3 month old applying for private school???

[Tinasan]

I live in SW London and have a three month old baby - am a bit shocked by friends telling me that they are already registering their babies for schools in the area as otherwise it will be too late (Apparently even registering this early doesn't guarantee a place - they will all then be 'assessed' for suitability at three years old ) Is this really necessary - I haven't given this any thought at all and would rather enjoy my baby at the moment and not think this far ahead if possible! Thanks

sg, yes although the schools will say they make allowances fo the younger ones. My daughers are Sept and Nov birthdays by the way. Thed advantage is supposed to last right through to A levels. Something else you can blame your parents for - when they had sex.

One of the schools round here actually says that they select the best of the summer-born from a separate assessment. In my friend's daughter's class of 22 there are only 4 born after February, and the latest one is June!

I have 2 August boys - I wasn't expecting it to happen quite as quickly the first time...

One of my children was born at end of July. But I was December and a year young through school so it doesn't always follow you do worse if you're young. Some schools like a mix of loud and quiet children too. Anyway looking at three of them here at university you realise school entrance isn't really as important as it seems when they're little. Lots of other things matter just as much such as their genes, influence of friends on them as teenagers etc etc

I know it doesn't follow for individual children, and of course there are bright summer-born kids who do well, but if you look at cohorts as a whole the autumn-born advantage remains all the way through.

So every time we conceive a child before December we do them a disservice. So babies conceived during the summer holidays bad plan but ditching the contraception over Christmas very good idea.

well as long as they aren't born early! August baby then

I find it so sad that they are watching 3 year olds to see if they can cherry pick the "best". I can't imagine subjecting my daughter to that.

Maybe I am missing out on something?

And I find it sad thinking about when I should conceive a baby in terms of academic year. I do have a friend who has admitted she waited until December, as Xenia says, for both hers. I didn't think like that at all.

I joked about having an elective caesarean on August 31st to save a year's childcare costs.

Didn't do it obviously.

singers, but presumably you took folic acid in pregnancy and tried to eat well. Don't we all try to conceive and give birth to children and then want them to find life easier and to help them do well? It is an interesting issue. I read about a deaf couple who would only give birth to a deaf child because they saw that not as a "defect" but just a legitimate difference. Perhaps some of us should be trying to conceive and bring up children with n IQ of 80 for example because all humans on the planet are of equal worth and value and there's sometihng pernicious in trying to mould or create a child to any requirements? On that basis we should also be allocated a man at random too!

But I see the folic acid as different. The September-August issue applies in the UK, but not in the US, Australia, Singapore and loads of other countries. By taking folic acid I was trying to reduce the risk of my child being born with spina bifida and neural tube defects. I wasn't trying to make sure they were top of the class.

Thank goodness people don't all think it is important to timtable your baby's birth, or maternity services would cave in under pressure in winter and all the midwives could have 4 months off in the summer.

People play music to babies in the womb to make them brighter etc. Probably all parents would like their children to fulfil their potential and I assume on balance most would prefer a child with an IQ of 120 not 80 or with two legs not one and if there is a way to ensure it they do.

Message withdrawn

It is most likely a sign of the times. We are in danger of collapsing under the weight of our own ambitions for our children. IMO of course.

I think that a lot of people do timetable their children's birth. My mother used to be a midwife and she told me that there were two times of year where they were really busy. October (parents who had either planned or drunk too much at Christmas) and March (Summer holiday)

That sounds like more accidental timetabling, Frances5!

We have been busy recently at work with an increased work load couldn't think why at first then realised we are approaching nine months after the world cup

ps work for nhs with some involvment with labour ward

Hello Judy, I am pretty new to mumsnet and just found your girls are in those independent schools I am dreaming for :) Do you mind give me some advice of how to get into those top schools? My daughter is 2 now and will have the assessments next late next year. By the way, we live in Harrow area. Thank you and look forward to hearing from you soon! Laura

One of mine is at a private school and the school policy is that entrance to S1 is mainly on entrance exam results so even if you put their name down at birth if they do badly in the exam they won't get in. There is a feeder primary school and they get the advantage of having examples of the entrance exam test to sit, but at least half the kids go to state primaries and many don't put names down until after the open day 2 months before the entrance exam. This is Scotland though where private ed is less common.
I suspect each private school has its own entrance policy. Most have some sort of entrance exam as if their exam results go down they will be seen as less prestigious.