Silly question about starting school!

[hayleylou]

I know it maybe a silly question.... but what age do kids start primary school? And how do you start about getting your child into a school!

I acn only advise of procedure in Scotland.
Here you are able to register them to start that August if they are 4 by 1st March of that year.
Legally, they must start Primary 1 by latest the first intake after their fifth birthday.
There is only 1 intake per year in Scotland - in August ie if 5th birthday is April 2005, must start August 2005.
You are able to defer entry if they have a January / February birthday.
ie my ds born january 2000 - able to start school August 04 but could have deferred until August 05.
To enrol your child in a Scottish Primary - if you do not know which school your child is entitled to attend - contact the Education Dept of the council area you live in. They should also be able to tell you when you should enrol. Local newspapers also usually publish the enrolment dates for different schools.
Or contact your local primary!
The situation is different in rest of UK!

It depends on your borough. Ours has 2 intakes a year and they start in the term they become 5 years old. Eg my dd is 5 next May so will start Jan 06. Your council should be able to give you a booklet/leaflet with all the deadlines and procedures.

Where are you ? in England,normally they would start Reception in the year they turn 5 - sometimes starting in Septemebr for all , sometimes staggered for those whose birthdays are later in the year with January and/or Easter intake too, or part time from September going full time later in the year. It depends on the locla Education authority and school's policy. Howeever legally a child should be in education by the term after they turn 5 so for Summer birthdays they could omit Reception completely, in theory at least.

Have a look for your LEA website for application deadlines, which are usually sometime during the year prior to a September start.This site may help you identify potential schools in your area. Some (opted out) schools are more autonomous and set their own application procedures and criteria so you may also want to speak to them direct.

hth

I live in Croydon, and here they start reception the term after their fourth birthday - u def need to check with your local council. Closing dates for schools round here are around about now for this sept.

Thanks, I will be living in Wiltshire. At the moment we are in Germany and I would like to come back for ds to start school. I will enquire with local council!

In that case you may need to have an address locally from which to apply at the time the application is due - either proof of tenancy or exchanged contracts may suffice. Worth asking what their policy is for your circumstances to give you time to prepare.

Thanks for the advise, ds is 4 next year and I suddenl;t thought I had better do some research into the matter.