out as they please (obviously wearing waterproof overalls) and enjoys it thoroughly. Mine would much rather be outside in the rain climbing the low-lying trees or digging in the mud, than inside listening to instructions/tasks. Of course this can and probably will change, but at the moment I feel I would be doing them a disservice; forcing them to do reception when I can see their love and interest in the outdoors, and learning about what interests them, right in front of me. Whilst I can, I’d love to just take their lead. Even if it’s just for a year x

Wow that must be tricky for the teacher having new children join randomly throughout the school year !

I fully agree with you. It’s just a shame the system isn’t set up to support this. Mine are a bit older and I had to work so didn’t have an option but forest school would have been perfect for my SEN youngest. Instead he was straight in full time at 4. He coped fine in nursery for the most part, and reception. Real problems surfaced in yr 1. He unfortunately had to leave mainstream.

I agree with others, most are fine in school, and there’s benefits. Doesn’t mean it’s the best option, just all that’s available to most.

100% your last comment. It’s a great system overall, I personally had the best time at school and got good grades, however it’s not a one-size-fits-all and there isn’t enough teachers/space/materials/funding to facilitate every child’s needs and learning styles. So you’re right, whilst it works for most we can’t deny that it doesn’t work for all.

Out of interest, did you homeschool your SEN child after you pulled them out?

Forest school (ours is actually a nursery as it is from ages 2-5, but is still almost totally outdoors all year round) should be accessible to all. There is one fairly locally that caters to up to year 11, which looks INCREDIBLE, however it is £5k per term 😢 so only accessible to those with a lot of disposable income. When I win the lottery, I’ll buy a huge plot of land and create my own forest school that would purely be “pay what you can, if at all” so that it doesn’t discriminate to socioeconomic status. The benefits of being outdoors is just so incredible, it’s such a shame most are priced out. Or don’t have access to it geographically :(