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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

worried about our 4 year starting school

25 replies

amelia19 · 02/07/2015 21:40

Our 4 year old son is currently at preschool he only started there last September. He started late as he is very shy child and ever so emotional. Even with close family he is very shy and would never stay with them on his own he has always been like this. As he be 5 in September we applied for a school but put letter in with the form asking for him to go into the reception year which both us and his nursery teachers thought would be best for him as we don't think he is ready for first year. We explained it all in the letter but the head never took any notice not even asked to meet him so could see how bad our little boy was. Surely he must realise all kids are different.
what we would like to know if any one going or gone through the same thing and could we appeal against it.We are very worried how this is going to affect him due to his extreme shyness and not being ready for it.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

LibrariesGaveUsPower · 02/07/2015 21:43

If he is 5 in September doesn't he go into reception anyway? What year has he been placed in?

louisejxxx · 02/07/2015 21:43

Hang on a sec, is your child's 5th birthday I'm September? Or will he already be 5 by the time he starts in September?

louisejxxx · 02/07/2015 21:43

**in

RueDeWakening · 02/07/2015 21:45

If he will be 5 on or after 1 September, he will (or should) go into a Reception class.

Can you clarify when his birthday is?

ConcreteElephant · 02/07/2015 22:34

This is a little confusing. He doesn't appear to have started pre-school particularly late and if he's 5 in September he should be going into Reception where he will be among the oldest of the children- though I understand this won't make him less shy of course.

Can you clarify? People can certainly give you tips for helping your son settle into school if they can get a better picture of the situation.

Mopmay · 02/07/2015 23:10

If he is 4 now and 5 in Sept he will go into reception and be one of the oldest. I don't understand what preschool are telling you?!?

WaltJunior · 02/07/2015 23:17

Try not to worry we have seen it all and your school will have methods to bring him out of his shell & enjoy life at school. He will be in reception if he's 5 in September.

Original poster

amelia19 · 03/07/2015 19:18

He will be 5 at the end of July this year.
He started preschool in September last year and is still there. We sent a letter asking and and explaining why we would like him to go into Reception and not 1st year where his preschool teachers agreed it would be better for him and meant he would be with the other children that are going up from preschool.
we asked at school who said he had to go into the first year that we didn't want this but was told nothing we could do about it.

OP posts:

mrz · 03/07/2015 19:28

So he's remained in preschool rather than starting reception and now the school want him to start in Y1 in September (missing reception)?

cariadlet · 03/07/2015 19:29

Thanks for the update - the op was very confusing. I can understand why you would want him to go to Reception with children he knows rather than moving into the year group to which he actually belongs because of his age.

But if the school kept him down then he might have to do the Phonics Screening in Reception, SATs in Year 1 and Year 5, because of his age. I don't know what the legal position is regarding those assessments, but they are national tests for children of a given age. Would he have to jump a year at some point in order to take GCSEs at the correct point or would he be able to take them a year later?

Going into Reception now might suit his stage of development, but I don't know if it would work long term.

It might be worth finding out what the LEA position is - it could vary in different counties.

Ashwinder · 03/07/2015 19:50

This is not a decision that the school is allowed to make. If you wish your son to be educated outside of his year group then you must make your case to the LA.

LAs are no longer allowed to have a blanket ban on educating outside the normal year group and must consider each case on it's merits. You should, however, be realistic about your chances of success. Do you have any medical evidence or testimony from a HV, for example, to back up your argument that your DS should go into Reception rather than Yr1?

mrz · 03/07/2015 19:53

Parents do not have to ensure their child receives full time education until the start of the term following their fifth birthday. However If you decide you prefer to defer your child’s entry to the school offered, that place will be held for your child and will not be offered to another child. You would not, however, be able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term after your child‘s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the application was accepted. For example, if your child was born in July 2010 , you will not be able to defer entry until September 2015,as this will be the start of the next academic year. This us your problem.
You want your child to be placed outside of their child’s normal age group (reception rather than Y1). The decision to admit outside of their normal age group is made on the basis of the circumstances of each case.

If you want to apply for delayed entry into reception, for a community school, they need to make a request to the head of admissions, providing reasons for the request with supporting documentation from a professional (I'm afraid preschool staff won't really count).

Hairylegs007 · 03/07/2015 19:55

You would ned supporting letters from healthcare specialists

Artandco · 03/07/2015 20:00

You can't do that. If you have kept him a year behind he will have to just miss the reception year. This is because he needs to be in the correct age group for eCams as he goes up

Surely you looked into this when you decided to keep him behind? You might want to start some work over the summer though as he's now going to be a year behind school work wise compared to peers

My youngest just turned 4 in June so will be younger one in his year but i think he will be fine, he only started nursery in January.

Artandco · 03/07/2015 20:00

*exams

LibrariesGaveUsPower · 03/07/2015 20:01

Who told you to go about applying for an out of year place this way? Was it the nursery?

I suspect at this stage the heads hands personally are pretty tied as it has been treated as an in year application and yR is full. But that doesn't mean that there are not options to explore. It can be very difficult even if you jump through all the hoops though.

mrz · 03/07/2015 20:15

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389448/Summer_born_admissions_advice_Dec_2014.pdf

Mopmay · 03/07/2015 20:29

I am really confused why pre school advised you to keep him out of reception. Has he special needs? I assume you applied for a place via the LA so they will assume you want a yr1 place surely?!

They normally deal with admissions.
The head of the primary school you want wont be able to just make that decision.

Tumtetum · 03/07/2015 22:49

Have a look at the summer born campaign website. They also have a Facebook group. It can be possible to delay a child's entry to school but it varies according to Local Authority and also according to the type of school. Some people have managed to send their children a year later but it's a real postcode lottery.

LibrariesGaveUsPower · 03/07/2015 22:52

..... and generally involves starting the process with the 'normal ' application process.

mrz · 04/07/2015 05:08

OP has already missed that as child should have started school this year. It's not clear from her posts but I'm assuming that her application for a place in reception has been turned down by the LEA and her son offered a place in Y1.
It's quite rare for children to be educated out of year in maintained schools and LEAs consider requests based on needs of the child (significant developmental delays)

LibrariesGaveUsPower · 04/07/2015 07:29

Sorry mrsZ. I realised that. I was just meaning to say that the summer born campaign was probably of limited use at this point.

mrz · 04/07/2015 07:39

I agree LGUP

hazeyjane · 04/07/2015 08:11

It seems that you were badly informed last year, when you deferred entry to school (rather than delaying entry to school).

You have deferred entry, which means he has stayed in preschool longer, but has to go into yr 1 - who advised you on this?

Delaying entry means still being able to go into reception, but is usually only done when there are exceptional circumstances like significant additional needs.

Are the preschool doing transition forms that talk about your ds's shyness? Have you and your son visited and talked to the teacher?

Tumtetum · 04/07/2015 08:25

It is late to apply for a reception place now, you're right, as places will already have been allocated and are probably full. But depending on the area the OP lives it's possible there may be some reception spaces. Again, late in the school year to start arguing for a Reception start as it can take a long time. Not necessarily impossible though, some LAs are much more amenable to this and seem to allow delayed starts without any problem. Presumably if Reception classes are full the OP would have to apply for an in-year place at this point and go on a waiting list.

It is rare for children to be educated out of year, but LAs are meant to make a decision on individual circumstances - this shouldn't be restricted to children with significant developmental delays. However I agree that it's not an easy path to take and no guarantee of success - that's why I suggested the looking at the summerborn campaign as they explain out what a parent needs to do and how difficult it can be, as well as letting people know which LAs are more helpful than others.

I know all that might not help the OP as the process may be too complicated/too late at this point, but it might be useful for someone else.

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