Sending my child to school once he turns 5 and not 4..

[Dreamymama]

Hi guys my sons born in July which means he could start reception this year, however I decided to keep him in day care for another year and start school once he turns 5. Reason being I think he’s not ready for school just yet he’s quite an active baby and has issues with focusing etc, the nursery also suggested this. I am a bit confused now as a fellow mum said the transition between daycare and school will be too big for him but I thought reception is pretty similar to year 1 he’s also quite attached to few of his friends at day care who will be starting school once they turn 5 so thought if he can stay at his nursery for another year it’s okay. Any opinions??

Yep. Scandinavians take a dim view on non-working mothers so all kids begin daycare very early. Most women don’t even fully take up their lovely maternity / post-maternity benefits as they’re career killers.

If the school is oversubscribed there is no guarantee he would get an In year place for year 1. You can delay his start to later in 2024/5 Reception year and keep the allocated place or reapply for Reception in September 2025 and keep him in nursery. The jump form nursery to year 1 is greater than R to year 1 as R is about play and getting used to school routines and environment.

This is how I feel too.

We've moved back to Scotland 4 years ago and this was one of the reasons.
Both summer babies & will both went/will go to school at 5.

That's the norm here in Ireland, as we now have two years free of pre school. I work in a primary school and the teachers do say it makes a massive difference to children to start at 5 rather than 4, emotional maturity comes into it too. Now I live in a rural place which makes its tricker about whether to send my son at 4.5 or 5.5, as he may be starting school on his own at 5.5 rather than work the friends he is with atm in preschool. I said we'll see what preschool thinks anyway!

Ignore this post. What they have written is incorrect.

please refer to the guidance on summer borns for the real position. The sports team issue is potentially a factor if you are considering an independent school. But there are fifa dispensations for summer born footballers and most outside sports clubs are organised by age and not school year.

Nope, the leap will be massive. As has been said, even though some schools resist it he would be able to do reception the September after, I wouldn't miss Reception year. My DS is summer born, I had similar concerns but selfishly we didn't want to pay for another year of nursery so went for it and he's been fine; every child is different though, I'd just consider that the impact of being what can be a full year older than others can be greater as they move through the school.

Does your preferred school have a school nursery attached? They may have a 15 hour place for September?
You will need to get your offset paperwork in place for your reception application next year and for nursery application if you went down that route. But it's a good half way house and those that do school nursery transition pretty seamlessly into that school's reception (although you wouldn't be guaranteed a place)

No it will be bigger as nursery is geared for younger children with the normal progression being to reception which is similar in approach to nursery but slightly more time spent listening in circle times etc and learning phonics whilst year 1 is hardly any play more formal teaching and the children will already have learned phonics and be reading and writing a bit.
Most nursery is geared up for younger children can they support him adequately or will it just be a repeat of what he's already done? How will he find moving into an established confident group if peers?

Check....most schools won't agree a start in reception

I think every school thinks in the best intrest on the child, I am not delaying him just for the fun of it. His English is not yet perfect as it’s not his first language, his concentration levels are quite low and he took a long time to settle into daycare. I am sure if I explain this to the schools they will see this in the best interest of the child. I have also joined the summer born children group on fb and 80% of mums have done that for there summer borns and all of them have had no issue with schools agreeing to letting them start in reception once they turn 5 :)

Mine are all sumner babies, I did wonder how my youngest DS would get on in reception as he’s always been so physically active and would never sit down and focus on colouring and quiet activities etc, much rather be tearing around on his bike. However despite being an August baby he’s really thrived and achieving above average academically. My others tended to be average/slightly below average but simply because of their age (they were still well ahead of Autumn babies I knew of in the year below) however as they’re grown up the gap has narrowed and the grown up ones doing fine in life now

There is so much incorrect information on this thread. Please go by the Facebook group mentioned.

I have done this for my son who will be starting reception aged 5 and 2 weeks this coming September.

Check the school my local schools TAs are employed for their additional languages and over 80% are EASL with poor English. Many go into reception in nappies too 9 in a class of 22 last year.
It's normal for concentration levels to be low unless particularly interested in something out schools do bucket time in reception to build on it ...5 mins being good. Reception children don't sit still at desks it's short 5 minute bursts.

I wouldn't go straight from nursery to year 1, it is a huge gap. If I were you I'd keep him in nursery another year and put him in reception, he'll be fine.

I totally agree! I think he will be fine starting in reception when he’s 5 years old, I just need to get in an application so I can delay his start

The LA may well say it is too early to apply for 2025 entry but you do need to speak to any schools you may apply for to see if they will accept out of age applicants and will probably not be able to use the online application system and dob will be out of range.

I did this (using help from the Facebook group). 4 years on and every day I'm grateful I did!

My daughter is starting reception this September aged 5 and 7 weeks. She’s a different child compared to last year. She’s going to thrive rather than just cope. She’s actually 1 of 4 children in her class who are starting at compulsory school age - word is spreading.

It was really easy for us to delay her start. She has no additional needs, we just wanted to give her more time to play. I sent out emails to quite a lot of schools in my area stating I would be delaying her start and what year would they place her in. If year 1, how is this in her best interest? It’s difficult to argue against but unfortunately some heads seem to dig their heels in! It’s a very strange system and differs amongst LEAs. I’m hoping one day it’ll be easier to delay.

Good luck with your endeavour, it’ll be worth it. Facebook group is a wealth of knowledge.

You need to speak to schools now to find out if it will be possible to start him in reception in sept 2025 and if he has to make the year up at some point.
if he can’t start reception in sept 2025 get him a place for this September. I sent a couldn’t sit still, has severe speech issues (took staff two weeks to be able to understand him) couldn’t use cutlery, and wouldn’t eat much to reception at 4 (late July birthday) and the difference by the end of reception was amazing. My child had been to the school nursery.
Reception is one huge transition year, they come in from nursery or home struggling to change for PE, overwhelmed by assembly, learning how to sit still through the school play/carol concert (TAs do sometimes whip a not coper out) and by the summer term they are taking part in sorts day like school pros and ready to sit down more for year one. Although in my experience year 1 teachers are very accepting that all are not ready to sit down

For state grammars and independants the 11+ / entrance exams would be an issue too but most state schools could care less about that. They will usually make a 5 year old who doesn’t know phonics / maths do Reception.

The Gov UK talks about it being ‘rare’ for a child to miss Reception but if really depends on the area. In many overscribed areas (including mine!) with lots of foreign immigrants it might be decided that a child attending a UK nursery doesn’t need Reception (as the EYFS curriculum) is covered. In that case your child will really struggle.

And it is all school (occasionally LEA) dependant.

That’s fantastic! DS has been doing some taster days for reception over the last few weeks and he’s absolutely loved them. When I think back to a year ago it’s like watching a different child. I am so pleased we’ve made this choice.

There's also a lot of misconceptions of what full time reception is like. A lot of EYFS that runs to the end of reception is building independence skills not formal learning.

I think it will be fine. If he learns basic things like letters at home then I don't think it will be a problem at all to jump straight to year 1 a year later, and it will be nice for him to get to play around in nursery for longer until he feels more ready.

You need to be contacting schools and getting this sorted ASAP. He needs to apply and then defer.

That would mean he'd be the oldest in the year but be out of year.