Applying for primary school - Scotland - Help!

[Hereforit2022]

Wondering if anyone can advise?

I have a LB who was born middle of march. He misses out on starting primary school August 2023 by 12 days (he was actually due on 28th February, was overdue). Do you know if I can apply to get him into school for August 2023? And if so how I do it?

He is very much ready for school in my opinion and has cousins/friends due to start next year so would love him to join them

Unusual for councils to allow kids to start early. Are you 100% sure the others will go to school then? Common now for Dec-Feb born kids to defer & start the following year.

No, you can't start early.

Is he in a school nursery or a private setting?

I'm not sure, I have never heard of this before but I would start by contacting the education department in your local authority and asking for advice. Have you also spoke to the nursery teachers to see their opinion?

I work in a nursery. This would be very unusual. He would be one of the youngest in his year

You can defer for entry the next year but I have never heard of starting early.

I've only ever known one person to start early. Most defer.

Yes so one of his friends birthdays is on 27th February and he is starting August 2023. His cousin is January birthday so also starting August 2023. Just feel for him as he is missing out by 12 days on a place next year. He is currently in a private nursery. He is quite bored there already which makes me think he would probably be ready for school next year.

It's not so much about now, but when he leaves school he will only be 17.5. That's an issue in terms of starting uni, for example as most students will be 18, or in cases with unis with a high proportion of English students, 19.
There's also physical and emotional maturity to bear in mind. DS1 is a December birthday and smaller than most in his year.

He needs a school nursery experience. Preferably the school he is going to attend. If he is 'ready' the teachers in P1 will want input whilst he is in his pre-school year.

I'm in my 3rd decade of primary school teaching. I would not recommend starting early. That means early S1. That means early Uni.

Thanks all for getting back to me. I do understand the concerns around him starting early. It's just bizarre that the cut off would mean loads of other kids will also leave school/start uni at an earlier age. Just frustrating for the sake of 12 days. I may try and look into the school nursery to see what they think. Do you think the health visitor would be able to help with this?

The two children who are starting in Aug 23 are starting at the correct time, unfortunately there will always be children who mis the cut off by X days, the line has to be drawn somewhere.

It is possible to apply to have your child start school early, this involves an assessment panel and they decide if your child is ready to start school. This assessment isn't just based on how bright your child is, they look at maturity, language skills, relationships with peers etc. it is possible for a child to be accepted but it is very unusual, also keep in mind that there could be children in the same class who are almost two years older than your child as they deferred a year.

Problems can also arise when your child is due to leave secondary school, they won't be old enough to leave education and might be too young to go to college/uni.

You need to do what is right for your child, sending them to school a year early so they start at the same time as a friend/cousin is not a good enough reason.

There's always going to be a cut off. I wouldn't be trying to send him early as that makes every other year of school early too.

No. You can’t. My nephew missed the cut off by 2 days and was told no.

I understand all your points and maybe I am looking at it as I wanted him to start along with friends/cousins. I obviously want to do the right thing by him. Just difficult to see when there is no difference between him and peers currently in any capacity.

You can apply, and he’ll be assessed. It’s unlikely as others have said. It will be relatively formal based on observations on how he responds to teachers or whoever. Not on what he does at home.

I’ve never heard anyone wish their DC had gone to school a year early, I’ve heard plenty wish they’d delayed a year.

How do you know he is ready nearly a year before he is due to start?

If he appears bored by pre school so early I would be more worried he isn't paying attention and engaging because he is not ready.

Forget about when others are going, they should not be part of your decision making process for something that could significantly negatively impact both his education and social development. Research the mostly positive outcomes for children who defer. If anything his cousins parent should be considering deferring.

Do very seriously think about the implications of his age when he is sitting exams or leaves school or starts college/uni when he will be more immature than his peers when it really does matter. You are not saying anything that suggests this is in the best interests of your son.

The only time I’ve ever seen a child start early in Scotland was when they’d missed by 1 day.

They had to have quite an in-depth assessment and they just got in.

Anyone else I’ve known apply has been declined.

As a Scottish primary teacher - please don't send your 4 year 5 month old to school. I'd encourage most parents to defer until at least 5.

Are you still friends with your friends from nursery? He'll make new friends.

Please rest assure I very much have my son's best interests at heart. And I am taking on board everyone's comments.
I have a niece who started school at 4 years 7 months and is now in secondary school, extremely bright for her age and great socially so I know that them starting before 5 isnt always a bad thing.
In terms of my son being ready, his nursery have no concerns whatsoever. In fact in terms of intelligence they told me he was helping the older kids with numbers 2 weeks ago.
It really was just something that was going through my head and wanting to know the process should I decide to go ahead and see if it was possible.
Grateful for the comments and everyone's point of view

Start him at a school nursery. We went from a (small) private nursery at 3 to a school based (Gaelic) nursery (plus a day at a forest school) and it’s made a massive difference. Starting early might be okay now but when they go up to high school there’s a massive difference between the biggest and the smallest. Whilst the three might seem similar they might be out of kilter with kids who are almost (or more than if they started early) a year older than them in the same class.

Sorry just for the last post they aren't nursery friends. It's family friends that will no doubt always be in his life. And they wouldn't be going to the same school.

Are these Scotland based nurseries? If so, would you mind messaging me with the details? I would be really interested in looking into this. I do understand there will at some point be a difference age wise between my son and some in his year at school. But I am sure there will be children starting who's birthdays will be within a month or two of his also.

I’m a primary school teacher. My son has a Dec birthday, so started school at 4.5 years old.
If I’d known then what I know now I’d have deferred my son and started him later- he is academically very, very able however is very young emotionally and socially compared to his peers, some of whom are 10 months older than him.
Don’t start your child in formal education earlier than they need to be.

www.mygov.scot/childcare-costs-help/funded-early-learning-and-childcare

I can see that pretty much all who had children who started before 5 probably wish they started older. I will take this on board