Children start school at 5, oh no they don't

[Sadworld23]

We should stop taking about children starting school in the UK at 5.
Whilst that may be the legal age, even Gov.uk says most parents send their child to reception class at 4.

This makes me sad tbh, bc our child is (generally) happy at his nursery, 7m-3y, and I can't see him being ready for school at 4y.
He's barely out of nappies and bottles and I'm already choosing a school for him. And that's without the worries of sorting wrap around childcare to make my work hours work.

I had considered holding him back but nursery are already calculating giving up his place.

YABU children don't really start school til 5y.
YANBU children start school at 4y.

Compulsory school age is the term after their 5th birthday.

You can send yours earlier if you want to or not.

I was in Ireland when my children started school. My dd has a July birthday and she started at 5 and 2 months; ds is October so he was 4 and 11 months.
Worked really well for both of them. There were 2 years of Infant classes - junior and senior - so they were very ready for 1st class and the more intensive work and longer school day.

I had considered holding him back but nursery are already calculating giving up his place.

Well don’t let that put you off, if you keep him there they’ll still get their money won’t they.

Keep him back if you want, and if it’s possible. I agree it’s very young. My kids have all been fine with it but I’d have been happy with a later start.

Rising 5. So the September before they turn 5. Scotland has a different system.

That sounds really nice. I don’t mind reception in England, but some kids will have just turned 4, and already in reception there’s lots of sitting still and learning phonics etc. I wouldn’t mind more nursery-esque years

I don't think anyone does talk about starting school at five so they?! I think we all know that the vast majority of children start school the September after they turn four.

If you want to hold your child back then you can do. Do what works for you.

You are entitled to keep him in nursery until the term after he turns 5. It sounds like he will need quite a bit of SEN support anyway so it will be quite different to the set up for a typical 4 yo

My July born 4 year old has just started reception and she’s doing well, but it makes me sad that some of her classmates are already turning 5. I would have loved another 10 months of her at home with me, but also didn’t want her to miss out on reception year. You will do fine op, face it when you come to it, the months of build up caused me more worry than actually getting on with it the past couple of weeks. Watch time for school on CBeebies, it helped prepare us!

@ResusciAnnie
It was lovely. Juniors and Seniors shared yard time together, did forest classes, art and drama and music and dance classes together- such a lovely gentle elongated introduction to formal education. The seniors loved being in the older gang !

A year is a a long time for the development of preschool children. You may find that he is ready by September. There is still a lot of play in reception and preschool also involves some time sat together for learning, it's not a huge change. For the wrap around care look at schools that provide this. Most of the schools in my area have breakfast and after school clubs so children can be there from 7.30am-6pm.

In Scotland they are at least 4½ years old with the cut off being age 4 by the end of February for an August start. They can also defer starting primary 1 for a year and be 5 ½ instead

They’re going to school, not a workhouse. They’ll be fine whether they’re 4 or 5.

I felt exactly the same as you, completely understand OP. My DD was due to start school this September but I’ve chosen for her to join a Waldorf school (also look up Steiner) they stay in kindergarten until the September after they turn 6, and it’s just absolutely magical. If you have one near you I’d highly recommend going to an open day. We travel 30 mins but know other families there do travel further & it is so worth it x

Reception is pretty relaxed and play based.

Most children seem to be stuck in a nursery so not sure reception is all that different

You are not holding your child back if you start them in Reception at CSA. If you send your child to school at age 4 you are sending them EARLY. They don't need to be in school that young. CSA in England is start of term following 5th birthday, which is still early for most European countries.

The national curriculum doesn’t start until year one. Reception is still early years.

Reception is pretty much the same as nursery. They are still on the early years foundation stage. Proper school curriculum starts in Year 1 when all children are 5 years old.

Reception is play based, very easy going. Ours has free flow to the outdoors and the kids generally have options/ different things set up relevant to the subject they're learning.
I think mine would've struggled going from nursery straight into year 1. Reception has been a nice midway and they've learnt the school routine and some older kids.
The school day is actually shorter than a lot of private nursery hours too.

I had February and April babies and they both started at 5 and a half after two years of preschool. So glad I waited.

Look into your options - start with reading up about your local council and their stance on children starting school at compulsory school age. For me in Hertfordshire there was no fuss about my child starting at 5 in reception, quite rightly.

People should consider whether their child really would be missing reception (unlikely) when they consider 'holding their child back'.

On what basis are you suggesting he's going to need support for SEN?. There's nothing to suggest that in the OP.

I was assuming based on him only just being potty trained and off bottles at 3.5. That indicates he's quite far behind other 3.5 yos. If there's other reasons why he was delayed in potty training and weaning off bottles like trauma or a medical issue then it's possible he doesn't have SEN, but he's still not at a typical level for that age. Most 4 yos are ready for a Reception classroom but it sounds like OPs child is quite far behind the average and might not be.

Yep. I don't think there's a big difference between Reception and a large nursery. Not at our local primary school, anyway. The transition between Reception and Year 1 seems to be a bigger jump.

Yes because kids are born throughout the year so ages are: 4/5, 5/6, 6/7 and so on. I have a late July child and my stepson was born in August. Both started shortly after they turned 4. They were ready.

YAB... Ambiguous because it depends on the child and on the parents' choices.
Don't worry too much though, reception is really very much like a nursery preschool setting, just with a bit more phonics.