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?

@SamanthaVimes see what you mean. It felt like a compromise in a way like gradually putting him in rather than slamming him in full time. But perhaps it would be more negative than positive

We did part time in reception for my August born DD. This was years ago at the time it wasn't really an option to delay and join reception the following year. She would have gone straight into Y1. Given how oversubscribed our local schools were, that would also mean she was unlikely to get a place locally. That was a massive reason we needed her to start in her "normal" year.

The head caution us against the idea of starting in April. Since they do start with phonics and stuff right from the first couple of weeks he felt she would have a lot of catching up. It was an option though.

In the end, she went mornings only till about Feb half term. She had previously done mornings at preschool so didn't seem to notice that other children were there full time. Once she did start noticing that there were things she'd missed, she seemed ready for the longer day. For the most part though, it was free flow play, and anything a bit more structured like the phonics tended to be first thing anyway. She did do a few full days, where they had a trip or visitor in the class.

It was a hassle, I wont say it was easy having such short days and it was also hard keeping in with the school routines. For example reading books were sent home in book bags in the evening, so DDs was often forgotten when I collected her at lunch. Took me a while to realise other children were getting books home. She's old enough that letters home were still paper in book bags so we missed those too. It took a lot of communication and the teacher being on board.

All in all though I think it was the right fit for her, she was exhausted after just the half day. She had dropped her nap long before, but often had a sleep when we got home.

@Nix32 i agree skipping part of the year seems bad. Definitely would be more of a part time for the first term and then hopefully ready for full time in term 2, or delay the full year. It’s just a whole year seems a lot and I’m frightened of repercussions of that when he’s older. But I think it’s hard to decide now, hopefully I’ll know more in a few months

We delayed DS's start years ago when it was almost impossible. My sister thought it was tantamount to child abuse

It was absolutely the best thing we ever did. He's thrived, not had any problems with being the eldest in the year - in fact quite the opposite. Also - post covid secondaries seem relaxed about start age.

The flexible admission group in Facebook are a fantastic resource.

Good luck OP

@peassandcarrots thank you for your perspective. I think this is the argument that the school would make, that they would support him and push him forwards. I’m so glad this worked well for you and your family. I can only hope that if we go down this route we have the same outcome. When was your DC diagnosed, if I can ask? Did the nursery pick it up?

I think part time (if you’re even offered that, schools are very reluctant for good reason) would lead to them missing out a lot, not just on the learning the other children are doing but the social stuff and friendship development. If you do anything, defer properly and allow them to have the full time in reception.

@Connie2468 can you talk a little about the difference you’ve noticed between starting school aged 4 & 5?

i really want Lo to thrive and not just survive as someone else on this thread put it, makes so much sense doesn’t it. If I knew multiple people were doing it for my LOs class I would be more inclined I think

@Connie2468 thats intense. What happened to play! It’s a bit sad in a way.

@peassandcarrots this would be the worst of all worlds. If this was the option I wouldn’t delay as wouldn’t want him to miss reception.

@User14379 goodness, I really had hoped it was a matter of applying. I wonder if, because he’s already at the nursery, if they’d fight harder against him being held back.

@Briseis17 this is interesting as this is what I’d thought that maybe at reception they cover more academics in the morning so it’s fine to skip the afternoon for nap or downtime and relaxing. I am glad you’ve been able to reach this arrangement. Do you feel that Lo will be in good stead then for yr1? I guess there’s time to develop between age 4-5, stamina etc.

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?

I am from one of those countries where kids start later, and in my gut I knew it would be better for my two, but as an expat parent it is tricky to really understand your options, especially when what you want to do goes against the norm. I had looked into it and read what some have posted here, that there was a chance they would be put straight into y1, which would have been worse. Knowing a bit more now, my understanding is that schools are much more open to deferrals and it is unlikely that two underprepared kids would have been put in y1 rather than reception a year later.

at our current school, kids were all over the place with phonics at entry so from what I see there isn’t a single phonics stream for the whole class so much as different groups of kids at different points in the curriculum. In that scenario, it would have been possible for them to start half way through and find a group that aligned with where they are. Where I am from, it is possible to do this, and according to my English husband, this was quite common 30-40 years ago where you would have two entries a year. If that isn’t an option then another year of high quality nursery would have been fine, maybe increasing their hours.

I was surprised by how ‘academic’ reception was, and then y1 is also a big step up. It just sucks that from the first parent teacher meeting 4 weeks in every conversation has been about ‘catching them up’. It is really stressful pushing them and doing lots of ‘remedial’ work when if we could have waited a year they would have been right where they needed to be or a little ahead and could have simply enjoyed school. They are catching up slowly, and I expect by y2 they will be middle of the pack, but I do worry about the emotional toll of constantly feeling like they are underperforming or behind.

what I’d thought that maybe at reception they cover more academics in the morning so it’s fine to skip the afternoon for nap or downtime and relaxing
Not true in my DD’s reception class. Wednesday morning for instance was most taking up by swimming, Friday morning included Sports and core subjects were definitely taught in the afternoon as often as they were in the mornings. If you’re considering PT then definitely don’t make assumptions and ensure you talk to the school.

@Authenticity2020

@peassandcarrots thank you for your perspective. I think this is the argument that the school would make, that they would support him and push him forwards. I’m so glad this worked well for you and your family. I can only hope that if we go down this route we have the same outcome. When was your DC diagnosed, if I can ask? Did the nursery pick it up?

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I knew that something wasn't quite right, the meltdowns and no speech/language. But for some reason autism just wasn't on my radar. They picked up on a variety of things by day three, and asked me in for a discussion.

They arranged for him to be assessed privately because they felt an nhs waiting period of 2 years would be detrimental to his progress, and he was subsequently assessed and diagnosed within 6 months of starting school nursery.

Had we bypassed school nursery/reception he could have been a whole year or 2 behind where he is now in terms of support/ability/progress.

If he hadn't coped we would have pulled him out and explored other options. It just didn't make sense to us to be fully aware that he was behind what is expected of a child his age and not try and see how school goes and try to close the gap as much as possible before official school and learning begins.

There were hard days and weeks, there were meltdowns and very tricky days where he didn't partake in any learning. On the whole he was happy, he never once refused to go in, and he coped extremely well with the full days and the expectations on him. His start within eyfs has undoubtedly prepared him exceptionally well for starting ks1, far more than I could have done at home.

You're not obliged to take up any place you're offered.

I'd check with the schools that you plan to apply to what their process is. Also check with the LA.

So much can change in a year

We found that part time reception was Better than deferring completely . My dd who was deferred got bored in the second year of nursery but my dd who started reception at just turned 4 thrived on part time till the very last term

I delayed my middle child. He went to school nursery and they were supportive but said it was my choice. He got an extra years funding for nursery and moved up with the next group. Not all LA are equal though so I’d have a chat to find out what would happen.

Both have to agree to it. I’ve just sorted mine out for next year and the LA said it’s fine as long as the heads at the schools I applied to are in agreement. They were so our application for next September has been withdrawn and he starts 2024.

some areas are easier than others. I’m in Durham and it’s been a piece of cake here.

As a Reception teacher I have experience of all three, my first choice would be deferring the full year, then part time but every morning so make sure no phonics/maths is missed. I had a child start in December and while their parents had done lots in terms of academics with them, they were completely out of their depth socially and had missed the first term where that’s the focus. In addition, they hadn’t started from 5 minute carpet sessions and worked up with everyone else, in December we were up to around 20 minutes which was just too long for them.

OP i think a lot of people will tell you that the early years are tough if they're young, but that once they're older, able to wipe their own bums, manage the long days etc it'll all be fine.

That isn't my experience.
My DS is August born. When he started school there wasn't the option to delay for a year.
DS is clever, so academically he has always been OK.
Emotionally it's been a disaster.
He's 17 now, in year 13.
From the start he got teased for having a Thomas swimming bag and had to swap it to a Spider-Man one, even though he didn't like Spider-Man. Throughout school he has struggled to keep up with the likes and development of his peers. They went through puberty before him, got girlfriends before him, and now they're learning to drive before him and going into pubs before him. His contemporaries are excited about university and he is terrified. He's felt intimidated by people throughout his time at school.
Admittedly this is partly due to his personality, but had he been the oldest in the year rather than the youngest, it would have been completely different.

OP if your child has a slight delay then to my mind it's a no-brainer.
I can't tell you how negatively my son has been affected by being so young. It breaks my heart, and makes me angry at how rigid the system was when he started school.

It has dictated the tone of his life and I feel has had permanent detrimental effects.

@AntlerRose thanks for your advice. I wouldnt want my Lo to miss out, especially not the fun things.

@Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas yeah I see what you mean. I don’t want him to miss out. But also feel holding back should be “last resort” although not sure why I feel that way. Worried about potential detrimental impacts I guess.

@SeekingBalance im glad school are supportive. Hope he settles soon and it’s good they welcome you to use the part time option. Would you pull him after lunch if so? My lo is only doing mornings at nursery: you say you wouldn’t make that mistake again do you mean you would have added hours? Or do you think deferring would have been best if circumstances were different?

@Dontsparethehorses yes I am keen to have a good relationship with the school and really hope they will be supportive and not push an agenda. Will open a dialogue with them after the half term.

Does anyone know is there’s any kind of “readiness checklist” for school? I mean, it seems like a lot of the decisions rely on instinct and there’s not objective information. I guess hard bc all schools run differently but it would be helpful.