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Original poster

ADVICE PLEASE! My DD misses this years school start by one day - can I do anything about it?

60 replies

rorytiger · 12/03/2007 12:43

Hello there,
My DD with be 4 on september 2nd so I (foolishly) thought she's be starting school this year. Having rang our local council to check it seems the school start cut off day is august 31st therefore she will not be able to start school until september 2008!!!!! (Aparently they no longer do a secondry intake at easter its just sept to sept.) It there anything I can do about this or are the rules set in stone? My dd is ready for school now let alone in over a years time. I just will feel very sorry for her when all her friends leave nursery and she will be the only one nor going . This is the first time I've had to deal with anything schooly so not sure what I should do next - any advice would be great. Thanks!

OP posts:
Nemo2007 · 12/03/2007 12:46

To be honest I dont think there is anything you can do. My Ds is oct so misses by a month but even so he is more than ready to start school this sept but he will only be starting the school nursery.

Ladymuck · 12/03/2007 12:49

You might be able to get into a private school for a year if you really wanted to.

Have you got a montessori or something locally?

But no, typically cut-off is 31 August. Your dd will be oe of the oldest in her year.

Clary · 12/03/2007 12:50

hello rorytiger, all schools in the UK have Aug 31 as the cut-off date.

It makes no diff if they do 2 intakes either - the Jan start would just be for summer-born children instead of them starting when just 4.

Just as well for you as you have to apply for school long before now anyway.

Just think how well ready yr dd will be in Sept 2008 - and maybe concentrate on some of the key areas - doing up her coat/wiping her bum/putting on shoes/sittign still for a story - you'd be amazed at how many FS2 children can't do these things when they start.

themildmanneredjanitor · 12/03/2007 12:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fryalot · 12/03/2007 12:51

omg - reading this thread. I never even considered this.

Ds was born on 1st September by elective c/s. I should have booked myself in the day before, shouldn't I!

Clary · 12/03/2007 12:52

no squonk, no no no

You really don't want yr child (esp a DS, sorry but it's true) to be the youngest in the year.

Far better to be a Sept b/day and really ready. I speak as mum to 2 summer borns. Not sure DS1 (7) has caught up even now...

Porpoise · 12/03/2007 12:53

The flipside to this, rorytiger, is that when your dd starts school, she will probably fly.
It is undeniably easier for most children, academically, socially and emotionally, to be amongst the oldest in their school year.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 12/03/2007 12:53

sorry but I don' think there's anything you can do. There has to be a cut off point and if they made allowance for your child whose birthday is two days after they'd have to make allowances for the one whose birthday is on the 1st of sept and then the one on the 3rd and so on, and just those couple of days could potentially have an impact on the annual intake.

Personally I would be grateful that your dd has this extra year before having to go to school, just 4 is very young to be going into full-time education IMO.

Original poster
rorytiger · 12/03/2007 12:53

oh thats a shame. Theres no montessori's in our area, there is a girls grammer school - the only private run place round here. Will have a look to see if they have a website to get some more info. I know there's a cut-off point for a reason but its so frustrating that she misses it by a whisker!!!

OP posts:
Ceolas · 12/03/2007 12:54

I'm with Clary. Consider yourself lucky

fryalot · 12/03/2007 12:54

really?

He's 14 months younger than his sister, and I just assumed he would start school the year after, but it will be 2 years.

I always thought the cut off date was Sept. 6th or something and never gave it much thought till I saw this.

You really think it's better to be older?

What about nursery school?

TheWillowTree · 12/03/2007 12:54

You have two possible options - one is to find a private school which will take her, and the other is to get her assessed for early entry into school. Neither is easy, but they are possible.

Independetn shcools are genrally easier as they have more control; if she goes to their nursery they will be able to assess her and then either develop her skills in thta environement or move her up if she is emotionally and intelectualyl capable of working at the higher level.

For early entry into school you will need to show that she is working at the level of the best in the year ahead of her, will need an ED Physc report to confirm she will benefit and most of all you will need to find a head teacher to agree to it. Have a look at the Foundation STage early learning goals. To go into Receptio this Septemebr she will need to have completed the yellow and blue ones (broadly) and be well into the green ( to show she is at the level of the best in that year). You may need to start prepapring her now with things like phonics as a lot of chuldren do their sounds in nursery so at least know some on entry to Reception.

Check out your local council website, and speak to the Education people for advice, but be preapred for a lot of scepticism and brik walls - children out of year group hits SATS results for one thing so can skew statistics which school s do not like !!!

Good luck

MrsBadger · 12/03/2007 12:55

agree it can be better to be old for the school year than young
(although this doesn't excuse my mother's immediate response to the news of impending Cub (due 21st Aug) - 'Oh, well, a summer baby - it'll be young for it's year, you know)

Lilymaid · 12/03/2007 12:56

You are lucky - your DD will be one of the most mature and most able to learn in her year. She will probably get better academic results than her younger friends. My DS2 was born in August and we've always wished that he could have been born a month later like many of his friends rather than always being one of the youngest in his year group.

sarahhal · 12/03/2007 13:00

DS2 was born on August 25th so will be really young. As yet there are two intakes, so he wouldn't start until January but there is talk of changing it to just September - let's hope it's not for a while yet!

Iota · 12/03/2007 13:00

my ds2 is the oldest in his yr and started last Sept. He was due in August, but couldn't be bothered to come out on time - lazy little monkey.

I'm quite glad that he's the oldest and not the youngest - just 4 is very young to start school IMHO

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 12/03/2007 13:01

sorry but why would someone want their child to start school so young. Preschool is one thing - a lot of it is play based but proper school is so disciplined and it's so hard esp as she would be in full-time from January - at just 4 years and 3 months.

at 4 she's still so little, in fact there are a lot that say children shouldn't start full-time education until age 7 - and that's exactly how it works in many countries - south africa, australia, US.

it makes me so that people seem so keen to put their children into school so young, there is a huge difference between 4 and 5, and there are even some studies that suggest the youngest children don't catch up emotionally until secondary level.

she'll only be this little once, once she starts school everything will change, make the most of it.

Ceolas · 12/03/2007 13:03

wannabe I couldn't agree more. at the way our society wants to get children into education so young. Wish we were more sensible and left it til 6 or 7.

NAB3 · 12/03/2007 13:03

You lucky thing!!!

Sherbert37 · 12/03/2007 13:05

Yes, and don't forget that she will start secondary school young too, and be the last to learn to drive, be able to drink etc. Children want to be able to do what their friends do and it must be hard always being the youngest. It is a long time to wait, but enjoy it before you are both on the treadmill for years.

TenaLady · 12/03/2007 13:08

Ahh, I had the same problem ds sept 4th.

It is pretty much set in stone although they gave me a glimmer of hope when they suggested I bought and paid for an educational psychologist.

The results were great and confirmed my thoughts but they still didnt allow it. He does get mightly bored in reception class but hopefully will be assessed in year 1.

maisym · 12/03/2007 13:09

if you feel she's ready get an assessment - it's good to be the oldest but can also be difficult to be ahead of all the others all the time.

Enid · 12/03/2007 13:10

send her to a good pre-school for a year

no advantage to beign the youngest in the class at all

nooka · 12/03/2007 13:12

dd has a 7th Sept birthday, and whilst she did find it very sad to lose most of her friends at nursery, she has found school very easy, and is doing extremely well now. Having said that she is now in a mixed yr1/yr2 class, and easily keeping up with the yr2 work, so maybe she would have been alright in the year above. However all the evidence suggests that it is better to be the eldest rather than the youngest (including for your mental health). Why don't you look at enriching what she currently does? My sister (also with a September baby) enrolled her daughter in Perform, maybe something like that would help? I know we worried about dd getting bored and lonely, but it wasn't so bad really in the end.

TenaLady · 12/03/2007 13:16

maisym, Ahead is quite good but boring for him and a challenge for the teacher.

She told me at parents evening that he answers questions deliberately wrong to confuse the other kids

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