Daughter born 1 day over school deadline for admissions

[Sunburymum]

My daughter is 3 and a bit years old, born 1 sept 2020. The council have allowed me to apply for her to start reception in sept. Not sure if they will accept but if they do I'm a bit stuck what to do. She's very bright and confident,her speech is advanced as well as her writing and numbers.She is currently in nursery in age group 3-5 so varying abilities meaning she's not always being stimulated as lots of kids are younger or different ability. We feel reception would benefit her. If she doesn't go this year does she start reception when she's 5 and year 1 when she 6 or does she jump straight to year 1 as she'll be 5 on 1st sept 2025. Also some.parents are telling me not to send her to reception this year and have her another year at home as I'll be sending her to college and uni a year earlier?very confused.....

They probably didn’t listen much, grasped the ‘problem with online form’ bit and sent a paper form.

When it’s processed, they’ll very likely reject it on the basis it’s ineligible for admissions in 2024.

If they due process it, they will need to put it right at the bottom of the pile. The authority need to allocate the available spaces to children who are actually in the admissions window first.

It would be ridiculously unfair for a child ineligible by age to take a place that should have gone to a child who is the right age. You can see that, can’t you @Sunburymum.

The same problem will reoccur at secondary transfer too. Your child will either not have the application processed because the child is too young or it will be processed right at the end of everything. So you’ll get an under subscribed school you don’t want. Because it is only fair to allocate the available places to children in the age category first.

Mine is one of the eldest, major negative for him as he has been incredibly bored, learning things he has been learning for at least a year - might have benefited my other child who isn't as academic but for him it's been tough!

He's ND and struggled with learning through play, so being the eldest was just another struggle.

I thought applications for 2024 have now closed? We had to get ours in by 15 Jan. Unless you've already done it.

Agree with the majority, I wouldn't want ours starting school the week they turn 4.

The cut off is 30 June here and DC2 was born early July so she'll start at 5y 2m. I was delighted she didn't come early!

School demands a lot of them besides the academics, better for her to be older and find that easier. Agree with the suggestions of a preschool year, we have that as standard here, DD had morning at preschool nursery and afternoon at daycare nursery and it was great.

They probably accept late applications. But those applications are likely processed after all the on time ones (and any advertised waiting list movement period around acceptances).

An application for a too young child will likely be outright rejected. Or if the local authority want to entertain this nonsense, after all the on time applications and all the late applications for children old enough.

I’d imagine they’d need to get a school - and its governing body - to agree to admit a too young child to reception. Let’s face it, without some really compelling case (and I think my DD is really advanced is not really compelling) no school is going to entertain this. They will divert to an offer of a nursery place.

OP one of mine is a very early September baby and was the oldest in his year . He is also very bright . It wasn’t a problem when he started school but he was quite bored in year 6 and ready to go on to a new challenge . He went on to Grammar so no issue at secondary level - they are all pushed ! It might have been problematic if he’d gone into a comp . I wouldn’t worry at the start of your daughter’s school career . Children work at different levels and in my experience there was space in the system to allow that . I would think about how you are going to stimulate her later

For reasons I've never been entirely sure about I skipped two years in the transition to secondary - it was back in the 60s and wouldn't happen now. I did reasonably OK academically, but with hindsight I don't think it did me much good: I was always the immature one in the class, and it caught up with me in the sixth form when I didn't really have the self-discipline to settle down and work, so I ended up resitting A levels anyway.

I think the lesson is that it doesn't really help children to be out of their year group. My DD has a September birthday, and I was very happy that she didn't start school till she was very nearly 5.

Living abroad and international schools can be a bit 'loose' on start dates. Like you flagged early on, it's not just a question of primary but also later on, especially with Uni.

I have a friend whose daughter is a year younger than her peers - so she was born in early September and started the September she turned 4 instead of 5. Her daughter, now applying to do medicine, has been queried by a couple of Universities about her age - suggestions of gap years, etc - her grades are stellar, but they have pushed her in interviews about maturity, and at least one categorically stated they wouldn't take her until she was 18. To be honest, I think it's fair enough given the pressures of the course, but it's very tough on the girl herself.

Your daughter is very lucky. The poor kids born a day later will be deprived of a whole year of play .
More and more research are getting published on the benefits of starting school later.
Sorry I don't want to rant on you but I will never understand the obsession some parent have with putting their children in school as young as possible .
In practice these kids struggle a lot. It's not about academic ability. It's emotional and physical as well. Young kids still have cartilage and not mature bones in their hands for example. They shouldn't be expected to write at that age.
I wish the UK weren't so backwards.

many European countries dont start formal schooling 'til later than the uk for good reason and they often have far better academic outcomes!....having a stimulating pre- school and doing stuff as a parent is just as important . Don't wish her childhood away, you'll be having to force a sullen teenager to get up and do her homework before you know it!

What was your reasoning for wanting to apply for a child that's not the right age?

My late July DC was very clever and reading easily at three. However, being the youngest in the class held them back socially for several years.

DD is 2nd September;she had her 5th birthday on her first day of full time school;she did 3 years of part time preschool so was more than ready.

She was due August 29th so was late.

@JacksonLambsEatIvy makes sense. She can apply and they have the choice to say no or not. Every single school we've applied for is at full capacity every year so I doubt they'd be taking on children who are younger than the cut off point!

If she doesn't go this year does she start reception when she's 5 and year 1 when she 6 or does she jump straight to year 1 as she'll be 5 on 1st sept 2025
She will start reception when she's 5, she won't jump to year 1

I have one nephew who's one of the oldest in his class, and one who is the youngest in his class. The older one has coped so much better with practical stuff (getting changed, tiredness through the school day, being able to pay attention) than the younger one.

Don’t do it, even if you do get a primary place a secondary place is not guaranteed out of school year. Then all the social/emotional stuff comes into play and it is far better to be older

and uni is also tricky what the cut off there are - will she be old enough to go into halls of residence. Socialising with her friends being that much younger.

leave her where she is

When applications from families who want their children placed in a different year to their cohort, the governing board discusses. IME this discussion is wide ranging and considers many things - including the school’s ability to accommodate the child within the correct class (schools do differentiate and can provide appropriate work if the child is advanced) and the social aspects.

Every time I’ve been involved in one of these the decision has always been that it is far more appropriate to place the child within their age cohort. That decision is generally much easier if the family want them placed in the year above because the factors that are likely to be compelling are more common for children with significant support needs than for children whose parents just think they’re really advanced.

It is really sad the number of people who think that play is not sufficiently stimulating for a 3 year old.

Exactly. It would be outrageous if a child of the right age lost out on a place in the family’s preferred school so that a 3 year old could start reception.

If you give this any thought at all, it’s a ludicrous idea.

I looked into this as I have a bright child born 2nd September. I ultimately decided against it as you will have to go through the process at every transition, and there’s no guarantee of acceptance. So on transition from infants to juniors, if that applies in your area, primary to secondary, secondary to sixth form college (where I am schools don’t typically go through to 18)…. I really don’t think it’s worth the hassle. My child also, whilst being more than academically able, I think would have really struggled socially.

I think you just really need to think of the potential advantages and disadvantages of her starting a year ahead.

Year ahead (2024 entry) :
Adv: You look good! (My DD is so bright she ahead). She 'gets more stimulation'.
Disadv: She is well behind the bright kids born Sept to Oct who are nearly a full year older than her. She may need to repeat Y6.

Correct year of entry (2025)

Adv: She will be well ahead of her peers and very ready to pick up everything taught to her. Statistically, she will be better off in exams at 16 and 18.

Disadv: She may be a bit bored for 1 year at her current preschool.

Personally, I feel the advantages of waiting outweigh the advantages of going early.

In many areas summer born (1 April- 31 Aug) DC are allowed to start school in Reception a year later in many areas in order to be on more of an even playing field with the year group as a whole so evidence that moving a just after the cut off child up wouldn't necessarily be the right thing to do. I have first hand experience of an early in the academic year birthday DC skipping a year during primary (British school abroad) and finishing school a year ahead of her correct school year group and on balance probably wouldn't recommend it. Your 1st Sept born DD may seem more advanced & mature than many DC around her at nursery but I would probably put money on that not being the case if she's in a reception classroom a few days after she turns 4. Go with the advantage of being the oldest in the correct year group rather than the absolute youngest best out of year group.

FInd her a better preschool and/or find her extracurriculars she can enjoy next year.

I wouldn't start her early.

Different perspective. As someone born at the start or September I hated it. I was bored in primary esp in Maths. There were mixed age classes so most of my friends (who were only a few days /weeks older) left when I went into year 6 so I was very lonely in that last year and just spent the time repeating the syllabus.

I went to a private secondary where out of year placement is more common, one of my friends was 1 Yr and 2 months younger than me and did just as well as me. I did very well at school, perhaps better than I would have done a year earlier, but I always felt so old! I felt a gap year wasn't been an option for me as I would have been 20 starting uni. I would happily have swapped a boring year 6 for an exciting gap year.

One of my friends with an advanced October born put her child into private school for a year. It was more stimulating and she could use childcare vouchers etc for it so didn't cost much. Then she entered state reception at the usual point aged almost 5. It worked well for her, so that is another option...

My dc was the same.
I don’t think there is any possibility to move ahead but i dint think it did him any favour. He was bored. He was also more mature than his peers and often struggled to fit in. (He is a young adult now so have gone through the whole school years).
It hasn’t been easy to balance incl the whole ‘learning other stuff outside school’ 🤪🤪

I was in a similar place but lived abroad so was 1 year ahead for my whole school years. It felt absolutely fine tbh. I fitted in with my peers. I had no issue following the curriculum. BUT the decision there was taken, not because of my age, but around maturity and ability - aka when I ‘jumped’ one year ahead, I wasn’t behind from my peers academically etc….

Imo the list from @MerryMarigold assumes that your have a child with average academic capabilities whomwill achieve what they should at a specific age rather than depending of the school year.
If your child struggles a bit or is more academically gifted, the balance is different. If you have a child that has some struggles or develops a bit slower academically, they’ll struggle more if they are a year ahead. But if you have a child more academically gifted, staying ‘in their year’ they might be bored a lot and struggle to fit in.