Deferring primary entry - summer born child

[SWMum79]

Hi all - would really appreciate some advice! My child was born on 26 August and I'm considering holding him back a year. He's a late developer in many ways, plus he is quite shy and insecure. Of course I get this could all change (and am sure it will), plus of course he could end up being whoever he's going to be regardless of whether we defer him or not. But I was just wondering if anyone else out there has considered this / has had any experience with it?

Also - if we do decide to defer - does this mean my son would need to join straight into year 1 rather than reception?

Thanks in advance all!

My DD is a 31 August baby (the youngest in her class by 3 months!), she was really not ready for school, we looked at deferring her but thought the jump into yr 1 would be too much for her cope with. She started with her peer group doing 1/2 days, then when they started whole days she did full day Monday, 1/2 day Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, she had Wednesdays home with me. We did this until October 1/2 term when she did full days Monday and Thursday and 1/2 days the rest of the week. By December she was asking to do full time so we let her with the agreement that if she wasn't coping we would go back to 1/2 days.

I will say that some things educationally, like writing, have only clicked since Easter BUT she is fully integrated in school and loves it. Reception is only slightly different to nursery but is much more exhausting so I would opt for 1/2 days instead of deferring fully.

Great - thanks so much both for replying. I'm probably being thick - but given he would join year 1, wouldn't deferring him mean he would be starting school with all the kids who he would have been in reception with if he didn't defer? I thought that if he deferred a year it meant he would join with the next intake ie he would end up being one of the oldest in class...?

My DD should start school in August at 4.6 but there is no way she is ready so she is starting next year at 5.6. No fuss, no questions asked, just had to sign the form.

We are in Scotland, didn't realise things were so different south of the border!

Deferring doesn't usually mean that your child becomes the oldest in the class. It just means they miss reception and still go into Y1 as the youngest in the class. I have heard that it is possible to genuinely defer, ie to start reception a year later as the oldest in the class, but I think this is very dependent on the LA and is generally considered to be extremely difficult to achieve.

I would recommend that you look around at different schools and look at their approach to reception. My ds is also August born and was premature, but I didn't want him to jump straight into Y1 (he found the transition from reception to Y1 quite hard as it was!) so didn't defer. His school split the reception classes by age, so he was in a class where no one was more than 6 months older than him. They shared their (large, L-shaped) classroom with a small group of pre-schoolers and it was a very gentle approach. There was also no problem with doing half days for as long as you wanted. By contrast some of my friends' children's reception classes seemed much closer to the Y1 set up at our school.

You have the right to ask that he goes into Reception a year late, and LAs have to consider each request, but unless it is backed up with experts reasons why, it is very unlikely to be granted. If it is you have to be very clear what will happen with secondary transfer etc.

You should also bear in mind you will also be applying for an 'in-year place' so the school may also be full for Y1.

However you do have the right to accept a Reception place and defer your child starting, but they must start in the summer term. You can insist on deferral.

We were given this option as well for our DD2 who is also an August baby. She had been in a nursery for a couple of years and so was ready both socially and academically or school. DD was only just 4 when she started school but this didn't stop her and she settled in really quickly. Two years on and despite being the youngest in her year, she's in the top set for everything and adjusted really well to school.
Only you know if your little one is ready, but in my opinion, deferring entry and joining in year 1 when all classmates have had a year to get used to school, learning and their friends could be harder than starting at an earlier age.

My daughter was born right at the end of August and started reception last September. Full time and it has been great. Yes she is a little smaller than most and maturity can be an issue compared to some of the older kids. However I would fully recommend your son starting with his age group. You may find, as I did, that there are many summer born in the class. My daughter has 8 July/August birthdays. Your son would go straight to year one and by that time the class has already been together for a year. Maybe give it a try and then switch to half days if needed.

ds is also 26th august and I agonised over deferring him. In the end he started reception last September, (youngest in the year) and he has blossomed over this year. He has had some problems with his reading, but socially, sports, maths, pretty much everything else they do, he is doing brilliantly at. I am glad we decided to send him rather than defer.

You do need to be careful about the wording that is being used here. Defer in school admission language means that you accept the place offered but then agree with the school that child will not start in September. They have to start school full time the term after they reach 5 by law but in reality deferring means the child starting either Jan 1st or immediately after the Easter break.
If you do not start at the school by the end of the school year you will not be able to just start in year 1, because in effect you have not taken up the offered school place. The probability is that you will have to apply for a place in year 1 and most schools will be full. The chances of getting a place at the school you want will be slim,especially given the restrictions on class size from the infant class size regs.
If you are thinking of not starting education till September 15, you need to talk to the LA now and hear what they are saying. As others have said, whilst legally you can ask for child to start a year later, most LAs will only consider that where there is a good medical / social reasons to do so.
It is also quiet interesting how many schools seem to be taking a pragmatic approach to children only being schooled part time. Whilst fully accepting that it is probably a practical decision to be making, the law says full time education, so under most circumstances only having part time education would be an illegal exclusion.

IME some schools are more open to a gradual build up of time for late summer born children than other schools.

You have the right to defer the start date but you do not have the right to state how the school should manage the settling in period IYSWIM.

Some school will offer part time until Xmas, some will prefer that the child just starts after Xmas or Easter. Talk to the school, see what they have done this year and what they will consider.

Reception can be lots of fun for all children.

Much clearer - thanks all. Now I understand what it all means - I will definitely be keeping him on track to join reception with his year group. I'll just keep an eye on him! Thanks again ??