anyone deferred their dc starting school?

[TiredyCustards]

Hello, both my dc are August babies, dd will be 4 next year.

We're considering deferring and homeschooling for the first year, then putting her in year 1.

Does anyone have advice or experience of this?

Thanks!

Yes I have done this, twice.

You cannot have the place saved, but you are certainly entitled to defer entry to whatever age you wish.

You do not need to home ed either if you didn't wish to as the child does not have to be in full time education until the term after his/her fifth birthday which would be year one anyway.

the only thing to be aware of is that it's going to be harder to get a place in a yr 1 class potentially.

when you all apply for reception then obv the places are doled out according to their criteria/catchment area/distance from school

but with a year 1 place you are just going to be hoping that there happens to be a space free and that there isn't a waiting list for that year in that particular school.

you cannot accept a reception place and then defer until year 1. you would give your place up by choosing to HE for the reception year as far as I'm aware

....or move to Scotland where your dc wouldn't start school until the following year anyway and would be in the middle-to-older end of the year group (Cut off end February, and many parents of January/February children and some November/December ones choose to truly defer to the following year as well)

Fully recognise that this is probably not an option and therefor not very helpful

Very interesting. I didn't know it wasd the summer term, rather than the whole year. I think that would be ok.

Not moving to Scotland, although everything seems to be better there!

Shepherds did you teach the basics of reading etc to your dcs, so they were up to date when they joined school?

yes, but it was all very informal. They had been to a montessori nursery so stayed on there for another year. ( 4 mornings) one could read really well by the time he started school, the other took a while but had grasped the basics.

Have also home edded in later years, plus done state and indy schools. Tried the lot!!

I was also unaware about the summer term bit? Since when has this been the case out of interest?

I was always under the impression that if you did not take the place in the september, you couldn't start later that year and that your place is offered to the next one waiting.

We took the risk and got both into the school of our choice the following september.

Thanks tiggytape - that covers all of England right?

Thank you tiggy

Deferring is not that new. DD is now in Y8 and a summer birthday. We deferred her starting school until Easter in her reception year. The school had to hold the place for us even then!

I had a friend do that with her 2 Dds. Both spent an extra year in a really great nursary which they loved. DD1 was fine going straight into Y1. But DD2 (a quieter and less mature for her age child) struggled, found it hard to make friends, didn't like being left,etc. So friend ended up pulling her out and home ed her. Don't think the transition from nursary/home straight into Y1 is that easy for them.

You can ask for them to go part time for the first few weeks or longer if you want. That way they settle in but get a bit more down time to just be 4year olds. That said, my Dd is August born and loved school right from the start

The other thing to bear in mind is friendships in Reception. My DS1 (June Birthday) started after Easter in 2009, when all but 5 out of the 60 cohort had started by Feb half term at the latest. He wasn't ready for school as discussed with his nursery before that point. However I felt he was disadvantaged by this by the end of reception as he found it hard to make friends in a set of children who'd mostly already found their groups. Also it was a big jump into Year 1. Really he wasn't in Reception for long at all given that there were also 4 weeks of half days to settle him in. In our school year 1 is a completely different style to reception, there's not the outdoor/indoor free-flow play style in year 1. It's more structured.

My DS2 just started school at 4.0 (August Birthday). Again, cohort of 60. However it just seems like he's falling much more easily into friendships as they're all in the same boat at the same time. Early days for him I know! And he's only done half days so far. Also, it's easier for him as the third child, he already knows the school well and is the more outgoing of my 3.

It's quite hard working out in advance what to do when they're so young and changing so quick. Good luck

Thanks Peanut that's something to consider.

I kept my DS (now year 3) in nursery and he started school in Year 1. There were places available so didn't have that problem. As a summer child I just knew that he wasn't ready for Reception, and nursery was absolutely the right level for him - and of course for me meant another year of summer holidays being covered. By the start of year 1 he was raring to go and absolutely thrilled. Children come and go at his school all year round, so it wasn't that unusual to be new. He was behind the others - he couldn't read, but recognized his letters. By the end of year 1, completely caught up and about middle of the class for all subjects. Would do it again in a flash! Good luck with whatever you decide.

In fact you could defer until later than the start of summer term. There is nothing in the School Admissions Code which says the child must start school at the beginning of a school term.

A summer-born child must start by the end of the Reception year in order to have her place kept waiting for her.

If it were my child and I wanted her to start as late as possible without risk of losing the place, I'd send her for the last week or two of July.

There is some very interesting guidance on the DfE website (from August?) saying that nothing in law bars parents from asking for a reception place for a child who should be in year 1 if they are a summer baby. LAs have to consider each case.