Deferred entry into reception- can someone explain this to me?

[BriAndLottie]

DD is 3, and will be 4 at the beginning of July, meaning she should be starting school in September this year, I've applied for her to go into reception then. I understand from lurking on here that there is an option to keep your child in preschool until they turn 5- if I did this with DD, given she's an end of term summer birthday would she start reception in September 2014 with children a year younger than her? And would I have needed to decide I was going to do that earlier and not applied for a place this year and waited until next year to apply, or could I arrange to do this with the school when she gets allocated a place next month?

She will go straight into year 1 if you want her to start in the term after her 5th birthday. If you want her to go into Reception then she needs to start during the school year that she turns 5.

As far as i understood it, you can defer, but she Will go straight into year 1, not reception. She Will miss that out completely. You can go part time at the beginning you know. I thought about doing it., then thought she would be at a disadvantage not knowing the other kids and missing out on tin learning which they do do in reception.

The learning, not tin!

The school might let you defer her entry until January or April, so she just does 1 or 2 terms in Reception instead of 3.

Also, if she does not start at all during reception, the place will not be held for her to start year 1 the following September and you will need to apply again. This will reduce your choice of schools.

You might want to think about. January or April start, rather than omitting reception altogether.

If you decide to defer entry to the following September 2014, that
place will be for entry in Year 1 and not in Reception. You would need to reapply for In-Year Admissions and would not be guaranteed a place.

No you can only defer ( in England) within the same academic year after . If she started the following September it would be into year 1 assuming there was a space.

I agree - go for January or April entry or possibly see if she can do part time for as long as possible. All of mine have started in January.

Thanks, that makes sense :) So the safest thing to do in terms of keeping hold of a place would be to do part time at first as of September 2013?

Yes tiggy is exactly right. You decide what will work for dd and for you. Part time can be a pita for working parents for example but may be a good idea for a child who is keen to start school but too young for all day.

Hi, If you want to defer until the term after your child is 5 then it is possible to get them into reception the next sept. You would apply for a place the next year along with everyone else, they would not hold a place open. Most schools will tell you that if you wait until a summer born child is starting school age then they have go into Yr 1 and miss reception but this is schools policy and not the law. By law a child has the right to defer until the term after they are 5, for summer born children this is the sept a year after they could start, a child cannot be denied going into reception because they are delaying entry to starting school age. But even though the law is on the parents side it is not always easy. Some schools are happy to do it and you have to approach them first, when you find one that agrees you have to go to the local authority. This is where it can be a battle but there are parents that win and not just those who have medical or SEN but simply that the parent wants this and its in the best interests of the child. There is a support group that has been set up specifically for this, google flexible school addmissions summer born, to find it.

But do be aware that even if your school DOES allow a child to start Reception in the 'wrong' year for their age, then the next school - e.g. a secondary school - may well require a return to the correct year. So such a child would have to miss Year 6 or try for an occasional place in Year 8 (missing out Year 7) on transfer to secondary. Or in '3 tier' areas, the middle school may not accept a child out of year (unless for reason of extreme SEN) and so require a jump of a year to rejoin the correct age cohort.

" a child cannot be denied going into reception because they are delaying entry to starting school age." I am not entirely sure that this is true, and certainly it would be very unwise to rely on it. An application for a child who is of an age to join Year 1 will, even if on an 'entry to reception' form, be processed as an in-year admission to year 1 - and no place will be given if no place IN YEAR 1 exists.

Amy, as a home edder, are you absolutely sure that you fully understand the position around school entry? I would hate someone to reply on something that you have said and then find too late that it is based on misguided advice. Tiggy / mrz / admissions - what is your experienced view?

It is true in law (and you can look this up) and they would not be as in-year admission to year 1 they would be in Reception. It has been done by parents.
Yes you are right about transfer to junior or secondary school, they may want them to skip a year but it has to be in the best interests of the child to do that, if it is not then they cannot insist on it and the child would continue as if they are in the 'correct' year.

I think it ma be correct that it is not law.

But if it is local policy, then to are stuck as the parent does not have to legal right either to insist on reception not year 1. And it can cause problems later on with schools transfer.

Do you have any links to the law on this Amy? I googled as you suggested and got lots of results about groups campaigning for a change in LA admissions, but nothing about what the law currently is.

Amy, I agree that some parents have done it - and possibly others have done it 'informally' e.g. by applying to a school with a mixed Reception / Year 1 child and agreeing that their child will be taught with Reception for their first - and only - year in that class. However, I do not believe that there is a legal right to do it.

A parent has the legal right to defer entry until a child is 5 - that is true.

My understanding is that there is no right in law to force a school or LEA to admit a child whose 5th birthday is in the summer term to Reception the following year.

The admissions code 2012 states that:

"Admission of children outside their normal age group - Parents of gifted and talented children, or those who have experienced problems or missed part of a year, for example due to ill health, can seek places outside their normal age group. Admission authorities must make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case, informing parents of their statutory
right to appeal. This right does not apply if they are offered a place in another year group at the school."

So there is no automatic right for parents to demand their child be placed out of their normal year group. They can ask, but the vast majority of time they will be denied. Parents have the right to defer within reception year to the term in which their child turns 5, but that doesn't give them the right to go into reception a year late; you are simply deferring your child's admittance to school not to reception.

Senior schools cannot be forced to educate a child out of year, which is where problems often arise. Some will, some won't.

Senior schools cannot be forced to educate a child out of year, which is where problems often arise. Some will, some won't

This is the key thing. Ds was educated (and still is) out of year - August b'day; autism; terrible sleeper until he was at least five so too exhausted to learn anything the first time 'around' in reception (so we did manage to get a statement stating that he repeated reception and remained in the new cohort).

Move up to secondary: could have gone badly as schools were previously loathe to take children out of year in case they left a year early at 16 (so at end of yr 10) thus leaving with no qualifications and a 'gap' in the school's statistics.

Ds is now actually at a private senior school (obviously happy to take him out of year) but ALL three of our local state schools had agreed to have him 'out of year' because of the new law that dcs have to stay in education until 18 - and he's a high achiever and they could 'tell' we wouldn't let him leave with no qualifications, iyswim. I think it's more likely - for this reason - that you'll get a school to take a secondary pupil out of year.

Anyway, that's all academic. There's no reason to suggest OP's dd won't be perfectly fine going to school at just over 4 and do well. I just wanted to post the story for any future readers.

I think the only time you can be more or less guaranteed an out of year placement is if you have multiples born either side of midnight 31 August/1 September and you request exceptional permission to get them into the same year group.