A question about starting school a year late

[Fiona2011231]

Today I read that: ??Every summer-born child should be allowed to begin school a year late, the schools minister has said, as he issued a diktat backing the rights of parents over councils.

Schools will be ordered to let children delay the start of their education until they are up to five years and five months old, Nick Gibb said.

Summer-born children ?? defined as those with birthdays between April 1 and August 31 ?? would have the right to start the first year of primary school in the September after they turned five, Mr Gibb said. At present, the overwhelming majority begin in the September after they turn four, with the youngest starting days after their fourth birthdays.??

May I have some questions about the new policy, as my second son was born in June.

1. When my son turns four, can I still apply for a school place, but then may reject it and let my son stay home? I ask this as we may still hesitate when the application period comes.
2. My first son, by coincidence, was also born in June and he is now in Year 2. In the previous year, his school, judged as Good by Ofsted, said he ??slightly exceeded the expectations??. So it seems he is fine, although I don??t know if he would have been better by going to school one year late. Is there any evidence that the older brother??s academic performance may have any impact on the younger one?

Thanks a lot.

All I would say (also looked into it - some years ago though - as I had premature children) was that your son would effectively skip Reception. When he starts a year late, he goes straight into Year 1, not Reception. So its not really starting "a year late", its skipping the first year.

My feeling was that Reception was more geared up to learning through play, so an "easy" start to school life, everyone at the same level (or similar levels) of phonics, maths etc. I thought my children would be at a disadvantage going straight into Year 1, as they'd be on "catch up", all the social issues like friendship groups established, familiarity with school as well as the academic side of it.

It obviously depends on the individual child. IMO (and it is only that - an opinion), my younger daughter is very similar in terms of ability as my older children.

Mandy, this is a different policy.

OP, they are only consulting. If your second son is a few months old (?) things may be different for him

We have a similar system in Australia, well, it varies by state, but where I live there is also the possibility to hold them back. It seems to give parents whose children are born in those 5 months no end of angst. Here, the preschools would play a big part in helping to advise if the child is ready. What also plays a part is what other people in your area are doing. If you send a July born child when they are 4 years and 2 months, they may be in a class with a child who was held back from the preceding April and may be 15 months older than them.

Where I live most people hold kids back, especially the boys. This causes some issues in terms of friendships and sports as the "held back" kids (who could be 5.5) are often much taller, stronger and more mature than the "sent" kids(who could be just 4).

So I'm not really helping or wanting to hijack, but just wanted to mention there are other factors to think about as well as your own child's readiness.

Sorry if I've misunderstood! Are they suggesting that you can start a year late - and then go into Reception?

Yes, start Reception a year late. The summer borns would then be the oldest in the class. That's what they said on the radio this morning, anyway. .

Thanks. More advice is greatly appreciated.

I understand that the child can skip a year and can start the Reception when they turn five.

I'm interested in this too. My DD is only a baby but was born in May, so if this goes through it would apply to her.

My little cousin is just going into year 1 and has a July birthday. She had a really tough time settling into reception last year as she was only just 4, though she's thriving now, and having seen her school report she certainly seems to be meeting and exceeding expectations.

My sister (now adult) has a June birthday and she did exceptionally well at school (better than I, with my February birthday, did). I'm inclined to think that a lot of it comes down to the individual child and their personality than their age (eg. some kids are going to be a lot more emotionally resilient at 4 than others). I'm glad there will be a choice to reflect those differences though.

It's an interesting one. My summer born dd was quite puzzled when she listened to the news this morning as she is very high achieving despite being a late july baby.

But I think if it had been a genuine option - rather than a fight we were unlikely to win - when she was 4, I would probably have delayed her a year. She would have had a much smoother path through the first years of school and wouldn't have had to settle for only being 'ok' at sport because all the autumn borns always win everything.

Thank you for all your advice so far.

One of my concerns is regarding our preferred school. It is very near our home, but my first son missed it due to the tight cut-off point in his year. But then in the following year, the cut-off point was different and he would have been admitted if only...

So that's why I want to ask if we can still apply for a place and then decline if we want to. I think when the application time comes, we would be very hesitant, unsure what to do.

OP - I think we need some clarification on this? it's just a proposal at the moment I think? If it's adopted then presumably there would be guidance on how and when to apply for deferred summer born places?

If you are talking about applying in the 'correct' year and then if you don't get in, applying again in the 'deferred' year - I'm not sure how that would work?

Think about extra-curriculum stuff too especially if you have boys. Think like football are sorted according to age - so my son plays for the "Under 11s" so your son would potentially be in a different team to all of his class mates. Only a minor issue but something to bear in mind.

Did the report also set out what would happen in terms of funding for childcare (i.e. would that stop at 5, and if your child was in nursery / pre-school and entitled to the free 15 hours, you would have to pay for those hours?)

FWIW, my daughter's best friend at school has a 31st August birthday - I think she was born at 11pm so if her birth had been delayed by just over an hour, she'd be in the next school year. They have just gone into Year 2, and she is smaller than my daughter, but no less able.

So I agree with a pp who said it really depends on the child. I think it also depends whether they have older brothers and sisters because imo, to a certain extent, it overrides a late-in-school-year birthday.