Hill House - Possible delay start of Reception due to fine motor skills issues

[amcjohnson]

Hi-
I just heard from the school that I was planning to send my son to in September (Hill House) that at his assessment (February) they felt that his fine motor skills were very far behind. They have suggested that he not start reception until January. I have spoken with his nursery school teacher who has said though behind, he is not that far behind, and sees no reason why he shouldn't move on to Reception. He is going in for another assessment on Friday, so this might all be a mute point, but I had several questions on my mind that I wanted some advice on. FYI, he is born in February.

1. What is "normal" for writing ability for a child about to enter Reception? He can write his first name without any help, it is not very wobbly and the letters are all about the same size. He struggles with any other letters or numbers, but can trace them reasonably well.
2. Does anyone have any experience with Hill House and fine motor skills? How much emphasis do they put on writing and drawing in Reception? If he is behind, how do they handle it?
3. Does anyone have any experience with a January start for Reception at Hill House? Do they just put January kids in a class with kids that have been there since September, or is there a class made up of January kids?
4. If anyone has any experience with this sort of feedback, what else should I be asking/doing? I have read lots of threads about ways to improve fine motor skills, so I am going to start making those a part of our daily routine.

Thanks for any help,
Alexis

can't help on the specific school but DS's fine motor skills weren't that good when he started reception (and still aren't now) and the teacher says he's meeting expectation.

tbh he sounds within the realms of "normal" development for his age , many can't hold a pencil properly or even have consistent hand dominance established, let alone form letters and write their name without prompting. I suspect this is an indication of what is to come . Do you have any alternatives if after the assessment he still does not meet their expectations?

Unfortunately no since when he did the assessment in February the teacher said "See you in September" which made me believe all was good.

It is not the end of the world if he starts in January, but yes, it does give me pause for the future. My understanding of the Hill House ethos had been that they didn't push reading/writing/maths until the kids were a bit older, which really appealed to me. I was very surprised that they would use fine motor skills as a reason not to start. I would understand if socially he weren't ready.

Seems a bit off to me that they decided in February that his fine motor skills were very far behind but waited until May to tell you! (And from what you say they don't seem that far behind).

My ds2 couldn't write his name before starting reception (i trued but was getting no-where) but he is July born and goes to a boys school. He's now in year 1 and his cursive writing is fine.
If you have another option I would go there. He and you will miss out socially and he academically otherwise.
Or you could put your foot down...