Part-time entry or delayed entry to reception anyone?

[Authenticity2020]

I have a summer born child who has experienced developmental delays and for various reasons I am considering:

a) delayed start to Reception (where the child then starts full or part time in the year) but they just start by April
b) part time Reception for part or all of the year
c)delay starting for the full year until child is aged 5 and then goes in full time.

does anyone have experience of doing this?? If so, how has it impacted things and are you glad to have done it?

At the moment my kid naps and needs that nap and I know some nap till age 5. Anyone send their kid part time until naps are dropped?

I think part time is the worst of both worlds. If you think he isn’t ready then deferring the whole year makes the most sense.

@TriedAndBested thanks for your reply. Yes he’s just started the pre-school in the last month and I feel has been struggling. I think the teachers will say it’s too early to say either way but also I feel they’d be encouraging us to go ahead because it’s their school we’d be applying for, if that makes sense?

I wasn’t sure how much in reception is play and how much is learning that would be missed on. I had thought maybe he could go in the morning, stay for lunch (for the social element) and then pull him so he can nap or rest and gradually increase his day across the term. I’d probably only send him part time for the first term or two.

He is not especially social, bless him he only really just started talking in the last few months and doesn’t know how to communicate with other kids. They talk to him but he doesn’t really respond. From
what I’ve seen when we’re out in public playgrounds or toddler sessions etc kids eventually tire and move on or they get frustrated with him as they don’t get why he’s not listening or replying.

It’s good your DD is keeping up academically. I hope she’ll catch up soon. They do say the gap evens out eventually. What was the reason you decided against holding her back, if I may ask that?

@DesdemonaThreethree the one you send part time, how did that work and how long for? Did the one you sent after Christmas find it ok making friends or is that too early for them to do that? We’re there any negatives to holding them back? Do other children notice or make fun? Especially as they got older? That’s one thing people point out to me is that they could be targeting for bullying if they’re clearly older.

@Labraradabrador sorry to hear of the struggles, it’s so hard. Your experience is what I am thinking may be the case for us. I am surprised lots of phonics in reception. It’s hard to know how much of it is play, it sounds like a lot more work involved. Are you saying you would have liked them to start reception after Christmas and then done another full year in reception? Can I ask what made you decide to not hold them back?

@WestIsWest thank you for sharing. So is this the nursery attached to the school (as per my situation)? How did your DC feel about repeating year and seeing friends go up to next class? Does your DC find it boring at all, or you feel they slotted in at right time? Are there any other children in their class who were also held back, is your DC the oldest? It’s so interesting and I don’t find this conversation happening anywhere to learn peoples experiences.

@Winceybincey i hear you on all this. Good for your. Especially get you with the impact of lockdown, it really didn’t help and I wonder if this is a factor but I think in our case is only part of it. A lot of other countries don’t start formal education till age 5. Is your Lo already at a nursery or will reception be their first experience?

Starting mid year is the worst scenario. Either go part time - every day, mornings only - or defer the year.

Phonics is an enormous part of what happens in Reception. If your child doesn't access the full phonics curriculum during that year, they will be playing catch-up for years to come.

In my experience there it's nothing to be achieved by delaying starting school for a child that is already showing delays and difficulties.

My child is August born (and autistic, though I didn't know this when they started school nursery).

They started school nursery in September 2020 and were literally 3 years and one week old. Part time was only on offer for the nursery so they did 3 hours a day for a full year.

They then started reception in September 2022, again just 4 years and 1 week old. They started full time hours straight away.

They have just started year one, age 5 years and 1 week.

Back in 2020 they were completely non verbal, couldn't hold a pencil, couldn't recognise any letters or numbers, socialising and playing with children was impossible, absolutely everything was a real struggle.

We made the decision to start nursery because we felt there was much more to be achieved there than being at home watching the gap widen. We agreed to see what happened and if they couldn't cope we would rethink.

Over the two years they spent at school in EYFS they have learned phonics and can now blend sounds to read basic words, they recognise all letters and numbers. They can add and subtract. They can write. They can answer comprehension questions from a book they have read.
Most important of all, my child can talk and can now have full conversations where we understand each other. All of this is because they were in an environment where they could learn from professionals and from other children.

They understand the school routine and what is expected of them, they can also play with other children with far less distress than before.

Although there are still significant delays and difficulties, they are equipped with everything they need to start ks1. It doesn't bear thinking about how they would be doing now had we not made the decision to send them to school and just see how they coped.

I'd absolutely delay Reception entry for a full year and have him start Reception full time aged 5.

Having had children start school at just turned 4, and just 5, an older child has a huge advantage.
There will be some who say 'my August born child started Reception aged 4 and is now a pro-footballer/at Cambridge/curing cancer' but statistically Summer born children are at a disadvantage throughout school. And that's without considering additional developmental delays.

Basically, even if your child would do fine starting at just 4, their experience would be a lot easier at just 5. Why make life harder for them?

Reception is 'play based' but the curriculum is demanding (much more demanding than it was 10 or 20 years ago and there is a lot to get through. Children will be doing formal learning everyday.
They need to be reading and writing sentences and adding and subtracting numbers up to 20 by the summer - often children are barely speaking in sentences when they start in the autumn so it is a lot of work to achieve those goals.

It's worth remembering that not all schools/local authorities will agree to deferring a place then starting reception a year later.
Some will expect you to start from year one which means a full year of important groundwork will be missed.

My august born DD has just started part time in Reception. We weighed up all the options, keeping free nursery hours, deferring a year or going part time. Ultimately she was ready to start learning and I didn’t want her getting behind but I knew she wouldn’t have the stamina (or inclination) for full time school all day every day.

Children legally do not have to be in school full time until they turn 5 and are of “compulsory school age”. When you realise there is no legal reason for your child to be in school you can actually sit back and think carefully about what would be right for your child.

I spoke to the school about it very early on, we discussed the school day in detail and which bits she would benefit from attending. I feel like the school was amenable and flexible to our approach and she has started with 4 hour days with the intention that we will build up her hours so she will be full time by the end of the school year.

As it stands I think we made the right decision there were tears and upsets the first couple of weeks. 4 hours a day is plenty, to cover the basics in maths and phonics and gives her down time in the afternoon to relax or take her to extracurricular activities that we’d have had to give up if she was in school full time.

Don’t regret our decision in the slightest. If it’s something you are considering start the dialogue early (eg a year in advance), be open to what works for the school, but also hold firm with what you think is best for your child. We didn’t formalise our plans until the summer before she started but we had planned for it a year in advance.

Please join the Facebook page someone referred to earlier. I think it’s very few LA who don’t agree to delayed reception start. Most will although some require more of a fight than others and the group helped us tremendously.

If your child has some developmental delays I would either hold them back a year or send them on time but I'd go full time from the Sept. It is learning in Reception, just THROUGH play. If they're already behind, I wouldn't make it harder by missing out that time.
I say this as someone who's child only had vowel sounds at 3.5 years (uh eels oh uh us = the wheels on the bus) and disliked other children near him. Our target for nursery was tolerating a kid next to him. He's year 3 now.

Re friends I found he'd follow and do as he was told by the girls as he got a little older, and wanted to be included but dint know how. He's still a bit like that now 😂

There are two children in my Reception class who are part time and only miss some afternoons now and likely to continue until Spring at parents request but are also interested in our feedback. Any 'learning' is caught up and socially there are periods of the moring which are unstructured free flow too. I wish more parents would consider this if their normally confident and coping Reception child changes as the week progresses and they're tired.
Friday afternoon was emotionally draining for all involved!
No experience of deferrals in 10+ years so far but part time can genuinely help - within reason, teachers would rather quality over quantity out of their children. Currently have a boy who naps at home for an hour and don't I know what missing a nap can bring. Plus this children parents wax lyrical they're used to 7-7 nursery and are fine....school is different. Particularly in autumn.
Remember next September is a long time off but speak to the staff at open days now and gauge their reactions and similarily during June transition. Then work with staff to create the best education that fits your child, good luck.

If you feel they’re not ready, and if your area allows it, deferring could be a good option. I briefly considered it for my summer born but ultimately decided to send her with her year group. My reasoning being that she’s extremely social so I knew she’d fit in fine and like you we were at the school nursery and I knew she’d be upset to see her friends moving up without her. She has struggled academically especially with reading- phonics/blending didn’t click until the very last half term and with some fine motor things like getting dressed after their swimming lessons. But she loves school and is really happy so we definitely made the right decision and her teachers are happy she’s making progress. Part time never occurred to me, I’d be too worried about what they would be missing and I would be concerned they’d end up falling even further behind their year group.

My twins were born at the end of August and were 12 weeks premature- they started Reception when they had just turned 4. They were the smallest in the class and got very tired so they just did mornings and I picked them up at lunchtime (they then went home for a nap).

By Easter they were going full time.

They then started in Y1 but really struggled - the Head Teacher, (who was amazing!) called me in for a meeting and suggested that they repeated their Reception year again.
(Had they not been born prematurely, this would be the year they would have been in anyway).

We agreed to this and it was definitely the best decision for them.

@Twilightstarbright @Lakalla its hard isn’t it because I would of thought reception is more play but sounds more involved and it would be missing a block and then year 1 sounds like a leap

@Saturdaydreamingway2355555 thats really good you know that about your little one. Mine is June born. He’s catching up as it were but he’s still behind the average 3 year old. I don’t know how much he will catch up between now and next Sept. I will definitely do as you say which is apply for a place and I think then you ask for deferment at that point? I need to read more about the process.

def don’t want him going straight to year one as then a key stage has been missed and what’s the point of that!!

@LionessesRules yes this seems to be the consensus. I wonder though if it’s like they do more phonics educational stuff in the morning? That said I wouldn’t want him to miss fun in the afternoon.

@Twizbe yes I can see this potentially being the case. So presumably once I’ve got a place I’m not obliged to send? Is it local authority or school that agrees to the deferral? I thought to defer the full year local authorities have to agree it but for deferring to part time or partial years that’s school discretion to agree with you

@CantstandCoriander thanks for this perspective and info. I don’t want those initial years reception till year three to be a struggle while he catches up. I’m glad more people are aware and more are doing it. I just hope there’s no bullying or similar for the kids that are then clearly older when held back, maybe it shows more as they get older??

Just delay a year if they’re summer born.

@Sarahcoggles sorry to hear this about DS. Can you explain in what way it has impacted him? Is it academic, social or both? X

@lannistunut yes minded to do this. I want him to have the extra time he also missed out on in the covid situation where he spent a year indoors at home! It’s like he’s the youngest and delayed and missed on key time!