Deferring entry to the reception class by a whole year in England.

[Hope88]

Hi, my son was born in July so he would be 4.1 years when he is supposed to start the primary school. Does anybody know whether it's possilble to defer the entry by one year and start the reception class when he is 5 ??? I cannot find any information anywhere. I know you can defer by a few months (i.e. start in January/April) but that does not really appeal to me as he would miss out on forming friendships at the begging. Thank you for your answers.

4madboys interestingly the admission form for Norfolk also asks for the birth certificate
schools.norfolk.gov.uk/myportal/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/2123/Admission_Form.doc

For School Office Use
Admission No
Records sent for
Proof of birth certificate provided
Correct UPN recorded
Class allocated

I am in a very similar position. My son is born end August, and is young for his age anyway. He's at preschool at the same school he will be going to (big sis is already there) and even his preschool teacher says he would benefit so much from staying down a year. I had a meeting with the headteacher yesterday - to cut a v. long story short, there IS an appeals process, but as part of this you MUST have evidence to support your view from either a GP, a social worker or an educational psychologist. I am currently waiting for an ed psych to call me back, but the whole thing needs to be with the admissions team by end october, so time is short.

I find it so wrong that children are not looked at as individuals, and that parents views (and we know our children better than anyone) are not taken into account. My DD has sailed through school so far (she's in yr 1 now) and is actually on gifted and talented register. However, my DS is never going to be in this league, but I feel that keeping him down a yr would stop him from constantly struggling at school - as much from a social and emotional point of view as an academic one. He is a typical boy but is very very young for his age - has no attention span, no interest in potty training and I want him to be able to be little while he can without feeling pressurised into growing up too quickly. The system really sucks. I am so angry. And then when I read that those living in Scotland, Wales and Ireland are allowed the freedom of choice to keep their children down it makes me so mad that we can't do the same. Rant over x

Both of mine are Aug birthdays and went full time from Sept when they were 4. DS1 is now in year 4 and I would say the age difference has evened out. In Yr1 and 2 he was below average in terms of marks etc (they give out the spread of marks in the class at YE) whereas by Yr3 he was average or above.

I thought one of the factors that has a negative impact on summer borns is the practice of deferring entry from Sept to Jan or April which means they lose out on the teaching of the basic foundation skills in reception so they are even more behind the older children who have had 1 or 2 terms extra education.