Scottish parents - Feb born deferral

[OrangeSlices998]

Hi folks!

I see lots of posts about deferring summer borns in England but we live in Scotland and my son is a February baby so we now have the decision of deferring him or not!

I think he’s bright and sociable but my
concern is that as we can defer anyone who isn’t 5 when they start school (aka Sept-February) then if I didn’t defer him he could be over a year younger than some peers in his class.

I think I want to defer him, as he’ll go into P1 still so won’t skip that first year and we get another year of nursery funding. Just very torn!

I’d say defer, we did and I see such a difference now at exam stage between my child and some younger ones in the year group. To be honest I think it’s much more common now to defer than it used to be

It's quite common to defer January/February children so if you feel he'd benefit socially from an extra year at nursery then I'd do it

Absolutely defer. No question about it. In this area i'd say at least 80-90% of all Jan/Feb borns are deferred.

I had a Feb birthday Dc I didn't defer I should have. They are always young right to the tail.end of schoo and of course when they leave amd go to college /uni they are still just 17. I think if you want to defer them you should just do it.

I’d always defer. Bigger difference at the teenage years than now.

From personal experience I’d recommend referring. I have a child who is youngest in the class - no other option due to moving school systems - and it was fine early on but in the teenage years always being a bit younger, smaller, less developed, last to be allowed to do stuff etc is hard going and is affecting his otherwise good self confidence. I hadn’t expected that, I thought any problems would be in the earlier primary years but there it wasn’t a problem at all

When Dd started school deferral wasn't as popular as it Is now, nursery did assess their winter birthdays for their readiness for school, and deferral was discussed but most kids went to school.

Agree the vast majority of parents defer their January/February born kids.

DD1 is a February baby. We didn't defer. She's sat her Nat 5s this year. Her results were excellent.

I had worried when she went to school about how her exam years would be as she was very definitely ready socially for school, but so far so good. She will however only be 17 when she finishes school so already knows she'll deter going to university for a year.

I think this all really depends on the individual child. I don't know any parents who've regretted deferring, so unless you feel confident your lad will thrive especially with the social aspects of school, I suspect you'd not regret deferring either.

Almost everyone defers for Dec, Jan, Feb babies. Outside of those months I think it depends on the child. Ask the nursery what they think.

I agree that its more an issue as a teenager- mine is a december birthday back in the days when only jan/feb birthdays were automatically deferred, so he is almost a year younger than a lot of his friends (who were deferred from the year before.) There has been the odd benefit- eg he gets another year at under 16s / under 18s in his sports teams- but as they start to learn to drive / be able to drink legally he is going to be left behind a bit. He already plans to take a gap year before going on to uni (if that's what he decides to do).

Defer. I was a February birthday and so was the very youngest in my year all through primary and secondary. It didn't really affect me at primary and I did well academically but socially I was at a different stage to many of my peers when starting secondary and I found the first two years incredibly difficult on that front as my friends were more mature than me at that stage and it took me a year or two to catch up and be at the same stage as them.

Dd has a sen it wasn't diagnosed till she was in p4 because the school put it down to being young even though I had been questioning since nursery it was very frustrating! She did fine in her standard grades and highers with support ,

I deferred my late feb born ds. He's about to go into p4 and is flying socially and academically.

Deciding factors for us included small village school, where deferring put him in a bigger class with more boys plus the fact that all the jan/feb birthdays from the previous year were deferred. He has always been sporty and by deferring, he's at school with his peers from football as they play by calendar year.

He's the eldest in his class by 3 weeks.

Just deferred our Dec son.. we have other concerns but ultimately he needed more time.

So far no regrets other than he's going to be a giant in comparison to his peers as he's really long 😂

She's at uni now, so it was a while ago, but we deferred DD3. Absolutely no regrets. A second year at nursery is good too.

That's the thing when they go to high school they are only 11 and in my limited experience its more noticeable in girls than boys.

Statistically, the older children in a year group do better academically. Primary schools and nurseries (understandably) mostly seem to focus on readiness for P1 but it's the other end at the exam stage (both academically and socially) where it really counts, plus transition into S1.

Ds(19), Feb birthday and we deferred. Was bright, sociable at 4 and nursery had no issues with him going. Absolutely the right decision, have never 2nd guessed it.

The benefits are bigger in secondary, the exam years and maturity when starting uni. They said ds would be bored with another year in nursery - there were no issues.

It really is a no brainer.

My son is end of December and we didn't defer him. He's now 16 and in s6 and I wish we had - academically he's doing fine but I feel he's young to have already sat his Nat 5s and Highers and he'll only be 17 when he goes to Uni.

Yip. Do it. You will never regret deferring but you might regret not deferring.

I have 2 February born dds and didn't defer, whilst my eldest was more than ready for school and is doing amazing she's now S3 my youngest would have benefited from waiting a year. I really regret not deferring her, she has just started high school and is very young. Her birthday is 28th Feb she has a few friends who are pretty much a whole year older give or take a couple of days and at this age it's a big difference.
The nursery/school were no help at the time as they encouraged me to send her to school, I feel like I failed her.

We are deferring DD1(4) who is a Feb baby. Every baby in our antenatal class who was Jan/Feb born is being deferred! I'd say maybe 75% of the Jan/Feb kids at nursery being deferred to.

I have two stepsisters who are primary school teachers and they are both very much in favour of it. I don't think (m)any people regret deferring but do the other way round.

And DD(4) is perfectly bright as far as 4yos go but the difference between her and the oldest kids at nursery who are off to school tomorrow was really noticeable in these last few months, both in terms of physical size and and also ability in things like writing and penmanship, not to mention social maturity. Some of the kids starting school this year are reading and able to write words, whereas DD is still at the managing to write her name and some letters but nothing else stage. I'd rather she had that extra year so she doesn't go in feeling 'behind' from the start of her school career.

My DD is a mid October birthday and is one of the younger ones in her class. All of the jan/Feb birthdays from nursery were deferred.