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Original poster

Starting age at National School

51 replies

Raverquaver · 19/09/2023 12:55

Hi all, we are moving to Ireland from the UK next year. I understand children can now start national school at 5.5, just wondering anecdotally how many children in a class would be starting at 5.5 rather than 4.5 now (so effectively delaying starting for a year). I know there can be significant educational benefits to starting a year later; at the same time it might suit us better to just get started with national school for one of our DC. I think it would really help our decision to know what age is most common to start now and perhaps whether there is any different between the approach in cities and rural places, as we will be on the more rural side. Really grateful for any insights, thank you.

OP posts:
TakingTheHorseToFrance · 19/09/2023 21:45

My eldest was jan birthday and I sent him at 4 turning 5. Primary school was fine, he was well ahead of classmates. When he went to secondary school I felt he struggled socially and was a little bit lost - he was one of the youngest. In 6th year he was 16 being invited to 18 year old class mates birthdays, the difference was massive and he was so immature

Subsequent kids were april birthdays and I sent both of them at 5.

i did noticed child 2 was so bored the last few months of 6th class and was so well ready secondary school and he's now in 2nd year and so settled.

Ds1 was far more advanced academically than his siblings but I felt there was no advantage sending him at 4 and he really didn't do all that well in secondary school.

I suppose ask the question will you be happy with him being one of the youngest in the class or one of the oldest.

Also most plays choose have the aistear curriculum which is a great foundation for junior infants. I think it would be a disadvantage if your child missed out on it

honeyrider · 19/09/2023 21:52

Pension age is going up a few years so I wouldn't let missing out on a year's pension contribution when young into account.

More and more schools are changing the entry cut off to the beginning of January so pupils will be 5 or only a few months off 5.

EarringsandLipstick · 19/09/2023 21:55

JaneJeffer · 19/09/2023 21:43

Government are meant to be addressing child benefit for 18 year olds in secondary school.
I wish they'd get a move on and I want back pay!

I only realised yesterday that over 16s are not counted for child benefit for the summer months. 😟

EarringsandLipstick · 19/09/2023 21:57

My eldest was jan birthday and I sent him at 4 turning 5.

Why didn't he do TY?

SparkyBlue · 19/09/2023 22:05

My DD is a March baby so will be starting at 5yrs 6mths. Most children in her preschool are similar. Last school year any of the children who were in the second year of ecce turned five on their birthdays so everyone was well over 5 starting school. DD is the youngest in our house and very social so in reality would have been fine starting at 4yrs 6 months but the extra year will be better for her. I think the whole system has really changed over the past few years and I'm personally really impressed with how child centered and nurturing I find it all.

Lovingitallnow · 19/09/2023 22:12

My guys have a nov and Dec birthdays so they start at 4. In my sons class it's around Christmas is the turning point. The youngest in the class has an April birthday but he's a completely outlier- the eldest is in January.

EarringsandLipstick · 19/09/2023 22:31

Yes Travel it's changed even in a few years, between my eldest & youngest.

When I went to school, with a summer birthday, I started at 4; no TY then so I was still 16 doing the LC, and following a 3 year degree, was 19 sitting my final exams!

Academically I was always fine; emotionally & socially I always struggled.

EarringsandLipstick · 19/09/2023 22:32

I always find that kids seem so young starting secondary school in England, reading on MN (realise entirely different system).

Anyfeckinusername · 19/09/2023 22:50

We've just done the move from the UK to Ireland, my kids would have been going into Y3 and Y5. The elder thought she had two years to go until secondary.

Imagine the horror when the schools told us the systems are not aligned and they we're going into 2nd and 4th... confirmed by three schools!

My DD, the elder will be 12 going on 13 in First Year.

tibradden · 19/09/2023 22:58

Child benefit only stops if they leave education at 16 in Ireland.
School will stamp form for you and claim will be backdated. If you have not been paid for the summer months, get onto them

Marblessolveeverything · 19/09/2023 23:04

@Anyfeckinusername your eldest will be with her peer age group. Remember there are a lot of gaps between the curriculums, Gaelige, history being two in particular.

At least they will have a chance to catch up. Gaelige can be a gateway subject to some third level courses here.

Darkherds · 20/09/2023 00:13

EarringsandLipstick · 19/09/2023 21:55

I only realised yesterday that over 16s are not counted for child benefit for the summer months. 😟

Show quote history

As pp said, for those aged between 16 and 18 you will be paid the Child Benefit for the summer months only once the student returns to full time education in Sept. So it stops for a couple of months and then is backdated when you've shown they're back to school/college. I yhink that's the case anyway, we're not quite there yet.

TaraRhu · 20/09/2023 07:28

I amazed how many people waited! My son is a july baby and went at 4.2! So did all of his friends of a similar age. He is nearly tge youngest but there are plenty of other summer babies. He's totally fine.

We are in London and childcare is £2k a month so we couldn't afford another year at nursery!

turkeyboots · 20/09/2023 07:51

When I came back to Ireland my DC went from Oct birthday and being one of the oldest, to being one of the youngest in the year. So the trend for school-age start is later than in the UK.

SparkyBlue · 20/09/2023 08:26

@TaraRhu many schools if they are oversubscribed won't accept a child at 4yrs 2mths nowadays.

TaraRhu · 20/09/2023 08:55

@SparkyBlue that was last year! He's 5 now. Now worrying about secondary and whether it will catch up with him! He's bright and doing well

SparkyBlue · 20/09/2023 09:04

@TaraRhu of course he is doing fine most children will be absolutely fine but my point is the culture shift in some schools mean that a child that age wouldn't be accepted whereas that age was the normal starting age around here a few years ago. The primary schools around here wouldn't accept a child of that age

Darkherds · 20/09/2023 09:14

But you're in London @TaraRhu? Starting age there is younger so your DC is among his peers.

The OP is talking about Irish schools and children tend to start aged around 5 here.
Children with a July birthday would all start aged 5 here these days (in my experience anyway).

JustAMum2003 · 20/09/2023 09:35

@TaraRhu as the other posters mentioned - I’m sure your son will be fine because he’s started school with similar aged kids who all
Move up to secondary school together. It’s slightly different in Ireland where you could have more than a year age gap between one group of kids due to more flexibility in starting age.
My eldest stated school in the Uk at 4 years 11 days (Aug baby). She was so ready for primary school. Lots of kids around her age. She thrived in primary school and is now Year 8 in secondary school and doing well. In fact we took a year out of the UK system and moved to Ireland (I’m from Ireland) . Eldest was Year 6 in Uk and went into Year 4 in Ireland - that was quite a change for her to be honest. My youngest child started school in Ireland at age 4 years and 10 months - just like he would have in the UK.
in the end we moved back to the UK and the kids are doing fine Thankfully. My eldest went from Year 5 in Ireland to Year 7 (secondary school); my middle went from Year 2 to Year 3 (Nov baby); my youngest went from junior infants to reception (Oct baby). All have settled back in fine.
your son will do fine so don’t worry as you’re comparing different systems.

Crunchingleaf · 20/09/2023 14:13

We are in London and childcare is £2k a month so we couldn't afford another year at nursery!

The cost of childcare definitely can influence some parents in Ireland regarding starting at 4 or 5. The ECCE can help some families to hold off, but for some they need to send their kids as soon as the school will take them.

In general I agree with keeping it between 4-6 as then you can treat the children as individuals. My eldest was immature for his age so it worked out great for him to be at older side of things.

JaneJeffer · 20/09/2023 14:24

@EarringsandLipstick I never had payment stopped for the summer. I got the form stamped by the school and payment continued as usual.

Darkherds · 21/09/2023 00:27

The cost of childcare definitely can influence some parents in Ireland regarding starting at 4 or 5. The ECCE can help some families to hold off, but for some they need to send their kids as soon as the school will take them.

Yes, unfortunately a disproportionate number of the youngest children in the class are from disadvantaged groups. The ECCE preschool scheme has helped a lot but not completely. All other things being equal, children from more economically disadvantaged homes still tend to start school earlier.

DramaAlpaca · 21/09/2023 01:35

When we moved to Ireland from the UK, DS1 with an October birthday went into Senior Infants aged almost six. He'd been the fourth oldest in his class in the UK, but in Ireland there were children almost a year older than him, who'd been held back from starting school.

DS2 has a February birthday and I remember having to convince the school principal that he'd be fine going into Junior Infants (aged 4 and a half) because he'd already done a term at school in the UK. He was fine, but even with a February birthday he was one of the youngest in his year.

Funnily enough, when it came to DC3 I'd deliberately planned not to have a child with a summer birthday so he wouldn't be the youngest in his year. He was born in September so in the UK would've been one of the eldest in his year - but then we moved to Ireland and there were children six months older in his class. So much for my conception planning!

Original poster
Raverquaver · 22/09/2023 16:53

Thank you so much everybody, really helpful comments and insights, so glad I posted and very grateful as this feels like a very important decision with all the other moving parts of relocating country. I think we are pretty firmly decided on waiting until DC is 5 now to start, after reading all the comments. Definitely a child that struggles to stay still longer than a few minutes so an extra year of being able to move around a bit more before a more sedentary classroom environment will suit them. And I really like the idea of being at least 18 before making any big decisions about university/career etc. Love the child centred approach to education in Ireland and delighted that our children will have the opportunity to benefit from this.

OP posts: