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

I would try to place her in a school based nursery class if the hours work for you. Although they all follow the same early years framework, school nursery classes often seem a little more school like.

Please don't start her early, you've won the school age lottery as said above. I have an end of August child and it is hard when they are so little. I know right now she seems mature - especially if she is your first - but please don't rush her.

Ks1 teacher here. Play is the most important part of learning right through primary school. Unfortunately most schools don’t offer a play based learning approach after reception but it is very important and not something to be skipped or rushed. You may need to do some more research into how young children learn.

This is one of the daftest things I have ever read on here. I have an early September born, yes she is the oldest girl (there is a boy 1 day older) and yes she is excelling academically.

There’s absolutely no way I would have wanted her to start earlier. She has loved school partly because she was totally ready for it and hasn’t found it hard which is a definite advantage over the little ones.

Don’t wish her life away, let them have as much play time as possible, there’s no rush for school and an extra year of preschool was a blessing.

So true. One of the things I love about our (teeny) school is that Reception and Year 1 are in together so they have 2 years that are play based with free flow outside play. The bigger schools have Reception in a separate class and the designated outside play space isn’t available to Year 1 who are in more typical classrooms.

I definitely support letting them learn through play (and this is with an academic child that is almost through the Year 1 book bands in Reception).

I'm also a teacher too but actually agree with the OP here about the potential for boredom. I was very relieved my summer born was starting school at just turned 4 and didn't have to do another year at nursery. Her friends who stayed behind had outgrown it by the end. My younger child is older in the year and definitely ready for school now. It's more that nurseries can be pretty limiting, with children spending all day in a smallish room, with the same toys they've had for years and staff who aren't always trained appropriately and certainly aren't paid well enough to properly stretch them through play. Early years is just not valued enough by the government to be as good an experience as it could be.

One of the reasons local authorities don't like it is that the yp can leave school without having done their gcses.

DS' birthday is in the first week of Sept. He was 5, 4 days after starting reception. He's plodding through his GCSEs at the moment. Being the eldest in the year has always been advantageous, never detrimental.

Dd was 5 on her first day of school (v early Sept, older in year). She would have been ready the precious year academically, but emotionally and socially it made a huge difference. We avoided the preschool boredom by adding in a lot of experiences and teaching life skills that would help her in the years ahead.

Very similar to my October born. She was outraged she wasn't joining reception with her nursery friends (she started the school nursery the term after she turned 3 so was there for a year and a half) and was academically there. However, she needed the extra year to develop socially and it made a big difference. Some aspects of reception were dull for her, but gave a really good grounding for Y1 which she loves. Plus you spend a lot of years at school and beyond - I didn't want to rush her ahead.

Very true. DD is still in reception, so we shall see how things progress. Her teacher has, however, been amazing at stretching the older kids if needed, and giving extra support to the younger ones.

There are advantages in high school of being the oldest not the youngest - you would not want to take this away. Both my Scottish born dc started school at nearly 5.5yrs. A whole country can't have it wrong!

Be thankful of your situation and don't dwell on this again. I feel you are making an issue out of something that isn't an issue.

Exactly! Have you done zero research? Autumn born kids do much better! Why would you want her to be the youngest?
I am thrilled my second is September born and has another year at pre-school to play and learn social skills.

@Trying81 she will not be bored at a childminder at 3-4yo - she’ll benefit from another year of childhood and not having to follow stricter routine's, etc.
No bright child gets bored when they are let to play, which is what she can do at childminder.

The idea that a child needs to be ‘entertained’ or ‘formally taught’ at 4 not to be bored is really wrong. Kids at that age do best if given time and toys to play and use their imaginations. Which is what she can do at childminder. And/or - get her to nursery to start working on social skills.

Being taught letters having just turned 4 - is neither here nor there. Won’t make her do better at A-levels, etc. BUT - being youngest in a class - certainly affects them - statistically august kids underperform throughout, including A-levels. And struggle socially.

I really don’t know why you assume she is going to be bored because she’s one of the oldest there will likely be quite a few September born children in the class so unless she’s showing signs of being very academically advanced now she should be fine .

If you are that worried of her being bored, put her in a preschool instead of a childminder.

I’d say find a good pre-school / nursery / nursery class or make sure that your childminder is raking her to a good range of group settings each week.

DS, for example (exceptionally able Autumn-born; fluent reader on arrival in Reception; grasped negative numbers and could add and subtract from them in Reception) spent half of each day with a childminder who had a son his age, and half a day in an excellent committee-run pre-school (childminder delivered and collected both boys).

Starting school, and worse starting Y1 and ‘formal learning’, was actually when the problem started, not the solution to being very able.

Please don’t the implications of it for high school and university are huge!

DS is October and it was in Year 6 we struggled now it has righted itself in Year 7

she needs a nursery school - do you have anything locally?

I meant to say - childminder alone, however good she was, would not have been sufficient for DS in the year or so before school. But childminder + good pre-school was perfect.

Silliest idea ever @Trying81 sorry to be blunt but I really think it is.Being born early September doesnt make a child magically more special/clever/ahead/mature than the other kids. By the end of Reception/year 1 the age issue pretty much evens itself out.

I was an early October baby. Being one of the oldest in my year was a massive advantage. It made me feel so much more confident, wiser etc. All nonsense really but it definitely helped me. A child wants to be in front not at the back!

Just let them be who they are and start school with the rest of the kids born in September-December.

If you’re worried that your DD will be bored with the childminder then looking into preschools may be a sensible idea.

But other than that, a child’s readiness for school isn’t just about their academic ability. Their social, emotional and physical maturity are just as important, and being a bit older can help a lot in those areas.

My DC2 is a September baby, he’s just about to finish Year 6. From an academic point of view, he’s always had glowing reports, been given greater depth work etc.
But his social and emotional development is a whole other story. He’s very immature in those respects, and I have serious concerns about his readiness for the transition to secondary school, and that’s even with him being the second oldest child in his year at school. And none of that social and emotional immaturity was obvious when he was 4 and we were looking at filling in applications for primary schools.

Even for a child without DC2’s issues, I believe that being one of the older children in the year, and having a bit longer to mature, can only be a beneficial thing in the long run.

Projecting how?

I think both extremes (autumn and summer borns) can struggle a bit but for different reasons.

It does all even out. DS is a November birthday and to be honest has been definitely ready for school these past few months. Equally DD is August and I feel I’d ideally like to have her home longer.