Early Admission into reception?

[Housewife36]

Hi,
My son is only 2 but he's confident, social and above average for his age.
He's ready for school already (although I'm not ready to let him go)!
Problem is because he was born 11th September he won't start reception until the week before his 5th birthday.
I'm trying to find out what I can do to get him accepted, the week before his 4th birthday.
His sister is 3 1/2, in the few minutes he's in preschool with her, he's joining in the games with the other children and is accepted as part of the class.
His sister is also at the top of the class as she is reading.

Cheers

Forget the reading and spelling. In order for your child to succeed as an individual then there are three areas of learning and development that need to be mastered by the age of around 5. These are personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language. These areas are difficult to develop after that age and are required to enable your child to fulfil their abilities in maths, literacy, understanding the world and expressive arts and design which do not have the same time constraints. By trying to bypass a year of early years education you could be denying your child the environment and expertise that early years teachers and practitioners have in developing your child to their full potential. A good early years nursery will have no problem in adapting to your child as they have a better child:staff ratio than any school will have. Anyway, I would have thought that most children would prefer the better staff ratios of preschools to those of schools!

I'm clearly in the minority but I totally understand where the OP coming from as I had the same thoughts about my eldest. She's also a Sept baby and I would've considered sending her to school at 3 (for a fortnight before she turned 4), however that option wasn't available to me, so now I home educate her so allow her to learn at her own rate. She's 8yo now and I haven't regretted that decision once. She still loves playing in the mud kitchen and watching MLP as much as the next child. (I realise HE may not be an option for everyone whether they're not able or simply not wanting to so don't take this as a you-must-HE post.)

Outcomes for youngest children in the a year don't tend to be as good. Being ahead now isn't necessarily an indicator that he will be very bright in later years, and the social aspect will be very problematic I'd imagine.

Also, if you can certainly only afford state, I think you've got no chance whatsoever of getting him in a year early, unless you can get a 'statement', which I very much doubt!! So considering it may be somewhat pointless?

Choose a school that teaches at the child's level, the kids school assesses them informally every 6 weeks and puts them into the appropriate level group. So in reception he was in reading groups with year 2 and 3's. Then a different group for maths but still with his own age group for other activities such as PE and topic learning and all the social stuff

DD was sooooo ready for school too. We found an independent with a pre-reception class and she started there at three and a half on half days and for the final term did full days. It was a step up from pre-school that she had outgrown, but sill nurturing and play as well as phonics etc. She thrived, was happy and we could use the government hours to offset the fees and what we ended up paying wasn't very much but appreciate what we find not much isn't the same for everyone. DD is a February child so it wasn't a case of being an Autumn born, just her individual needs best met in that pre-reception class. Are there any independent schools near you OP that might offer something similar?

Boys get a huge rush of testosterone at age 4 so it is completely wrong to be trying to get them to sit down at that age. Pre school teaches the social side which IMO is probably more important in the long run. You can do stuff at home if he seems to need more

I'm amazed at the obtuseness of many posters - this is a mother thinking 2 years ahead as she is already aware this may become a problem. In 2 years time she won't have a 2 year old she's "wanting to put into school", but a 4 year old who is still not allowed to start school for another year! And who could get bored and understimulated if she doesn't find a good solution that works for her family.

I have an early October daughter and really wished she could have started reception early (the fact sometimes rankles that she was born 2 weeks late and if she'd only been 2 weeks early instead!). Her brother is July and to be honest the issues he's had in school would have happened anyway in terms of his concentration and social skills, being old in his class would just have increased his frustration / exaggerated the differences between him and some of the others (very luckily we've been able to have him in an independent with small classes AND 3-4 other boys in his class whose abilities give him a serious challenge. One of whom is a late August birthday).

Actually, I remember when my son was informally assessed prior to reception entry, the teacher made us aware that they were able and willing to take boys into that class as soon as they were 4 (staying longer in the class though and going into year 1 at the normal time). Wasn't any use to us as his birthday was after the end of summer term. But perhaps showed that at 3 and a couple of months he nevertheless looked like he could cope with school "soon". Noting that independent schools can register for the under-5 preschool funding, which reduces the fees until the term after they turn 5. So depending on your location and resources, you might just be able to find him somewhere he can be in reception earlier as a starting point.

With my daughter we moved her to the nursery class of an independent school rather than keeping her in daycare because we had seen her older friends "outgrowing" that environment before they left for school. We had thought that we'd found a school that would "take the children where they were at" and work with them at their level; unfortunately (change of head perhaps?) that didn't really work out the way we'd hoped. While there have been some positives along the way for her being old in her yeargroup, there have been plenty of negatives, including not having much incentive to achieve more than she easily can (that's an issue with her personality as well. neither of my children are anything like you son sounds to be). She's 13 now and in a different independent school; by the way there is a child in the year below her who HAS been accelerated a year and still runs rings around his peer group; he's staying there till year 8 and I don't know whether he will go to a senior school straight after or what; I suspect there are options that will work out.

I do know a family with a child who sounds very like your son. 3rd child with bright older sisters that he was completely keeping up with. They were finding their local school worked well for him at least in the first couple of years, with effective individualisation where he needed it. I think he might be year 3 now and am not sure whether that's still the case - I tried at one point to encourage them to consider a choirschool as a route to a bursary and more individualised tuition further on but it wasn't right for them as far as I know.

As your son is in the 1st 2 weeks of September, you MAY find that you can get some flexibility from independent schools. Whether that can be matched in the state sector I don't know, and I think it is hard to imagine what the proposed flexibility to hold young children back a bit longer will actually do in practice. The oldest children in classes will be a little older, but probably not the real high-fliers whose parents may be desperate for them to get on and start school!

Mileage in schools varies enormously and unfortunately they can change rapidly. Keep you ears and eyes open, look around and ask questions of your local options. Be prepared to start with one solution and change if and when it is not proving suitable. Further down the track you will find that there are scholarships and bursaries in the independent sector, sometimes from as early as year 3, sometimes not till later. You may not need to investigate them or it may prove a perfect option.

Good luck and don't forget to enjoy your children!