Is it right that you can now defer entry till the summer term in reception?

[Consuela39]

I thought I read on here a year or two ago that it was now possibe to apply for a reception place for your child, and not send them until the term after their 5th birthday - or the summer term, in cases of summer born children.

I mentioned it vaguely to our HT when we looked round and she had no knowledge of this. I also just looked on our County Council website and it was very vague, I wasn't sure what it was saying.

Can anyone please point me at the legislation or some kind of document about this, as I was really hoping ds2 could start in the summer of reception - so as not to miss the entire year but not to have to go when he is so tiny - he has a June birthday.

Many thanks.

So if we do actually end up wanting to defer, what do we need to do?

Do we apply and accept the place in the normal way and then discuss it with the school?

There won't be any problem with her getting a place as we live fairly close and DS already attends the same school.

alittleteapot - You can defer entry until the summer term if you want, i.e. after Easter. The school would prefer to have your child by January as it affects their funding but they have to accept your request to defer to the summer term if you want. Whilst you could, in theory, defer entry for a full year with a summer child, you will then lose the place and your child will end up going straight into Y1. As most schools will already be full you will then have a limited choice.

JiltedJohnsJulie - Yes, you apply and accept the place in the normal way and then inform the school that you wish to defer entry.

Thanks again, very much, prh - am thinking around all the options re moving/not moving etc!

If your child is born in November, say, then you could only defer until January as the child is required to begin school in the term after their fifth birthday.

If your child is born in say June, you would have to defer till Easter then send them while they are still four, or lose the place and have to start from year one with as PRH says, a limited choice of schools as most people will have applied in January and places will have been allocated.

There is nothing to stop you deferring to the start of yr1 in any case, but that is a separate issue and you would not be able to hold a place from reception, if you decided to do that.

Thank you Consuela

homeboys - That is not right. The change was more complex than you suggest.

Part of the change was to insist that all children are entitled to start school the September after their 4th birthday. As you say, some LAs were automatically deferring admission until later in the year.

Another part was to give parents the right to defer until later in the year. Some LAs were expecting children to start in the September following their 4th birthday but were not allowing parents to defer entry until later in the year.

The school is not allowed to hold a place open beyend the end of the school year. If you try to defer for a full year the school has to give the place to the first child on the waiting list. This is actually dealt with by the LA, not the head.

Hi,

Try to figure this out!

My child started in Year R at school A in September 2010. School B was our preference but we decided to keep her on it's waiting list until the end of term.
We then submitted a continued interest application to School B which she has remained on ever since.
I was aware that a place became available for Year R in mid-June 2011 (last year). Unfortunately my child was rightfully outranked by another child using the published admission criteria.
I only found out last month, the child's parents that had been awarded the place, chose to defer until the start of next term which was also the following academic year (September).
Everything that I had read previously had stated that parents cannot chose to defer their child's reception place into the following academic year.
After various email exchanges with Essex County Council Admissions, I was told that normal rules do not apply as it was not an application made during the normal admission rounds.

Discuss?

Danni x