Help please over school starting age

[littleStinky]

Can anyone in the know clarify this for me please?
I was of the understanding that a child does not HAVE to be in full time education until the term after they are 5.
So my daughter was born 2/8/11 so we understood that September 2016 she would start reception at primary school. She would be 5 years and 1 month old.
I have just got a letter from the council telling me my child NEEDS to start reception from September 2015.
The government website I have been on contradicts this letter www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence/overview

HI. From investigations with my own ds, they don't have to start until the summer term in 2015 (i.e. April) BUT he will do straight into the final term or reception and then start Y1 in Sept 2015. He will miss out on 2 vital terms in reception which is when they have a very gentle start to school, make friends and generally settle in. My ds is an end of August boy and he only started to make real progress in the 3rd term of being there.

You are correct, she doesn't have to be in full time education until she's 5. However, if you kept her home for this academic year she would have to begin in year one in 2016. Or you can do an arrangement with the school where she attends part time until she's 5. It's crap, I feel for you.

Sorry - meant to say they have to be at school by/in the term in which they turn 5 and holiday b-days are counted as the term before, hence the summer start.

I meant if you kept her home for Sep 2015 academic year she would begin year one in Sep 2016

Bugger - got my years wrong! 2016, not 2015!

Because your dd turns five in the school year 2015/2016 her first year at school starts in Sept 2015. However as you say legally she does not have to attend until she is actually five. The problem is whether you will be able to get/keep a place for her at your chosen school/s as when your dd does start she will enter year 1 (which is the second year of schooling). If you are in an area which has lots of competition for good schools or is just generally oversubscribed then you need to think carefully about your options.

Yes I think she needs to be in school Sept 2016 but if this was what you chose to do, she'd go straight into year 1 and miss reception altogether. All children who are 4 before Sept 1 2015 will start reception in Sept 2015 if they want. But regardless of whether your dd starts then, that is her cohort and she can either join then in reception in sept 2015 or year 1 in sept 2016.

Your daughter should start reception in sept 2015, just after she turns 4. She doesn't legally have to be in school until sept 2016, the term after she turns 5, but if she started then she would go straight into year 1.
My eldest is a summer born boy and I really worried about sending him but he loved it. Imo missing reception would be far harder than starting age 4. Also if she started in year 1 you would have to make an in-year application for a school place and she would have to go where there was a space not necessarily where you would choose.

You can try to get her into Reception in 2016, but it's unlikely to happen unless she has SEN and mountains of paperwork and officials backing you up.

She's entitled to her place from September 2015, and it will stay her place with that year group - so she would have the Year 1 place in September 2016.

It's unfortunate they're so inflexible on starting age and deferring, but she won't be the only just turned 4 child.

She has to be receiving education from the beginning of the term after her 5th birthday. That can either be by going to school or being home educated. If you opt for her not to start until 2016 then she would most likely have to go into year 1. I don't know of any schools that would put a child of that age into reception.

Ok thanks everyone. It seem nursery, school and gateshead council have given us bad advice and I have just spoke to the department of education to clarify that she can start September 16 but will miss reception . Which is pointless really she might as well start at 4 now.

It is not only that she will miss reception, school places are allocated at this point and you would find yourself in a struggle for a decent place a year later. Infant classes are notoriously oversubscribed and you would get a space at whatever school who has one available, not necessarily where you want her to go.

In England, a child is eligible to start school from the September when they are 4 (in your case 2015) but education (in school or elsewhere) is compulsory from the term after their 5th birthday (in your case 2016).

If you want your DD to enter reception, then you apply for September 2015, but once you have a place, you can defer her actual start to January or April and the place must be kept for her. But you cannot hold a place over until the next school year, so if you decide no to start her until 2016, you will have to apply for a year 1 place as an in-year admission (and many schools may be full, so choice, such a it is, will be limited to those which have vacancies).

You can request placement outside her age cohort, and the request must be considered individually. But unless there are additional needs which cannot be met in her normal cohort, it is highly unlikely to happen.

Ok thanks, she does not have special needs bit she is very tiny for her age and very shy so will be an easy target, by the older Bolshy kids

Little, don't forget that teachers are used to managing a cohort that ranges from only just 4 to nearly 5, and that there won't be 29 nearly 5 year olds in the class and your daughter - there will be several children only a month or two older and quite likely one or two a couple of weeks younger. Ds1 was a similar age to your dd and he managed fine starting in September.

Hi, my dd was tiny. Or so I thought till I got to reception and found there were 3 even tinker ones in her class. This year a child is starting who has a medical condition meaning he is so tiny he wears 18 month old clothes. Seriously there will be lots of tiny ones and shy ones and reception is the settling in year, if miss that will be much more tricky. Why not just do part time at the start and see how it goes.

Maybe you can talk to her school about starting in the April term? The main thing is how often that is done. If she would be the only one, would they worry she won't fit in? The schools will be doing visits so it's a good time to ask.

My DD is march born but she is consistently the tiniest in preschool. There was two girls a year older than her that's also very tiny (only 3 girls shorter than 1m in her preschool)! Those two little girls have both just started reception.

So don't let size bother you. Some will just be smaller than children a year younger than them!

Oh I know because they have a height chart. And there was a shoe size chart too. It provides amusing reading to know how tiny my girl is.

My twins are 1/8/2011. I'm starting them September next year - I don't want them to miss out on reception, which is really just an extension of pre-school. I want them to make friends that they will carry through primary school with them.

They are titchy tiny, still in 18month clothes, they are just going to be the small ones.

This is a paragraph from a department of education from January this year - "Parents should also have the flexibility for their children to attend part time until they reach their fifth birthday or request their child enters reception class rather than Year 1, following their fifth birthday.

There are a few tinies still in my son's year 1 class. My son goes to after school club with his yr 3 brother and they all seem to delight in playing with the very small children. It really won't be as bad as you think!

Yes, you can arrange part time attendance for a pupil below statutory school age.

You can request placement in a different year group (ie R not yr1) but this can be refused.