Reception Class, January admission, not happy

[spiderslegs]

My son was four in April, we live in the English/Welsh borders & have applied & been accepted at our first choice school in England. I went last week for a welcome tea party & was flabbergasted to be told that this year they would be implementing a two stage admission & my son would not be eligible to start until January (he falls outside the Sept admissions by four days).

Nobody had thought to tell me this previously. I (foolishly) assumed there was only a September admission as there is with all other local schools. I brought this up with the teacher afterwards & enquired if there was any flexibility but was told no, 'as everyone would want to do it & then there would only be one child left going up in Jan', she followed this up with 'these are very precious years, make the most of them'..........

At this point I started twitching.

DS is very confident, happy child who is dying to start school, pre-school & I are already teaching him how to read/write, he can do simple addition etc.

It's time for him to go.

I explained this to the head who smiled & nodded but I could see in her eyes I was on to a loser.

WTF am I to do?? Most of his friend have already started as they're all going to school in Wales where you start the term you turn four ( a little early in some cases I think), I can't send him to his old pre-school as they are already saying to me they can't do any more for him & he's ready to go (all his buddies have gone anyway so he'll be stuck with the two & three year olds).

I don't want to start a war with the school before DH even gets there.....

Also, the entire reception intake consists of 12 children so hardly a deluge....

May be hitting the independent sector sooner than anticipated.

Advice??

Are you worried about him missing out on formal learning.

Or are you worried about him not going to school?

Do they have a nursery class e.g. could he go full time anyway butbe in nursery not reception?

Or can he go to a different school?

Formal learning mainly peppa, he goes to pre-school two full days a week but is ready for more in terms of education.

We do lots at home, although with dd jumping on us all the time it's not that easy.

They do have a pre-school but it's quite separate from reception, also, would have to pay so he may as well go to an independent & actually be getting some value in terms of what he's doing.

I'm not 100% sure whether the fact you live in Wales makes any difference to this, but wouldn't have thought so as the school itself is in England...

...but schools in England can no longer do this as it breaches the latest version of the Admissions code:-

Admission of children below compulsory school age
para 2.65 For admission to the 2011-12 school year, and subsequent years, admission authorities for primary schools must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. When determining the arrangements for primary schools the admission authority must make it clear that:
a) the arrangements do not apply to those being admitted for nursery provision including nursery provision delivered in a co-located children?s centre;
b) parents of children who are admitted for nursery provision must apply for a place at the school if they want their child to transfer to the reception class;
c) attendance at the nursery or co-located children?s centre does not guarantee admission to the school;
d) parents can request that the date their child is admitted to the school is deferred until later in the school year or until the child reaches compulsory school age in that school year, and
e) parents can request that their child attends part-time until the child reaches compulsory school age.

So basically from next academic year it is now up to parents to decide when a child (below compulsory school age of course) starts & whether the go part time or full time. (Previously it was down to school to decide if they wanted to be flexible or not)

Betsy Thank you, I though it was up to the parent.

You have given me ammo for my gun, I thank you.

So why/how are they doing this??

We live in England BTW

spiders

previously it always was up to the school/LA whether they had one, two or even three intakes, however that all changes from this Sept & it's up to the parents, so I guess the school are ignoring just aren't up to date with the demands of the latest regulations...!

We live in England BTW

Sorry, misread your OP. I know certain "bits" of the relevant Education Acts are different in Wales, but don't know enough about the detail to know if it makes a difference, but seeing as you are in England (and therefore live in an English LA) and the school is in England, all that is irrelevant in your case.

PS

You can get a copy of the admissions code HERE if you need it. :)

Betsy thank you again - do you work for an LEA?

Opposite problem here...we've just had the letter saying all children will be admitted from september, unless in 'exceptional circumstances'. What a crock, I've already notified the HT of the change in legislation that applies to this intake meaning they can start in January or April if we think they'll be happier that way.

I have to decide now and she isn't going to be happy...trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. It makes me cross.

hope you get somewhere, sounds very frustrating - sorry if my post is totally irrelevant but you have my sympathy at least!

TBH i am envious that your child does not need to start until January.
My dd who will be 4 at the end of this month will be starting full time in September, when i would rather she did not start full time until January.
Our headteacher is making it very difficult o take on a part time place, and if we deferred for a year we would lose our place, and it is a very oversubscribed school.

X post with Ingrid.

No, Ingrid & Molly*, same frustrations, slightly different problem.

As my DF advised me 'it's administration, not education'.

& 'keep your powder dry'.

Wise words I think.

But what to do??

Wave the admissions code in their face in a calm, measured manner I think.....

do you work for an LEA?

no, just an unhealthy a keen interest in all things related to school admissions

(My interest started when helped a friend win her appeal two years ago, when the LA had made a mistake & told her a load of untrue guff to try & cover it up! - often posted on mumsnet on this topic since then)

& the HT said what Ingrid?

Betsy you are the admissions advocate.

We need people like you to trawl through the guff.

Ingrid & Molly, I would follow spiders plan & "Wave the admissions code in their face in a calm, measured manner"

(see para 2.65 d) & e) of admission code - C&P in my first post)

Spiderslegs, are you aware, though, that there won't be much formal learning going on in reception either? It's very much play-based.

Clam, yes, that may also be the thing that drives me over to independent

I thought I'd give them a chance though.....

Spiders.... Just out of interest, why are you so keen on formal learning?
They are still so young and learn so much through play.

Apologies, I went to bed

Spider, the HT said (by email) 'Oh I had not heard about that'
'I will email the LEA and get back to you when I have heard from them' again as she never did, this was last summer/autumn. Can't remember now.

molly, you have EVERY right to keep your child at home till January or indeed Easter depending on when she is five. Not sure if the terms apply in six or three lots, iyswim, but worth finding out as you might even get away with last half of summer term.
The school is obligated to keep your accepted place and admit your child in the term after they are five, or the summer term if they're a summer born baby. most schools do not publicise this change in the legislation which came in in 2009 i think but only starts with this autumn's intake.
I'm telling as many people as possible as the more children start a bit later, the better for those whose parents really think they need to and know about all this.

It's para 2.69 actually, sorry to be a pedant, but that's where it covers this specifically. HTH

I'm not sure how to combine it with p/t phased start though. Need to have head to head minor discussion with the HT I think.

you can't carry over the place to yr one though - your child has to start sometime in the first academic year, or your place would go.

here, link on RH, first one in the list.

'Deferred entry to primary schools
2.69 Admission authorities must allow parents of children who are offered a place at the school before they are of compulsory school age to defer their child?s entry until later in the school year. Where entry is deferred, admission authorities must hold the place for that child and not offer it to another child. The parent would not however be able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after the child?s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the original application was accepted. This must be made clear in the admission arrangements for the school.'

and all the 'must's in that clip are in RED

Gosh actually Betsy, I'm sorry, I didn't notice d) and e) in your paragraph...that's interesting...our HT said she could only offer PT for a maximum of three weeks due to funding.

hmmmmm. Some confrontation looming, Oh Dear. Wondering how much PT to request now.

It's bloody amazing that HTs are claiming they don't know the new rules surrounding the admissions code - it's their bloody job - they should be incredibly embarrassed by failing to keep up to date!

We had a HT try to wriggle out of providing me with statutory information last year - I told her about the requirement, she disputed it then I waved the relevant documentation in front of her nose - oh the joy of seeing her back down - it was priceless...she was such a cow - my dc left the school that year but getting one over on her after continually having every issue swept under the carpet....well call me pathetic if you will but it was a beautiful moment of victory.

Be careful though - is this a sign of how things are done at this school? - the HT sounds a tad arrogant - I'm just hearing alarm bells.