Delayed entry into reception NOT summer born

[Cornishmummy123]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting. My husband and I need to apply for our son to delay entry into reception even though he is not summer born. He struggles with noise/getting overwhelmed/regulating his emotions/explaining himself and nursery agree he would really benefit from repeating the year. Because he is not summer born though we have been advised that the council will fight us on this. Has anyone else gone through this process and been successful? Can anyone offer guidance on what to include in our request letter please? Thank you in advance

What is his birth month?

What is you want to do? Start school the term after he turns 5?

Have you considered having him assessed for ASD?

Statutory school starting age in England is the academic term after a child turns five.
Depending on his birthday this would either be the January term of the Reception year or the Summer term (after easter).
If you are choosing to send him to school rather than home educate then that's when he would have to start.

I don’t think you can , you can choose to HE for as long as you like but if you want him in school he will eventually have to join the correct age group . When is his birthday ? You may find getting him into school at the correct age is better for you to start accessing any additional help he may need .

Hi Dreichweather, he turns 5 at the beginning of February and we would like him to start reception the following September. School are now beginning the neuro diversity pathway with the tool kit being carried out

@Cornishmummy123 a February birthday means he would need to start the summer term of reception. He would then have a term of Reception before starting Yr 1 in the September.
It's very unusual to start Reception late unless it's a summer born child or repeat Reception completely.
You might be able to have it happen if you live in an area with undersubcribed schools and there's space in the year below.
The nursery really shouldn't have suggested "repeating" the year because that's really rare to do.

Sounds like my DS1 (who is summer born coincidentally, end of July). We did not delay his start date but have been able to implement help with his social skills, anxiety and work with him on way to manage overwhelm/shutdown. We began the ASD assessment process in reception and he is still on the diagnosis pathway now in year 3. Academically he is doing extremely well and we didn’t feel that more time at preschool would help him. How do you perceive an extra year at preschool/nursery will help him and is there anything the school could do instead?

Is he at school nursery now? You say school have started the assessment took kit.

@Cornishmummy123 yes if he is at a school nursery then the environment is very similar to reception. Reception if anything is a bit more calmer and quieter because they are being taught more about school etiquette - ie everyone sits in the mat at a certain time to listen to the teacher.
Nursery can be more chaotic and overwhelming which if he struggles with that an extra year might not help.

My October born son started Reception at the correct time, however we moved schools and he repeated Year 2. We were able to do this because the second school was private, allowing more flexibility. He benefited greatly from being with younger children, but also from the smaller and quieter classes. He remained in the lower year group for several years until he moved to a special school.

At our state infant school there was a child who had a winter birthday who started Reception in the year below, due to very significant medical and SEN needs. So it certainly can be done, if very infrequently (albeit this was 15 years ago now).