Age to start kindy - NSW

[Retrospeaker]

Emigrating over to NSW in a few weeks and wondering about the best age to start kindergarten.

DS has just turned 4. Could start in February as he’ll be 5 before end July next year, but that’ll make him youngest in the year (which he would have been here) and I hear it’s much more usual in Australia to keep your kid in preschool for that extra year.
He can dress himself, toilet independently (still working on a squeaky clean bum but more or less) absolutely loves numbers and books and phonics and I believe is where he should be socially - developing empathy, develops friendships, and follows rules (most of the time). He did take a while to settle into his preschool setting but is now very happy and confident there. He will respond to ‘strange’ adults and have conversations etc most of the time (I’m saying that because I think he’d go to a teacher for help etc).

So looking for some info on what you Aussies do really - is 4.5 too young? Will he be the only young one?

As you will know the system here means there can be an 18 month difference between youngest and oldest in a year so you need to work out what is best for your child. DD started Kindy a week before her sixth birthday - when we emigrated I assumed she would have to start the year before but her (Independent) school gave me an option of a part time preschool place or full time Kindy place and having had a disastrous experience with DS1 who started in England aged 4 (who I would also have said was school ready) I opted for the latter and have never regretted it. At the time late start was definitely the norm but childcare here is really expensive so I would think more and more working parents are starting kids when they can now. A lot will probably depend on where you end up living and also if you are looking at public or private schools. The “pre kindy” class at private schools offers the best compromise in my opinion but it’s not a cheap option. I could go on forever about the social pros and cons but the most noticeable for me was when the kids got to the end of high school and the younger ones couldn’t get into the same venues as their friends. By the time they finally turned 18 everyone else had moved on. I might have been more aware than most though as all three of mine ended up being on the older end. DS1 ended up going back a year here due to his age which was the best thing that happened to him. My middle son is now a high school teacher and absolutely loves his job unlike most of the teachers on MN!

July is very very young. Even more so for a boy.
Personally I wouldn't even consider sending him. It wouldn't be very common in our area to send them at that age.

My daughter is July and I waited till she was 5.5 and have not regretted it, neither has she. In fact I think she would've had massive FOMO when being 17, mentally she would have found that very hard.

At our daycare there are a couple of families starting their kids at 4.5 but most hold them back. What’s the preschool program like at his daycare? It sounds like he’s learning well so it’s more the social and emotional development to consider. You can always speak to the principals at your chosen school and discuss with them. They’re pretty used to these discussions with parents.

Going against the grain here. Most research shows there’s no benefit to holding a child back. The only advantage they get is they’ll do better at sports because they’re older than their classmates.

The decision to hold back (especially for boys) is popular, but very much vibes-based rather than evidence-based.

That said, you just need to make the decision for the individual child, rather than blanket ideas about what’s best. My niece, whose birthday is about 6 weeks before the cut-off age, was held back because my sister (an early years teacher) could see she was struggling with learning to read and needed more time. It was the right decision for her.

My son and a lot of his friends are among the youngest in their cohort and they are doing fine. So again, it just depends on the individual kid.

We started DS just before he turned 5. He’s loving it and doing well. I thought he would be just about the youngest but as a pp said with all the costs going up more seem to be starting around 5 again so there’s a fair few even younger.
At our primary the kids are separated by age for sports days, cross country, swim carnival etc so even that isn’t much of an issue.
We took the same approach older DD and while she hasn’t ever struggled with the work she was quieter and a bit shy. Now she’s year three she has definitely hit her stride and found voice despite being one of the younger ones.
At the intake interview the principal explained that the curriculum was still targeted at 5yos so definitely age and ability appropriate, and some
of the older ones struggle a bit more with staying engaged as they breeze through it faster.

Alright thanks very much guys. I must admit I’m looking at the daycare fees and cringing but we’ll get a bit of subsidy once DH starts working. I don’t want that to affect our decision.

Hes looking like he might be very sporty so that is something to consider. I think as @StellaShining said I’ll speak to a few principals on the tours and might also have a word with his current preschool teacher in the UK and see what she thinks.

Just another thing to worry about!!

@wandawaves would you mind sharing your rough area? Or sending me a PM?
I have a feeling it might be more the norm in the area we are moving to to keep them in preschool as it’s a traditionally wealthy area.

Another thing to consider is that NSW has the latest cut off point. QLD is June (I think) and VIC is April. So in other states he’d he starting a year later. It’s such a weird system!

So I spoke to the teacher at preschool (they have a primary school teacher who comes in and does the phonics etc) and she told me to send him. She said he loves learning and she thinks if we kept him back he’d get bored and frustrated and it would turn him off learning. She said if he was her kid she’d send him.

I’m thinking of registering him and seeing how he goes at preschool when we get there - he’ll have a few months there before he’d have to start kindy - and then making a decision with the early years practioner at the preschool just before he starts.

Your update is good, I think if your child is clever send them as soon as you can. I don't know why people prefer to hold their kids back unless they actually need it. Most kids are sponges and eager to learn

I went through this system, albeit decades ago, I had no issues or fomo finishing school at 17 and uni at 20. I was the second youngest in my class at primary and couldn't tell you about senior school- really didn't matter by then.

Depends on the child. Some of mine went at 4.5yo, others at 5yrs8mths and some at ages in-between those, all in NSW. Someone has to be the youngest!

My youngest starter was a boy who was really emotionally immature, but it was agreed all round that wouldn’t change by delaying a year, and it didn’t.

I found the hardest ones at the other end (end of high school) were my older starters, who were too old/over school at that point and it was a real struggle for them to keep motivated that last year as they just wanted out of school, didn’t get that with my younger starters.