Pre school deferral NI?

[Babybrain26]

Hi everyone, were In NI so being able to defer preschool or primary school start date has only started about 2 years ago. The school year here runs September -June so any child born between April and June can now defer as they are young for year. Our son will be 3 at the very end of April. (However, he was due in mid-May). We've applied for pre school at the moment, for him to start when he's 3 years and 4 months however we can still defer if we wish. His older brother is awaiting asd assessment so their development has been quite different, his older brother was born in December and heading for mainstream education (P1 is September) so hopefully at some point they'll be in the same school together. Even with his potential asd though, he seemed more ready for pre school than our youngest. He's definitely more academic but obviously has some social difficulties, which i would say our youngest wouldnt have, hes generally very social with his peers at daycare.

I'm just wondering is an April birthday to 'old' to be considering deferral? Quite a few teachers etc i've spoke to, still seem to be against deferral over here. I've spoke to his daycare (hes only in 2 days a week) and they don't seem to have any concerns, however if I'm honest the staff turnover is high and the updates as to what he does each day aren't brilliant, so I don't trust their judgement too much I'm afraid.

Also meant to add that I'm an overthinker a bit lol but I do worry if we do defer him, will he feel more pressure as potentially the eldest to do the best in tests etc. Will he get picked on for being deferred etc. He is small for his age so hopefully it wouldn't be that apparent...

What did you decide to do?
Also NI and considered deferral but had the same worries as you, in DS school no one deferred that i knew of so i was worried he would be seen as different straight away with an expectation to be one of the most advanced as he is so much older

Clairered we decided to send him to preschool with the small possibility of deferring p1 if necessary. It's possibly not the best approach if we do end up deferring, but at least the option is still there. Still finding that unless there's sen, people here aren't really for deferral. He s honestly further behind what his brother was at this stage and currently I feel he'll still struggle in primary. His personality is so different from his brother, and concentration is still not great. Time will tell I suppose.

You'll be surprised how far he progresses in a year and yeah at least the option will be there, its not an easy decision, I still worry I made the wrong decision but so far my DS is doing well. Good luck, the nursery staff should be able to advise you of he's ready or not