Is possible for summer babies to start school in reception/foundation after turning 5, please?

[Italiangreyhound]

Hi all

I do not yet know if my new son has any special needs but he is newly adopted (aged almost 4, been with us just over a month) and was a summer baby so turns 4 in the summer.

Is possible for summer babies to start school in reception/foundation after they turn 5? So he would not go to school this September, but in 2015 after he turns 5. I know it is possible to start school when they turn 5 but was told if he does that he would go into year 1 and miss out on reception.

As he is newly adopted I need to focus on his needs and also work out if there are any additional needs. He will be busy attaching to me and grieving for the losses he has had so I don't want to add into the mix the fact he would be very young in his year if he has to stick to his chronological year.

Any advice would be gratefully received, please.

Thank you.

Thanks Tiggytape.

You have the right to delay starting until the start of the Summer term, e.g. after Easter. This may be a better solution.

Have you talked with the allocated school about it? They may come up with a solution like doing half-days first to get him settled but giving him enough time to deal with everything else in his life.

If you get a delayed start, enquire how the transit to secondary would work. Would the LEA continue putting him into the - for him - correct year group or going backwards and expecting him to join secondary and missing Year 6? Also, how would the situation be if you move into another LEA? I personally find the guidelines are not set up properly as it doesn't cater for changes in personal circumstances.

Broadly yes, Tiggytape knows what she talking about (though I am a a bit more in favour as I am the parent of a child who waited a year for non-trivial reasons and it is what has made the biggest difference to him).

There have been no downsides so far (he is coming up to 9 and the LEA have confirmed he will stay in the adopted year for secondary).

Good luck making the decision about what is best for your son.

There is a facebook group: flexible school admissions for summer borns. Lots of success stories, but some horror stories with some local authorities.

Thanks every one.

Goon can you say more, or pm me more, how did you get them to agree and how has it been for him.

I love the idea of no downside! In Swden, where my English friend lives with her Swedish hubby and kids they start formal education at 6. They are all pretty much bilingual, some trilingual and they are all just as bright as us (or more so!) So what is the rush for early starts!

I have applied for him to be at dd's school and got back paper work and a kind of conditional entry but not yet filled in the paperwork to reply to it.

I am now wondering whether to speak to head before speaking to LA.

Also our school is becoming an academy so will it still apply I need to speak to LA or will school be the final say!

Thanks One and all.

As you're so unsure of his needs right now can you accept a 2014/15 reception place for him, but defer till the summer term 2015 which you're entitled to do anyway, then see how things go over the next six months?

titchy thanks, I can do that and maybe I will I guess i want to know what will put me in a stronger position with local authority. Also if school is or becomes academy does that matter?

It means the school has the final say. But you still need to think about what will happen around the move up to secondary school. If your son starts in Reception a year late some secondary schools would put him straight into Y8, skipping Y7 completely.

The FB group is a very good place to start, the tide is turning albeit veeeeeeery slowly

prh47 just out of inteterst do you know why any school would want to disadvantage a child like that (making then skip a year of high school)? It seems an incredibly cruel thing to do for no apparent purpose at all! I'm angry just thinking about it!

I think you could rightly prove an exceptional case. You LA should have a "virtual headteacher" with responsibility for looked after children. That may be a good place to get advice.

Italian,

It can be due to 'years of compulsory schooling ' / school leavig age issues. For example, with a leaving age of 16 / 17 / 18 but a child who is a year behind others of their age, their 'school leaving age' point comes e.g. in the year BEFORE GCSEs at present.

Also, if a child is old for a year because they have repeated a year (e.g. if a child repeats reception or is 'kept down' a year while in school) then there is an issue because they could potentially have a year more of funded state education than someone who didn't repeat a year, and that gets tricky.

Join the facebook and google campaign group, it is very active right now, lots of progress, but very very slowly making a huge difference to all our summer born children.

Sorry for the slight hijack, but presumably the campaign is about starting school, ie summer borns only starting Reception a year "late"? Is there any national guidance about children repeating a year, once they've started school and are already in the system? I can only find guidance from specific LAs.

Apologies for not noticing your question earlier but I agree with the answer given by teacherwith2kids. Secondary schools need to be sure that children sit their GCSEs before leaving school, so may put the child in the "right" year to ensure that happens.

Wigeon - I am not aware of any national guidance on this.

The campaign group also campaigns to keep child in cohort once started (which is a threat made by many LAs). Repeating a year is tricky - some have withdrawn their children from Reception due to a failed start and then started again. I am not aware though of national guidance for repeating a year at other times. It does show though doesn't it that one size does not fit all.

Thanks everyone.

teacherwith2kids repeating a year is not the case for me. And the funding is based on the number of years education and not when it is taken

According to the leaflet at

www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission

Q11. If a child is educated out of their normal age group, will their primary school lose funding once they reach age 11?

A11. Primary schools are funded for the number of pupils they have on roll, regardless of their age, though local authorities may choose to weight that funding according to age. Similarly, secondary schools are funded on the basis of the number of pupils they have in years 7-11, regardless of their age, which again may be weighted according to age by local authorities.

prh47bridge I think it is very strange that any school would wish to disadvantage a child to ensure they take exams, which presumably they do very badly at if they had missed a year of education in!

From the same leaflet it says...

Q12. If a child is educated out of their normal age group, when will they finish school?

A12. A child ceases to be of compulsory school age on the last Friday of June in the school year they become 16. If a child is educated outside of their normal age group (i.e. is in year 10 when this date is reached) the school will continue to receive funding for that child but the child will no longer be of compulsory school age during the school year in which most children take their GCSE examinations.

The government is changing the law so that all young people will be required to continue in education or training until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 in 2013 and until their 18th birthday in 2015. Young people will have a choice about how they do this. It could be through full time education in school or college, an apprenticeship or full time employment combined with part time education. The school leaving age will remain unchanged.

So if the school continues to receive the funding then why would they mind? Presumably any parent who was concerned for their child's education enough to 'fight' the system to get them into a deferred year would also want them to take the exams.

This is all new to me but it is making me very suspicions of what agenda the schools actually have! I mean is it the benefit of the children or ticking boxes! No offence to any teachers who do a fabulous and very difficult job!

Thanks again.

I can't find the facebook page!

Flexible School Admissions for Summer Borns www.facebook.com/groups/121613774658942/

groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/schoolstart

Thanks tiredandsadmum.

Phr but the school leaving age is now 18 so they would have done their gsce's even if they started a year late.9