what's the deal with reception year these days?

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Please enlighten me. Nephew and his partner are moving to the UK from Spain in a couple of months, they have a 5 yo and a 3 1/2 yo. The little one is due to go into reception year next september, but the government education site categorises reception year with preschool education. So is not compulsory? And is it not free? it also says that it might be available at some schools. I was under the impression that it was compulsory and free, but after reading the site I'm all confused...

Also their 5 yo, according to her age, should go into year1, but although she's fluent in english, she can't read or write in english, only in spanish. Should they put her a year back, or do you think she'll cope -according to her current teacher she's the brightest kid in class when it comes to reading. I suppose my question really is: are they expected to be able to read and write when they enter year 1? And how can this be the case if reception year is not compulsory?

Please help me (them), I'm so confused...

Reception is both free and compulsory - although I think if you can make a case you can get a delayed start. I would think the older one would be fine in year 1. There are other year 1 children who will still be at a very basic level with reading and writing and if she's bright she'll soon catch up. Might be worth talking to the schools you are thinking of applying to first to see what extra support they could offer at the start and to generally get a feel of which would suit the children's needs best.

thank you very much for your quick response... So just as I though the youngest one is entitled to go into reception for free in sept (they were worrying about childcare costs). Do all primary schools offer it? I'm sorry I'm askin so much but it's been over 10 years mine were this little and I can't remember anything, plus I'm sure a lot of things have changed

Have a look at your local authority website for Year R admissions and 'in year' admissions to other years to Primary (or infant) schools. The application period for Year R places starting September 2012 is currently open in England and Wales until mid Jan 2012. There should be info about the admissions process and you can look at school information to get a clearer idea of how school works now. Mumsnet 'Choosing a Primary School' (look on the right of thos page) may also fill in some gaps.

JWIM, you've actually raised another point. They'll be arriving mid term, and their girl is to go into year 1. The local authority has to find her a place in somewhere in theri catchment area, right? I mean, they're not going to leave her out of education because they didn't apply a year ago? Right?

Sorry if I'm beign a bit dim here... They said they'd call their local authority sometime this week, but any sort of extra info is coming handy

If they need childcare before september, the younger child should be eligible for 12 or 15 hours free childcare per week, at a nursery, preschool or childminder, as long as they are ofsted registered.

thanks cuppa, they know that, they were just worried that they'd have to extent theri nursery payment into the next academic year. Glad to knwo this won't be the case

The LEA has to find her a place "within reasonable travelling" but reasonable travelling may mean quite a long way/time. There are legal limits on class sizes for years r-2, so it can be hard to find a school place. I would suggest you talk to your LEA to get local advice. (The language issue is the least of your worries, although teaching her a few words of English now would be helpful, although I do know one little girl who only knew "No".)

Not all of Reception is compulsory. Children become eligible for a Reception place in the autumn after their fourth birthday. They must be in full-time education from the term after their fifth birthday. That means that for the eldest children in the year group, the first term of Reception is optional. For the youngest in the year group, such as your relative, all of Reception is optional.

Up until the child reaches compulsory education age, the parents can choose between preschool or a place in Reception, or neither. To save on childcare costs, many working parents prefer school instead of preschool because children get a full-time funded place at school but only half-time at preschool.

Regardless of when and whether the parents plan to send the child to Reception, it would be wise to apply for a school place as soon as they have a UK address. They could later decide to defer the start until later in the year, in which case the place must be kept waiting provided the child starts school by the beginning of compulsory education age and also before the end of the Reception year (you can't defer for the whole year without risk of losing the place if the school is oversubscribed).

BTW on the subject of childcare costs, if the family is eligible for the childcare component of Working Tax Credits, they can use this towards the cost of childcare. This could include top-up preschool fees if they need to send the younger one to preschool for more than the 15 government-funded hours, or a childminder or afterschool club for wraparound care if they need the children looked after before/after school.

There are online calculators where they can work out how much they would receive depending on the parents' income.

thanks a lot Saracen. I suppose they'll have to see if they can apply for a sept 2012 reception class place as soon as they have an address.

mummytime, the kids are fluent in english, but can only read and write in spanish (and of course that's the eldest only)

Reception is free and is offered by all primary schools in England.

Unless your nephew is in Spain on Crown Service they will not be able to apply until they have a confirmed address in the UK - for most LAs that means they will need to have exchanged contracts on a house or signed a tenancy agreement. Based on what you have said the older child will be treated as an in-year application for Y1 and the younger child as a late application for Reception. The LA has to find places for both children but it is likely that all the popular schools will be full. They could find that both children are allocated spaces in unpopular schools which may be some way from home. There is, unfortunately, no guarantee the two children will end up with places at the same school.

Some LAs will treat applications from people moving into the area as on time for a few weeks after the mid-January deadline for applications for places in Reception. Your nephew should check whether his LA will do that and, if not, what they would need to do by January 15th in order to apply on time for their younger child.

well, that's not much of a problem as they don't know what the popular/unpopular schools in the area are anyway, plus thsi means different things for different people.

I'll pass on all this precious knowledge, thank you very much ladies

Just to add that I think the 5 year old will cope just fine in year one. If she is a fluent English speaker and can already read and write in Spanish, it shouldn't take her too long to be up to speed with reading and writing in English. It wouldn't be possible to put her back a year and, from what you have written about her, would be totally inappropriate anyway.