Guest post: "Can we ever level the playing field for summer born children?"

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My son turned four on August 30th; the following week he started school. He's not the only summer baby in our family - both my husband and I have August birthdays and were the youngest in our respective school years.

My main memory of being born in August is of never having to go to school on my birthday, and parties in the garden. I thought I was pretty lucky. I was never really aware of the implications of being younger than my peers until later in life, and so never had the chance for the dire predictions about my outcomes to become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Last week, Schools Minister Nick Gibb called for action to allow children born between April and August to start reception aged five, a change that many parents have spent years campaigning for.

The arguments for giving summer born children the option of starting school later largely centre on levelling the playing field - but would this really be the outcome? With a greater range in school-starting age, children like my four-year-old son could find themselves in a class of children who are up to 16 months older than them rather than a year. Of course, we could insist that all children between April and August start school at age five - but this would only lead to the parents of March babies taking up the campaigning mantel. There needs to be a cut-off point somewhere.

So what is the solution? Firstly I do believe a change is needed. Premature birth and the complications that often come with it should not be allowed to disadvantage a child - it is only fair that the date used to measure eligibility for schooling is the due date or the birth date, whichever is later.

We also need to examine the bigger picture, and look at other factors that affect children's first experiences of education. During my son's first week at his primary school I watched kids eight months older than him be carried home by their mothers as they were too tired to walk, whilst others tore round the playground full of energy. This tells me there is a lot more going on than simply just birth date.

Research suggests summer borns tend to fair worse, but if you look at other research too you will also see the same parallels when examining parents' marital status, [[https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/files/iser_working_papers/2009-01.pdf
child nutrition]], sleep, birth order, the choice of [[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/private-school-children-will-earn-200000-more-on-average-than-stateeducated-kids-by-42-9580114.html
private or state schooling]], health, birth weight, ethnicity, family finances, parental attitude and <a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DCSF-RR028.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">teachers.

We have to learn to accept that there will be numerous things that affect our child's educational outcome and that we can't control them all or make schooling fair for everyone.

I believe our primary role as parents is to prepare our children for the realities of the wider world. To learn not to be afraid to take risks or face difficult challenges. To understand that we all have strengths and weaknesses and that (perhaps most importantly) there are many things that matter more than academic results.

When my husband and I went through our schooling in the 1980s we weren't aware that our birth month might have an impact on how well we did and so it was never allowed to become a crutch or an excuse. Instead we rallied to meet the standards set by our older peers and pushed ourselves to excel and we finally left our schools at age 17 with a headstart of nearly 12 months on some of our friends.

My son Theo will have the same advantage we did, giving him a year in reserve which he can do with as he chooses. Personally I hope he uses it to travel, broaden his horizons and develop people skills, because those things, more than another year at home with me, are what will set him up for life.

FishWithABicycle, nope, this only applies to Reception year.

And nobody's saying summer-born children are obliged to start a year later. There's no indication that all, or even many of them will, because parents will all like to think that their darling is mature and clever enough to be in with the big kids.

I wouldn't have with my daughter because she's very young for her age, partly due to autism. She would definitely have benefited from a later start with more time to play. Not all kids would have - some summer babies are definitely ready for school just after they turn four.

Obviously some Autumn-born babies would also benefit from extra time playing but there has to be a cut-off somewhere. Though if a child has special needs then it should also be allowed to start them - in reception, not year one - a few months later than their birthdate would allow, after an individual needs-based assessment.

There are childcare costs too, but IME childcare costs can be almost the same at reception age if the school doesn't provide an afterschool and breakfast club that fits with work times. Tax credits would cover nursery provision at four same as at three, anyway.

We will actually benefit financially as she is planning to do a foundation art diploma so I'll get child benefit, etc extended for a year because she will be so young when she starts her post-A level (but not level four) course. But I'd happily give that up for her to have not started school far too early.

I have an average summer born DD, now in Y5. MN is always littered with parents of genius Aug 31st birthdays, my DD is average.

I am fairly sure that her lack of confidence and assumption that she can never be top of the class is fed by looking at her peers from an early age, and making comparisons. Peers that are often 11 months older than her.

That's the bit that irks me. She thinks she isn't as good as a kid she sits next to in class who is 11 months older than her. So it's a self fulfilling prophecy, because she now lacks confidence and doubts herself, meaning she doesn't put up her hand, ask questions etc.

I am a SEN teacher, and one year I had a class of 9 children, all of whom were born in either June, July or August. For those who have specific SEN, or are even just a little bit behind their peers, summer birthdays are an unmitigated disaster. For a confident NT child, it probably makes little difference.

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