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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

When would a child born on the 1st Sept start school

46 replies

cantdecideonanewname · 29/08/2013 09:49

My DH and I were discussing when children were born and when they started school. I'm expecting at the moment and baby is overdue so wondered if the baby wasn't born until 1st September would that mean they would start school with the children born at the very end of August or the following year.

I was unsure because the only information I could find said children started school the September after their 4th birthday but the school term usually starts around 5-6th September so wondered where the cut off actually was.

Hope I've made sense.

I'm sorry if this has been done many times before, I've done a search and didn't find anything relevant.

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NickNacks · 29/08/2013 09:50

The cut off in 31st August. My dd is 2nd and will start a day or so after her 5th birthday.

snice · 29/08/2013 09:50

They start school the September they turn 5

NickNacks · 29/08/2013 09:51

They need to be 4 on the 31st August to start that September,

AnneUulmelmahay · 29/08/2013 09:52

Yep cut off is 31 aug (england)

Bonsoir · 29/08/2013 09:53

Better to be born on 1 September than 31 August!

Hold tight!

ReadytoOrderSir · 29/08/2013 09:53

They'd be the oldest in their year. 31st August b'day makes them the youngest.

LackingNicknameInspiration · 29/08/2013 09:54

Presuming that cut off points/starts are the same as our education authority... a child born on 1 Sep would start school a full year after a child born the day before, on 31 aug.

Which does sound a bit mad. Your local county council website will have details. But if your DC turns up on Sunday or after, you'll have an extra year with them at home. My DC1 is an October birthday and I quite like this!

Good luck with the birth and first few weeks!

BeeBawBabbity · 29/08/2013 09:54

They would be oldest in their class, I think the cut off date is August 31st. Mine was born 3rd sept and started the day she turned 5. (Unless you're in Scotland)

I've found it to be a good thing that she's the oldest, a year does seem to make quite a difference at that age.

hatsybatsy · 29/08/2013 09:56

one of our nct group was born 2 weeks early (in late August) and started school a whole year before the rest of them.

Reception was hard (for the arly starter) but he's in his element now (year 4).

Original poster

cantdecideonanewname · 29/08/2013 10:02

Thank you very much for your replies.

That was what I thought then got myself in a muddle over it.

Would like to hold on, 3-9 days overdue depending on which set of dates we use.

OP posts:

Weegiemum · 29/08/2013 10:08

In Scotland it's the calendar year but has flexibility, though no one starts school until 4y5m at earliest - mine were 5y6m, 5y6m and 4y9m which seemed very early! The older 2 could have gone a year earlier but here we can defer without skipping a year.

I'm a secondary teacher and especially for boys, being that bit older in S1 is better ime. So ds just started p7 at 11 and a half and I'm delighted about that.

Hold on if you can!!

AnneUulmelmahay · 29/08/2013 10:18

My friends son is 4 today. Starting sch on tuesday nxt week. Hold tight, cross legs!

shelley72 · 29/08/2013 10:22

31 August is the cut off. It's a right pain for birthday parties, just to warn you! But glad that ds obliged by waiting for September!

TickleMyTitsTillFriday · 29/08/2013 10:32

It doesn't matter you know...

JemimaMuddledUp · 29/08/2013 10:35

In Wales we have three intakes (September, January and April) so a child born in September would start Reception in the January after he turned 4 and spend 5 terms in that class.

DS1 is a September baby (and now almost 11) and being the eldest in the year does seem to have been an advantage.

zzzzz · 29/08/2013 10:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ggirl · 29/08/2013 10:40

Ds was due on august 31st , so many people advised me to cross my legs ..I hadn't even thought about school etc . He ended up arriving sept 11th and in hindsight probably a good thing for him being older in the year.

JetSetWilly · 29/08/2013 10:44

Being the eldest or youngest doesn't matter when it comes to schooling, it really depends on the child. It makes me sad thinking lots of posters (already) think this is a problem.

Good luck with the birth!

TenToWine · 29/08/2013 10:45

A friend was born in August and was apparently one of the oldest in her scool year. She is from NI and i think the cut off there is either 30 June or 31 July although may have changed since she was at school. She lives in England now and says she is glad she was brought up in NI as she much preferred being old in her year.

BlueStringPudding · 29/08/2013 10:59

DS was due in late August, and I was quite keen to have him in August so that he went off to school earlier - partly because he had quite a big age gap with his older siblings, both DH and I work, so another year of childcare was a factor. I even had an induction when he was a week overdue, to try have him in August - it failed, and he is a September baby.

As a very early September baby myself, and with DD1 also being September, and DD2 being summer born - I think there are pros and cons. DD2 is a very hard worker - she's had to be to catch up with her older peers. However this approach has resulted in her having a very good work ethic, and great GCSE results this year. In fairness DD1 can work hard too, but she is a bit more laid back, and tends to leave things to the last minute more - a trait I share.

DN1 is early September, and DN2 is late August. DN2 is by far the most academic - so there are a lot more factors that influence things than whether a child is born in August or September, so I wouldn't worry either way.

Good luck..

HaveToWearHeels · 29/08/2013 11:05

Yeap 31st August is cut off. DD was born 17th September so will be nearly 5, she is desperate to go now and looks at the school uniforms. It was very sad in July as all her best friends at pre school left to go to school she is the only one left :(

Original poster

cantdecideonanewname · 29/08/2013 12:43

I honestly didn't intend for this to turn into a August born children struggle at school thread, of course that's not the case. I myself was born in August and together with my first school being terrible I really did struggle and didn't do very well, my DD was born in January so in the middle for age and she struggles even with extra home help which I never received.

Baby will come when it wants, I have zero control over that.

Thanks for the well wishes with the birth.

OP posts:

Deffodil · 29/08/2013 12:58

My DS2 was born on the 2nd of Sept. The school took him in a year too early and he had to redo the whole of the reception year again. The gutless school told me on the last day of term. He was doing fine as well.

SmallFarAway · 29/08/2013 13:12

TentoWine, Cut off in NI is 2nd July.

My niece is the eldest in her year in NI with a 7th July birthday. My DD is 29th June so will likely be the youngest when she starts school.

Lonecatwithkitten · 29/08/2013 15:18

I actually know someone who told the midwife to take a running jump when she was asked to push at 10pm on 31/08. She was determined to wait and managed it partly because her daughters are 12 months apart with 1st and 5th of September birthdays.

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