Would anyone be kind enough to give a very basic 'Starting School' synopsys to a foreigner who doesn't know the English system?

[BroccoliSpears]

I realise I could look all of this up, but a simply put summing up would be greatly appreciated.

At what age do they have to start school?

And is it correct that I can defer a year if I feel my dd isn't ready?

And when they do go, is it called primary?

And do I have to research and approach schools myself?

My friends children all go to nursery and most already know which school they will go to.

Am I lagging behind?

Dd was born in May. (Oh, and she's only ONE! So I'm a bit stunned to even find myself thinking about this... but... all my friends... eeek... peer pressure... am I failing in my motherly duties?)

As far as I understand it (and I'm no expert - dd1 is 3, but SN so we're doing this by a different route) children legally have to be in school the term after they turn 5, so would start school in the September (or January if split intake) of the school year in which they turn 5.

You can defer by a year, but this can cause problems with placements (the school is not obliged to hold a place - you have to wait and see if one will be available the next year) and, if you do, then your child skips the reception year and goes into year1 with peers who have already been at school for a year.

ie dd1 is an August baby, and will be 4 this August. She doesn't legally ahve to start school until next September, but if I defer her, she will go straight into year1 and skip reception.

don't know how you go about getting forms etc - we cocked htis up bigtime - even dd1 Senco didn't tell us what to do. Luckily, we have time on or side (due to dd's age) and are now waiting for her statement to be in place, so application wil be going via a different route anyway.

There's a Mumsnet summary here, if that helps.

So a May baby would definitely start in September. I see.

And you can't really defer a year then, you can just opt to skip the first year?

Thank you. You have made two small puddles of comprehension in the fug that is my understanding of the English schooling system.

Wonderful P&L! Thank you

Message withdrawn

Most children start reception the term after they turn 4. You'll need to apply a year ahead of that. Start asking around about schools now, to get a general feel of which ones you like.(I litterally stopped people in my street and asked where thier child went to school or nursery) Check out their ofsted reports on line.

"So a May baby would definitely start in September."
no, not necessarily.
my dd1 was born in May 2003 and started school this January.
the first year is called Foundation and is very play based. they follow the EArly Years curriculum.
then they go into Year 1.
there are effectively three "infant" years before they go into juniors.
practice varies greatly from school to school.
lol at researching this at the age of one it is tooooooo sooooooon: schools can change greatly between now and then, especially policies about staggered entry etc

cod, they won't do it for you, but they'll make sure you have the info/forms.

Wow. It's complicated. And daunting. Gosh.

Don't panic!!!!
Legally children start the term after their 5th birthday.
Most children actually start the September after their 4th birthday.
To get all the information on how it works in your area, follow the links on your local council's website (usually www.area.gov.uk)
Primary School-4-5 'reception class'
5-6 'year 1'
6-7 'year 2'
until 10-11 'year 6'
Then secondary 11-16 'year 7-11'
Then sixth form college/some secondary schools 16-18.

You've got a lot of time to worry about it

Broccoli, where are you from originally?

the two schools we spoke to (in haste, admittedly as had 2 days before the form had to be in - this was before we decided to wait for the statement) both said that they would be unable to hold a place - might be t do with oversubscription?

and nurseries do it for you? really? cos ours had no clue either.. (although may have thought that dd1's early years team had it in hand - alas, they did not)

our school only has one intake, you cannot defer until the January

and imo, if you miss out reception and go straight into Y1 it is a bad idea as reception is based on playing and gets them used to school

I sent mine to a playgroup that was linked to the school I eventually wanted them to go to, so maybe have a think on that (you may have to put name down asap but they don't usually start until 2.6yrs)

And we might move area before she's 5.

Harpsi - it IS ridiculous thinking about this now.

Although I hadn't realised she could (/would / should?) go to some sort of 'school' from 3 and a half years old.

Lynette - I'm British, but always lived abroad so never had any education in UK, or any experience of it.

Olive - is playgroup the same as nursery?

I think so, yes, but it is mainly in sesssion from 9-12 and then 1-3, not full days like nurseries

She doesn't have to go to 'school' from 3.5. She could go to a nusery- some schools have a nursery 'class', some nurseries tend to feed particular primary schools.

just to clarify, the law says children have to be receiving education in the year they are 5, either at school or otherwise, this is why some parents choose to home educate, which is legal here (apparantly it's not in all countries)- there are home educators here on mumsnet if you look. It does seem early to be thinking, but if the whole system is strange to you makes sense to sort out the basics! Another factor in delaying the start of school is that a child who joins in Y1 (a year after everyone else) will be joining an established social group. good luck!

ok this is what I would suggest:

find a good, local preschool or playgroup. get yourself a place and on the committee. (when your dd is 2.5)
then see what everyone at the preschool is doing about school entry, what everyone's opinions are and where they are applying. talk to your dd's key worker about it.
then go and visit the schools, the year before.
this will give you loads of time

Harpsi - does "pre-school or playgroup" = nursery, and if so does the fact that she's 2.5 at this stage (in your plan) mean that we'd have to pay for whatever she does?

She doesn't currently go to nursery at all and we have no plans for her to go. Although, she is the only child of her age who I know who doesn't go. We can't afford it for a start - I mean, we could if I got a part time job with the sole intention of covering her nursery fees, but that doesn't sit right, somehow.

ok someone please correct me if I have this wrong!
preschools/playgroups are generally run by volunteers (committees of parents and others) sometimes attached to a church, they are ofsted inspected etc and the staff are paid.
you are entitled to a certain amount of free sessions once you get to 3 yo I think 5 2.5 hour sessions a week though this might change! (you can use this free provision (vouchers) in nurseries too, or across a variety of settings.

preschools and playgroups often take from 2.5 or even younger, but you would have to pay the fees in this case, which vary widely, but are not all that high e.g. in my local preschool a morning session would be £8.

privately run nurseries are a different story, providing child care if that is what you need. preschools are not as flexible and generally have much more limited opening hours. often, people send their child for one or two sessions from 2.5, building up to more as the child approaches school age. the idea is to stimulate the child and prepare him.her for school rather than provide childcare for working parents, although they can work along side childminders etc and could work if you wanted to work for a few hours or whatever.

you also get nurseries attached to schools, but they start a bit later (GENERALLY about 3?? but not always) and then you would be attaching yourself to one school in particular, which you might not want to do until you know more). sometimes this gives you preferential entry into the school, but sometimes not.

god this all sounds unneccesarily complicated!

oh, also preschool/playgroup will expect a certain amount of parental involvement (parent helper) and also fund raising. generally they will be charities.

I think usually attending a pre-school attached to a state primary school doesn't have any influence on whether you will get a place at the attached school. I think generally preschools attached to primaries run two sessions a day and have more preschool places than they have reception places.

Also, I suppose linking a primary place to a preschool place would disadvantage children whose parents weren't able to send their child to preschool because of work commitments or didn't want to send their child to a preschool.

Now that pre-school / playgroup idea sounds lovely! I don't need childcare and I don't have £35 a day for a nursery, but I do have a bright, confident little girl who I'm sure would love to go and spend a couple of mornings playing. And I love the idea of being involved in the group in some way - I'm a bit of a joiner-inner.

I've never heard of this sort of thing as an alternative to nursery.

I do take her to a parent run group now, but it's the sort where all the parents stay with the children for the duration. I'm assuming what you're describing is the sort where I'd leave her. I shall start chatting to other parents with older children and find out what they do.

Thank you so much for all this. It's really interesting and helpful.