does Reception start at age 4 or 5?

[mali2010]

I am a bit confused, I always thought children enter reception after they turn 4. I was checking the "starting primary" information of the Hammersmith and Fulham council now and it says you can apply for a place in reception for the September entry AFTER your child has turned 5? do they really start reception only at 5? my daughter was born in October and I really think starting reception at almost 6 years is much too late?

Everywhere I know has them starting from the September after they are 4.

That doesn't sound right. They start in the school year in which they will turn 5, normally.

Have just looked at the website and they mention the fact children have to start full time education by the term after they are 5 (legal requirement). This is different from when children generally actually start reception.

Your DD will start just before she is 5.

You legally have to have your child in full-time school (or other full-time education, e.g. home ed) from the term after they turn 5. This is why H&F say "By law your child should start school in the school term after his or her fifth birthday."

If your child is starting in Reception, that would normally be in the September or the January of the academic year in which they will turn five (so most of them will be four). This is why H&F say "In Hammersmith & Fulham, children can start school in the reception class in either September (autumn term) or January (spring term)."

They haven't made their overall message at all clear by running those two sentences (which refer to different things) together in one paragraph, but they do clarify in the next section:
"For the 2011/12 intake, this means children will start school either:
- In September 2011, if their birth date is between 1 September 2006 and 28 February 2007.
- In January 2012, if their birth date is between 1 March 2007 and 31 August 2007."

So your DD will be starting in September 2011, just before she turns five, although legally she doesn't have to be in full-time education until January 2012, just after she turns five.

thanks.

this is what their brochure said and this confused me:

When to start school
By law your child should start school in the school term after his or her fifth birthday. In Hammersmith & Fulham, children can start school in the reception class in either September (autumn term) or January (spring term)

so i guess with in school they mean in Y1 rather than reception? or they mean they have to be in school at the latest aged 5?

Yes - at the latest age 5 - For some with summer birthdays this would put them straight into Yr1. Your dd should start Sept 2011 and legally has to be there from after Christmas 2011.

Tehy mean your child can start in reception in September before they turn 5.

ie in your dd's case, she can start in reception in the Sept before she turns 5; by law she should be there from the January.

It means they have to be school (or otherwise educated) at the latest age five (specifically, the term after their fifth birthday). In your DD's case, with an October birthday, that means that legally she could start in Reception in January 2012. In practice in H&F she would normally start in Reception in September 2011. A classmate of hers born in June/July/August 2007 could legally start in Y1 in September 2012, but in practice in H&F would normally start in Reception in January 2012.

You'll see I quoted that passage in my earlier reply. Imagine that there's a heading "Legal Requirements" before the first sentence, then after "...his or her fifth birthday." that paragraph finishes and there's another heading "Normal practice"; it will be a lot clearer then. And look at the specific table of birth dates and school starting dates that comes after that.

ah perfect, thanks a lot for the explanation!