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

My son is a summer born with very severe sen,our request for him to start a year below his age group was refused even with professional reports!
It is 99.9% never granted .
We did do part time till his fifth birthday .

My dd was nearly five when she started school. She was in age 2-3 clothes. I sent her part time for the first term and that worked well for her. I think missing a term of Reception would have been a mistake, half days were better. She can't even remember doing half days now.

My DD is now Year 3 and a late August born. To be honest, apart from being physically much smaller, she has very much held her own and finished Year 2 with level 3s across the board. This isn't a stealth boast; I am trying to explain that month of birth is not a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that being summer born does not automatically mean your DC will be disadvantaged in any way.

However, DS was born in May 2011 and I have just submitted his school application, I noticed a new subheading appear in the (Cumbria) School Admissions booklet which states the following:

Summer Born Children

Parents/carers of children born from the beginning of April to the end of August can delay entry to a Reception class until the September following the child’s fifth birthday. However, we would advise that you seek the advice of the Headteacher, other education professionals, and any health and social care professionals working with your child before taking this decision.

You should also take into account that that you will still have to make an application the following year along with everyone else, and you would not be guaranteed a place at your preferred school. If your child is already attending a nursery you would also need to check whether a place would be available in the next academic year.

This appears to imply that parents have the right to choose to defer entry and only advises seeking professional guidance, not that professional guidance/opinion is mandatory. It would be interesting to see what the admissions experts thought of this?

Honestly though, as the parent of 2 summer born DC, I would not seek to defer or delay entry unless there were very specific circumstances (e.g. severe SEN) and the professionals working with the DC thought it was the most appropriate thing to do.

As sad as it is, there has to be an oldest and youngest in each year - it just so happens that both my DC at the younger end.

Bunnyjo you have the right to request delayed entry and the LEA must consider your application on an individual basis eg they cannot have a blanket ban. However you do not have the right to delayed entry, you cannot appeal a decision and a successful outcome is still like hen's teeth.

I think they make parents aware of it so that they don't just hold off applying until the following year and then find they are applying to year 1 where there are few spaces.

I believe there are a few parent groups around the country who try to help with this but I don't know how successful they are.

You're legally entitled to wait until the first school term after turning 5.

But f you did you'd miss the whole reception year.

You might want to find out the following:

1. Do they learn much academically in reception year, if so, will you child be adversely affected?
2. Will friendships have made in the first year or will there be any difficulty fitting in to existing groups?
3. Will your DC be desperate for school because of that innate hunger to learn, and if so, have you got ways to meet this challenge sufficiently?

By the way, I actually don't know he answers to all of those questions for your child. But I do know that before my DC started preschool I was not happy with the idea of him attending school at the age of 4. However, since Christmas he's been begging me to go to big school and preschool admitted he's outgrown them. I'm glad I agreed to send him to school at the age of 4 because the idea of him missing out for another whole year would not have worked for us at all.

Looking around at the other children in his class, I'd say the others appear pretty much the same.

I have a friend who'd daughter should have started reception this year.

She has deferred until next year and has written assurances that she can start in reception and stay within that year group.

No SEN just very young, small and not ready for formal education.

Friend was surprised at the ease of the process. Spoke to the HT and head of the preschool who supported her and put her in touch with the LEA.

Apparently the guidance upon this has changed within the past year to make it easier.

I have an august-born myself and I do sympathise, but my DC started school at only-just-4 and had no problem - even though he is the youngest in his class this hasn't had any effect on making friends and enjoying everything.

The kid who did have some problems is the born-on-1st-september child who is the oldest in the class. He was significantly more mature than his classmates and started school more academically advanced (not that his parents had been actively teaching him but the 4-year-old-brain learns such a lot even without formal learning). He found it a lot more difficult to pitch in and make friends with his classmates. The difference has eased over the year as the younger kids have grown up a bit.

If you keep your daughter our of school for what would have been her reception year and get her accepted into reception after her 5th birthday instead of her 4th she will be at least a month older than the oldest person in the class and could have a whole different raft of troubles than the ones you are trying to avoid.

soapboxqueen - I know and understand that and it is what the School Admissions booklet previously stated. I am not a complete newbie to the applications process.

However, they (Cumbria) have significantly changed the wording and there is no mention of applying to delay entry and I quote: " Parents/carers of children born from the beginning of April to the end of August can delay entry to a Reception class until the September following the child’s fifth birthday. However, we would advise that you seek the advice of the Headteacher, other education professionals, and any health and social care professionals working with your child before taking this decision. "

The wording suggests it is a parental choice with input from school and professionals being advisory, and there is no mention of it being a school/LA decision.

Bunnyjo I didn't mean to offend. I can't know what you do and do not know it what you have experience of. However the statement says to me " we need to look proactive but aren't really going to change anything". That's how government agencies work. Changes on the surface, same brick wall.

It may denote a sea change in admissions and Cumbria are taking the lead but I find it doubtful.

No offence taken, soapbox.

I was surprised by the inclusion of the statement and wonder how it would stand if/when challenged. Even just a small inclusion the word "apply" as in "Parents of summer born children can apply to delay" and changing the last sentence to However, you must seek the advice of ... before we (the LA) make this decision."

I do believe the LA may well have left themselves open with how they have worded it...