starting reception early?

[Alicemum2boys]

I've never heard of this but my mil was telling my my son should start school around Easter now he's just turned 4! I've told her he can't until September 23. She's arguing that app my husband started school the easter after his 4th birthday he was just kept back a year because of it. which I don't understand why you would do that when they can just go pre school or nursery. but she loves to be right about everything and tell me how I should bring up my children!!

You can start school nursery the term after you turn 3 if they have space on there 3 to 4 funding route. Does she mean this? I know of a school which has a mixed nursery/reception class and they started taking kids before 3 as they had issues with low numbers and needed an edge over other providers.

I'm early 40s and when I went to school you started the term you turned 5 so my birthday is Feb and I started in January. My sister who is in the year below started at Easter because her birthday is July.

You didn't start just as you turned 4 though. Maybe she's confused. I'd just keep saying "yes, things were different back in your day" with a patronising head tilt which I do to both my DM and DMIL when they give parenting advice.

I think there used to be much more variability about it. I started school in Cornwall where you started the term after you were 4. We then moved elsewhere where you started at rising 5 - I ended up out of year for the rest of my education because of it.

Now you enter reception the September after you are 4 (unless you’re a summer born and deferred).

So in a way you’re both right!

You used to be able to. I started school after xmas and my birthday is in Feb so that must have been why.

Your husband prob did start school then as it used to be different years ago and there were three intakes a year regularly for most schools. It changed quite a number of years ago and there is now generally just the one intake in the autumn. The logic was that the earlier starting children got an advantage which they tracked as continuing through school. Unfortunately I think it’s turned out that the disparity is still there as autumn/winter born children still outperform summer children in general throughout school.

I agree with just saying its different now. I only did one term of reception as I was a summer born. My DD did the whole year.

My parents applied for 10 secondary schools for me/my brother and got several offers. I could only apply for three for DD and only got one offer.

Things change!

I guess he can, but he doesn't have to, if he's enjoying nursery leave him be. Pushing children into the more formal setting of school starts way too early these days, ignore her and carry on as you are, much simpler. Also he doesn't reach compulsory school age (start date) until January 2024, although if you go with the usual it will be Sept 2023.

Only if the school has an early years unit (not all do) and they have space. He won’t be in reception he will be in ‘nursery’ ‘F1’ or whatever they term it at that school. MIL is wrong that he can ‘go in reception early’ tell her she’s wrong 😂👍🏻

There used to be three intakes a year, so Christmas, Easter and summer. My elder ones turned 4 in the February, so started school after Easter [ early 80's ].

I don't think it happens anymore, only hear of September intakes now.

Where we are we do early entitlement which is starting nursery the term after they turn 3 (the exact cut off dates change every year depending on when the Xmas and Easter holidays end). So children either do either an extra 1 or 2 terms in nursery. If you apply for early entitlement you have to apply again for a nursery place for the full academic year from the September. You apply again for a place in reception for the year after nursery. Some parents choose to use the nursery funding in a nursery rather than school setting.

How many hours then can stay again changes. So I can put mine in nursery from early entitlement and use both breakfast and after school clubs along side nursery plus which is for kids who stay on past the 2.5 hours in a morning. My friend however can only put her LO in for nursery and nursery plus the school won't let any one in nursery or reception do breakfast and after school clubs because they they it's too long a day. This makes us do an eye roll as her LO has been doing approx 8-6 since she went back to work when her maternity leave ended.

And presumably DH started school around 25-35 years ago?

Yeah, you might need to remind her that things have changed in that time. I can only assume the change from O-Levels/CSEs to GCSEs still confuses her.