To start my son in school age 4 or 5.

[Happyforinfo]

As a 'Summer Born' child my son does not have to start Reception class until he is 5 if we as parents think it is best.
I would love any advice on this.
Does anyone have any experience on this subject?
Thanks in advance ☺️

Things don't really work like that......

So, you can start your child the term after they turn 5. That basically means that yoyr child can delay the start and join their peers later on. This is good if they are having troubles adjusting to school, crying all the time.... then you wait until they are a little more mature.

With what you're saying, your child would be forced later on to jump a year to join (into middle school??....) in with their age peers.

THAT IS INSANE!!! I know!!! Why would you make a struggling child then do 2 years in 1 and leave all their friends???!!! 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

My child was August born, super shy (a crazy doctor suggested she may be autist. She's definitely not, but you get the idea) and had a speech delay. I had to twist my arm and just put her in Reception 🤷🏻‍♀️ She's doing okish...... but she's still behind her peers and doing Maths intervention and what not..... the thing is, they do eventually catch up. As long as you keep it fun and interesting and relaxed for them.

Best of luck!!

They absolutely do work like that, I'm afraid ;-)

As a summer born, OP has the right to request her child start reception at 5, so a year later than normal, and the expectation would be that they stay in that year throughout their schooling. At the move to secondary, OP would need to get it agreed with their secondary that they remain in their adjusted year, but secondaries are usually (these days) amenable as they know it is the governments intention that this happen. The guidance has not been made law, but the government have made it clear that they want this option to exist.

You need to talk to the admissions authority of your chosen school - in some areas, parental requests are now granted by default, but not everywhere.

It can backfire. One of my neighbours did this. Her dd is naturally very bright, athletic, tall and is the best at absolutely everything from PE to maths. The thing is she would have probably been doing really well if she had started school with her natural year group anyway. The problem is that this girl is not being stretched in her current class, she is bored and chats, distracting her peers and getting herself and them into trouble. My neighbours are now considering moving her to a selective private school.

I'll come back to this august baby has just started reception

You need to do it quickly as I was told I'd applied too late and so he would miss his reception year 😣 he's really struggled and is youngest in class.

I considered this for my son and am so glad I didn't as I feel he would be so out of place now (a few years down the line) in a younger group. He's tall and athletic compared to his current cohort so would be a v obvious outlier with the younger kids. Academic and social wise he caught up anyway. It's surprisingly hard being much younger or older that your peers as you progress through school. Some swear by it though. Having seen a friend's very bright child go a year ahead that fell on its face at secondary level when the social aspect of school suddenly became very tough. Being the wrong age didn't cut it.

@PatriciaHolm it is good that schools can allow them to continue with their chosen year 👍 but it was not what I was told. Maybe it depends on the area?

Either start then at 4 or ask to defer a year. I wouldn’t want them to go straight into year 1 or only have 1 term In reception. Perhaps speak to school head your interested in your child attending and see what they think about deferring because you would be better with their support. As to how to make the decision- I would base it on if they are socially ready rather than any academic signs

@Rodion going ahead doesn't work very well, in my experience. The kids I met throughout school were just too imature, regardless of being super clever.

That is what I worried for my child, but socially she seems fine 🤷🏻‍♀️ it's academically that she struggles more. But the teachers don't seem super concerned.

I was dubious re our grandchild attending full-time school at 4.5 yrs and worried as he is skinny, a bit small for the age when compared to about 70% in his class - I'm glad that our grandchild, his wife and my wife were happy to send them to school - our grandson was pretty good at reading/maths etc and now even better almost top of class and some visual problems to contend with

To be honest it depend on your child. Some are just not ready. Others are. I know my friend did this with her DD who in my mind was ready but she decided to hope her back and it has back fired a little. She was unable to compete with her adopted year group in athletics ! She had to compete with older class. This caused her a real issue as she started to believe she was to rubbish to go up into her own class. My Friend regrets it now

I wish I had deffered my DS, he has a lot of Autumm born children in his class and DS doesn't really fit in with them as he is quite a young 5 year old. He coped fine in reception but he is really struggling with the jump into year one, to the point of him displaying quite severe anxiety symptoms.

I know some children will cope just fine but the statistics on summer born performance at school, SEN diagnosis and mental health problems are not good. You know your child best.

Just one thing to bear in mind - sports, out of school clubs etc often go on age so if you keep your child back, even if school is willing other orgs won't be eg football you have to be born by 31 August of a given year to play in each team, orchestra and drama had similar cut offs

What do you think looking at your individual child? One of mine would obviously have fitted in better in the year above, the other equally obviously would have benefitted from another year developing basic social skills and motor skills. I'd say if not obvious, go with the later start. Statistically those oldest in their school years do better.

I'm back, my son went to a school nursery for half days Monday - Friday last year when he turned three, he had never been to nursery before but they prepared him for reception greatly. They pretty much work like schools do with more play .... take part in all the school events etc
He started reception on Tuesday and absolutely loves it. I expected tiredness the lot ...... nothing
The only thing is we do get some tears on a morning saying he will miss me but that's probably me being in maternity this last year and getting used to the new routine.
I think each individual child is different but my experience has been good. Not sure if it had been different had he not gone to a school nursery everyday last year in the afternoons x

It will depend on the LA your in - some accept children deferring into the year below into Reception; others (like mine) will let you defer a year but your child then goes into Yr1 & misses Reception, so still ends up in the cohort they should have started in. Not all LAs operate the same way, so you'd need to check before you make a decision.
My DS is mid-June born & has just started Reception - I didn't think he was ready but so far he's proved me wrong & loves it. Yes, he's not as advanced as his sister was when she went into YR (she was already 5, early Sept born), but that's fine - he'll find his way.