Not to send my child to reception year?

[IzzyPopp]

It is not compulsory in this country to start primary school until 5 year old (I find even that is early) but children even start at the age of 4 in reception.

How important is the reception and what is taught, given it is not compulsory to start until the child turns 5.

And then once the child turns 5 they must start the term after their fifth birthday, not in the following September after they turned 5, which is the beginning of school year. What is taught in that year given it is ok for the child to miss the beginning of that school year?

Do people in general send their kids to reception at 4 or do they wait till 5? Or does it vary quite a bit?

It's mostly about playing and socialising- they will make friends and so will you ( well acquaintances anyway!)

I'm glad you posted this!

Reception is incredibly important in my opinion.

If your child is summer born (1st April to the end of August) then you can delay their start until compulsory school age.

We're doing that for both of our summer born boys.

I would never choose to outright miss the reception year though. The jump from Reception to Y1 is pretty big.

And of course children who miss reception year catch up. It's such a short time in their school lives. Obviously the vast majority of kids benefit from that year, it doesn't sound like you are talking about a child with SEN.

Everyone has pointed out that it's rare for children not to do reception, and so of course that has its own effect.

I adore my DD's school and they were wonderful - and not too silly about being hidebound by targets - but even there, it was a bit sad to see the focus on 'work' for children who were too young. I do think you have a real worry here.

I have friends and family not from the UK who are shocked at how prescriptive education is here, and how counter-productive it often is.

If possible, I would look hard for a school that seems sensible, but I would send a reception-age child to school, just because it makes them such an outsider otherwise.

Reception is mostly play based. I wouldn’t want to start my DC in year 1 as everyone will of made friends and they won’t be used to the routine etc.

Most school days are around the hours 9-3:30. If your child is in full time nursery why would you consider not sending them to school? Would they stay in a private nursery? I definitely think it would be better for them to go to school.

The problem is that we can only tell you about what happens in reception in this country-you need either to say what country you're in to find out if anyone on here has experience that will help, or talk to people around you....

I don't think 'play' should be seen as a negative term!

If children in reception are doing 'formal learning,' they shouldn't be. Play is hugely important.

It's so sad when all of this is reduced to 'maths and phonics,' or when teachers are too limited to cope with children who join school later, or who are less able. I really think this is a lot of what is wrong with schooling today. We need more play, and less ticking of boxes and telling children and parents they will be irrevocably damaged by any step outside of a box.

Because most 4-5 yos are in school, there aren't many around to socialise with. They're not in the nurseries or at day time groups.

Missing yR is an educational and social disadvantage.

There'll be little choice of school places in y1 and being a late joiner can be difficult to blend in socially, particularly if friendships are lead heavily by parental friendships out of school.

Both of my children were 4 when they started reception and honestly I think they needed it. It teaches them how to behave in a school whilst still having fun

My parents didn't apply for me to start school in time so I ended up skipping reception and going straight into Y1. I really struggled with maths all the way through school and right up until I took my GCSEs. I was a summer born too. Maybe starting in the right year group wouldn't have made a difference anyway, and I'm sure there are lots of kids who can catch up, maths was the only subject I really struggled with. But I would never purposely make my child skip a whole school year. There is a big jump from YR to Y1 anyway without them missing out a whole year. my ds2 is just coming to the end of y1 and said last September "mummy it's just learning now, no playing!" (An exaggeration I'm sure)

When is your DC's birthday OP? If they are after April 1st you can delay them so they start reception a year later - all the benefits of being that bit older but still getting the full reception education which is such a crucial year to start their learning journey.

If they are born earlier in the year you can keep them in nursery until the January or the April but they'll have to start in the middle of the year and miss out on some phonics/number knowledge and friendship making etc. Not necessarily the end of the world but I think reception has enough value to want your child to experience all of it, even if you think they're 'too young' (I don't disagree with you there but it is what it is).

How are you ok with your child going to nursery full but not starting Reception? That doesn't make any sense to me as it won't be much different.

@RadioGaGaRadioGooGoo This is a genuine question to help me get my head around compulsory school age - as a late August baby, did your child technically go to school a whole year sooner than was compulsory?

And was it therefore a year sooner than he'd be expected to attend, or are children expected to attend from the September following their 4th birthday despite it not being mandatory until the term after their 5th birthday? I find it tricky to get my head around! Thank you.

My summer born started Reception in the summer term - we were moving house and decided not to start elsewhere and move.

I taught her to read myself before starting. I’m quite glad she missed most of the phonics teaching! I’m not really a fan of it.

She made friends quickly, and got the idea of the routine pretty much straight away.

There was no issue about catching up, she just caught up no bother, because she was ready for school, being that bit older.

I think she benefited lots from a relaxed start. She’s my youngest, but if I had another, I’d maybe do the same, even if I wasn’t moving house.

I’m relieved I didn’t defer her and have her do the whole Reception year. She’s in high school now and would hate to be in the “immature” year below.

Not everyone is the same. Make the decision based on the child in front of you.

If they were born after April you can request admission to reception at CSA. That’s what we’ve done. Reception is important but equally DD is not ready.

Radiogagaradiogoogoo my dc is also late aug and exactly the same. Had a great reception year.

Mine is in reception. He is also autistic with adhd so his attention span lasts as long as a fart in breeze.

He's reading pretty much fluently. He's on level 7 reading books and it just blows my mind.

Maths - instant recall for things like number bonds, doubling etc 0-20. 2D, 3D shapes, odd/even numbers. Understanding of numbers 100+

Writing in sentences with capital letters, full stops etc.

He's been to museums, a theatre, a farm trip, the supermarket, multiple trips to the library and church.

He's performed in the nativity and another show thing they did. He's sung on stage at the Easter celebration and something else at church (can't keep up!)

And I didn't think he was ready for school at all

It’s massively different - we attend private nursery full time. She doesn’t have to participate in any adult led activity if she doesn’t want to. It doesn’t matter what time I drop her off or pick her up. We can take as much time off as we like without worrying about attendance.

The other issue is getting a school place. If you keep your child back, they are not obliged to hold a place for you, so you may end up in a different school miles from home, wherever there is space

Move to Scotland most kids start at 5 here . I agree with you , even that is early .

was it therefore a year sooner than he'd be expected to attend, or are children expected to attend from the September following their 4th birthday despite it not being mandatory until the term after their 5th birthday?

It is very much the norm in the uk to begin from the September after your fourth birthday. While its talked about a lot on here, in RL deferral is rare.

@Curiosity101 have you checked with your planned schools? Depending on area, some schools will not allow late starters to begin with reception. I would be very sure of that before I delayed them.

Generally 8:30ish until 15:15ish.

I think you have a slightly incorrect idea of reception. It's not that different to nursery really. Slightly more structured, and more learning, but very play based. My DD is in reception and they have a lot of "independent learning" (aka free play).

What's your plan? Leave your child in nursery for the extra year and then go straight to year 1? They'd miss out on the transition stage of reception, which is halfway between the two, so I don't think they'd benefit. Not very many people skip reception all together.

Yes I think that's true. Only 1, possibly 2 kids in any one school, and only in maybe 10-15% of schools in a county? But it's becoming increasingly more known-about and therefore the numbers are going up each year.