Starting school ‘early’ September born

[Trying81]

Our council cutoff for school age children is 31st August and our DD was born 2 September 2022

So our understanding is she’ll be starting primary school in September 2027 when she’ll have just turned 5

I assume she’ll go into reception as usual at this point, and likely be the oldest in the class.

Does anyone know if we can choose to enrol her sooner? I feel like she’s going to be bored if she joins at that point as she’ll likely be ahead of the other kids educationally.

I believe she could go straight into Y1 - but then she’s joining an established friendship group who already know each other from reception class. The school is only small and class sizes are 22.

Is there anything I’ve not considered in this? First time mum so not gone through this before - thanks

There is a cut off for a reason.
I’m a teacher and can reassure you that there are plenty of August born children in my year group who are ahead of September born children educationally.

Yes. This is also my experience.

Not all reception kids are born in August!
I've got 2 Sept born kids, they had 2 years in preschool each (before the school stopped doing this) and I just looked at the extra year as a bonus year.
Yes they were ahead but I never thought to push them into the year ahead.
If you do this, your daughter will be the youngest which is never a good thing either.

You’re unlikely to be able to enrol early. State schools won’t do this but a private school might.

The youngest children in the year are at a relative disadvantage. September-borns do better all the way through school: academically and at sport. Some parents are motivated to start a child early because the child is bright - perhaps reading early and very well-behaved. But the child is also physically smaller and with less well-developed social skills, and the gap between the oldest girls and the youngest becomes much more of an issue during primary, when girls and boys stop playing with each other.

People generally defer a year to avoid their child being the youngest. Not move up a year to ensure their child is the youngest.

There may be other September/ October/ November born children, who are equally as advanced as yours. There may even be some spring and summer born children who are.

Someone has to be the oldest and someone the youngest. June, July and August birthdays sometimes choose to defer, but I don’t know that you can join a year 1 class and miss Reception. Happy to be proved wrong though.

Reception year is about soooo much more than academics. It's setting the children up to succeed in school life - things like getting used to PE, assembly, lunchtime, sports day etc in a very gradual way. Year 1 tends to be much more academically focused and I would not suggest going straight in at that age (not that I even think school would allow it tbh)

I feel like she’s going to be bored if she joins at that point as she’ll likely be ahead of the other kids educationally.

It really is not possible to calculate the likelihood of that about your two year old. In any case, someone has to be the oldest, plus being older for the year is an advantage in pretty much everything except your childcare expenses anyway.

I agree. There's nothing to suggest your child will be ahead of those younger than her or that she will be bored at nursery.

You'd be bonkers in my opinion to deliberately plan for her to miss Reception.

Schools are expected to differentiate so that all children are challenged and supported. There will be children who can read and write and others who can barely count to ten. There will be challenges for all of thm.

Same in the preschool class. Different activities to support what different children can do.

Not in a state school but possibly in a private one. Infant class size restrictions make it hard for children to advance a year or be flexible although some will have combined classes with perhaps more opportunity to differentiate work. September birthdays are not necessarily more academically advanced though.

Why would you want her joining year 1 instead of reception? Her age group will be in reception. She may be the oldest of one of the oldest but there will be others born in September and October too, and there’s no guarantees she will be ahead of everyone academically. My dd is summer born and one of the youngest, she’s in the top third of her reception class currently and is ahead of some of the September and October children.

Both my dc are mid September.
Dd was the 8th oldest in the class of 30! DS was 3rd oldest but there were at least 10 Sept/Oct borns.
Year 6 tends to be a problem. Not academically , but they were mote than ready for the indepence Secondary school brings

There’s no benefit to your child to do this. The learning through play they do in reception is hugely beneficial. Maybe see if the school has a nursery class? Or if you have a preschool near you. I have a 4.5 year old who’s starting reception in September but he’s been at the nursery all this year and it’s been great for him, lots of play and lots of learning, my currently 2yo will do the same nursery year. It’s been a good step between the childminder and school. You don’t need to rush your child

I have an end of summer child, academically he was always able to keep up. Often outperforming September birthdays. They left school with 10 GCSE’s at grade 9, one at grade 8 and 4 A* A levels. Let your child join the right year group, step back and trust the school.

By the end of reception children are readindg simple books and can write a sentence. Will your child be able to do this in time for year 1 if they haven’t been to reception?

Many schools have a teacher led nursery attatched to them. You could enrol her at one of these, often they take children the term after they turn 3.

Being the oldest in the class is an educational advantage that persists up to A Levels - not even just educational, but will give her an advantage in sports as well, and she will be more likely to be picked for roles in school plays.

Why on earth would you choose to disadvantage her by making her the youngest in the class?

She'll be at a statistical automatic advantage as the oldest in the class. Do you really want her always to be the absolute youngest instead? It will do her no favours socially, especially as she gets older, and educationally you don't know what she'll be like.
If it's a state school, you won't have the choice anyway.
I've taught several children over the years a year ahead of their normal school year. In almost every case it was imo the wrong decision. Academically ok, socially disastrous, immature behaviour and for what?

You’d be mad to contemplate it and you won’t be allowed so it’s moot.

Won't happen. All children have things they need to learn in Reception. We had a little boy join recently who was a genuinely fluent reader (Y3/4 level in Reception) - the sort of child who comes along once or twice in a decade. That didn't mean he didn't have plenty of work to do in other areas of the curriculum. A range of abilities persists throughout school anyway; a typical Y3 class will have one child who could manage in Y5 and one who is at pre-school level, with a range in between.

I was SO pleased that my late-Sep born child didn't start until he was nearly 5, he had another year at home, childminder & pre-school when my friend's mid-Aug born started at just turned 4.

And, for what it's worth, DS was a very bright 4yo, who learned to read in the summer before starting school, learned to play chess around the same time, etc. He was in no way bored or unchallenged in reception.

I was subsequently quite worried about my younger, Jan born, and not as academic, child starting at 4y 7m, he seemed much younger to me.

It's swings and roundabouts really. Your child will benefit by being the oldest in the class and would be at a disadvantage being the youngest.

Most local authorities won't allow you to choose. You need to stick with the correct year group.

Typically, this is not an option. There are usually quite a few 'older' ones in school years (both my son's have/ had at least 6-7 September/October born's in their years. You may even find there are some delayed-entry summer-borns, so your child may not be the oldest.

FWIW older children in the year tend to thrive much better than younger ones. But that's much more about being g more independent and better able to cope with the expectations placed on then.

While September-borns do typically have more academic success, the highest achieve of children are often not the oldest, especially after the early years. In fact, the two to SAT performers in DSs year wer a December and a May-born, while the bright stars in my other son's class are a November & April-born!

I would definitely keep your child in the correct year group. When we moved to Scotland I was out a year ahead as I’d started a year younger in England. I was teeny compared to some of the others. It did push me on academically but socially and physically it wasn’t great.

The cut off date in England for school has been 31st August, for decades. My son is an early October baby, and he went to preschool for 2 years, rather than just the 1, and started Reception as normal in the September after his 4th birthday. Your child may not be any brighter than a child born in November or May!