Starting school in Yr1 instead of reception

[NicholasName]

I'm currently pondering when the best time for DS to start school is and wanted to put my thoughts down here in case anyone had anything useful to add (!)

We live in a very small community. There are 10 children that will be starting reception next year (DS could be one of them) 8 of the birthdays are between Sept-Dec. One birthday is in march. Ds is in May. He is the youngest, and the spread of birthdays is unfortunate I think.

We believe that children starting school at 4 years is too young (seems to be backed up by research) and we moved down here from Scotland, if we were still in Scotland then he'd go into Year 1 age 5 as reception does not exist. We think this is a better option.

My main bug bear is that we have been told by the current reception teacher (who i don't particularly like, she seems a bit bored by the whole thing and has taught this class for about 30 years) that if he doesn't do reception he will be really behind. She was HORRIFIED at the suggestion that DS go straight into year 1 the next year (or only do mornings in reception, or start reception after Xmas/Easter) She said in her 30 years teaching reception in this little community NO-ONE has ever not done reception.

This has really pissed me off because the school starting age where we are (not england) is the ACADEMIC year (not term) after you turn 5. This means reception is optional for every child (in England it's only optional for summer borns i think)

Either have the compulsory starting age at 5 and then start the curriculum from scratch at 5...OR move the compulsory start age to 4 if you're doing vital work aged 4...

It feels like my child would miss out for starting at the "correct" age.

I think it's relevant that DS is what I'd call painfully shy. His speech is behind and had been seeing a speech therapist (signed off now as making progress, just a little behind). He's a definitely homebody.

What i'm wondering I suppose is would he REALLY miss masses? He'd be at nursery still instead (8.30am-12 noon). It seems like the reception teacher wants an easy life and everyone to just be the same.

We are pondering what the best option is, and if anyone knows what exactly they learn in reception (that isn't re-covered in year 1)

In England it's called the Foundation stage for a very good reason ...it's where the foundation of learning begins but if he's in a good nursery following the curriculum they should be providing the same experiences.

What would concern me is that his peers may see him as different when he joins Y1 as he's been a nursery child not "big" school like them.

In my Y1 class last year I only had one child whose birthday was after Easter, she was extremely shy but a very popular member of class.

My summer born (not that it's relevant) dd absolutely hated foundation year. Nursery was always a struggle, she just didn't really like playing with other children that much.
Yr1 she blossomed, doing 'proper' learning.

That said, I think foundation year was invaluable for her in aiding her interaction with her peers. Even now (yr5), her small circle of friends are those she hooked up with in play, rather than the ones she is sat with in class.

Are the nursery willing and able to keep him and teach him phonics, early sums and early writing?

Assuming they do similar things in reception to UK, they learn reading, writing and basic sums, and a gentle introduction to school routines with lots of free play time. Reception is fun. But I wouldn't have wanted DS starting year 1 without the reading and writing, he would have been a long way behind.

So - do nursery cover reading and writing? Or would you at home? What class size are year 1 taught in? Only thinking if that's tiny too might be easier for their teacher to work individually with him to catch up.
I take it starting reception a year later isn't an option?

I can understand why you are pissed off but you are moving to an entirely different system where almost no child completely missed reception. Therefore the children who are in reception will of course learn a fair amount in that year.

Wouldn't worry so much socially myself on the school side. DS school had kids starting at all sorts of times in reception and yr 1 and they just slotted in. DS best friend was a late starter. More on the nursery side, will he be okay with not moving up when his friends do?

Also he will have another year for his speech to improve.

While I do agree that we start children in formal education too early I think that it isn't necessarily beneficial to hold them back within a system that starts them when it does because they have to join the same cohort. If they could stay back a year and then start in reception that would be better because all then the child would be with other children just beginning but they can't. In such a small school as well the group would have already formed and be well established by the time your child joins and that may be tricky socially. Reception is also a lot about play. For summer born children it really can be difficult to start when they have just turned four but your child isn't as young as that so may not have any trouble at all. I think, under the circumstances, I would choose to start your child as expected. My concern would be that teacher - she doesn't sound great.

I've a feeling they didn't make the school starting age the September after children turned 4 was because there would have been a vocal minority who would have protested. So they settled on requiring LAs to provide a place for all 4 year olds, but allowing parents to defer if they wanted to. In practice, very few parents take up that option, so I'm not surprised that the reception teacher hasn't got experience of it. Even under the old system, summer borns would have had 1 term in reception.

In reception, they would typically be learning one way of representing each of the 44 sounds and how to use that to read simple texts and write very short stories/recounts. In maths they would be counting, reading and ordering and comparing numbers to 20. Addition and subtraction within 20 and learning some basic multiplication and division concepts by counting repeated groups and sharing into equal groups. Some schools will also be beginning to extend counting to 100.

Most of that will be revised in the first few weeks of year, but it won't necessarily be taught from scratch as it's expected that most children will have achieved it.

In 12 years of teaching at my school we have not had one child defer entry so it is rare and, unless the nursery will cover all the same curriculum, your child WILL be behind if they join at the end of the Reception year or in year 1. However the government are currently consulting on allowing April-August children to start Reception a year "later" than now so you might be lucky if the legislation goes through early

The reasons I didn't defer dd1 were that there was very unlikely to be a space in Y1 and that she would have had very few peers left at preschool (just the autumn born kids from the academic year below hers).

If I could have solved those two issues, I'm convinced that another year of preschool would have been much better for her than YR. They had already taught her to read and were working on tripod grip etc. She was doing tons of concrete maths stuff (Montessori preschool) and would easily have achieved the YR goals. The staff ratio was higher and more supportive of learning social skills (which she needed and, in all honesty, still struggles with). She had the option to do mornings / afternoon in any combination and number, so she could have carried on napping as long as she needed.

But, it has worked out ok, and she's now happily in KS2 and flying.

Is he in a nursery attached to the school with the children who will be starting reception?

As a home educating parent I have known many kids who have skipped one or more years and started school later than usual. Academically, I don't see that what's taught in Reception is so difficult to give your child at home. Most home ed parents who are planning a later school start spend only a tiny amount of time every day on the basics at this age because they find one-to-one attention targeted at the child's level and interests is very effective.

Socially, it varies. In areas with a lot of churn, there are new kids arriving every year anyway and the kids don't think much of it. Perhaps it is different at a small village school where people don't move in and out of the area. My own daughter found it very easy to integrate at a small village school, though she was considerably older than your child when she started. She had the novelty factor. Aren't 5yos quite changeable in their friendships anyhow?

I have known kids who started school later than usual and found it a difficult adjustment. But those were kids whose school start was delayed because their parents knew school would be a poor fit for them, because of their personality or special needs. It's unclear whether they would have found starting school any easier at four. I think they would have found it harder, as they lacked the maturity and coping skills which they developed later.

I wouldn't be too swayed by the Reception teacher telling you that no one has ever deferred before. If she has been standing by for 30 years advising everyone that deferring will be a complete disaster, it's no wonder they haven't deferred! What's more, because of her strong views, it has probably become "common wisdom" in the local community that deferring is not viable. That tells you nothing about whether she is right. By her own admission, she actually has no experience of children deferring, so how would she know whether it is a problem?

You might want to drop in on the home ed board to get some additional views on the subject.

To answer some questions, it will be the same 10 children in the year 1 class too (it's actually one of the bigger year groups! my younger son will only have 6 in his year)

The nursery isn't attached to the school but they follow the EYFS so I assume they'd be doing similar stuff to reception. They take ages 2-5yrs and he'd be 4 so they'd happily keep him.

We don't mind doing some academic work with him if it was necessary. Socially I don't think he'd miss out. All the kids know each other... so why am I dithering? I guess as someone said upthread... it's not ideal to start aged 4 BUT if thats the system... the best might be to go with it.

Do you think it would be better to join reception after Xmas/Easter rather than miss all of it?

My main worry isn't that he won't be up to the academic work it's that he is SO shy, and so timid... I can just see tears at drop off, and instead of the cuddly nursery teacher, this reception teacher not being very sympathetic. He's just a baby!!

thanks everyone for your comments so far

Sorry, one point I forgot to address was that we don't have the option to defer a year. The April-Aug birthdays being able to defer is just England (and Wales?) which we aren't a part of

You should soon have the right to start him in Reception the following year.

summerbornchildren.org/2015/09/08/minister-says-school-admissions-code-will-be-amended-and-summer-born-scandal-stopped/

It is your right to defer his start to Christmas or Easter, or to send him part time until Compulsory School Age, as specified in the Admissions Code. The Reception teacher can disagree but there is nothing she can do about it.

If you are on facebook, the group "Flexible school admission for summer born children" has good advice about negotiating a Reception start at Compulsory School Age.

My son is an August birthday so I feel your pain! ( He also has Asperger's and didn't really speak to anyone his first year as he didn't find them particularly interesting BUT i feel he got more from being in Reception for the whole year than staying at nursery. As one of, if not the youngest in the clas I felt he needed more time, not less, to become familiar with school routines, social expectations and other children and that he really benefitted from spending a whole year in Reception rather than a few months.

Anecdotally, I know a little girl who didn't do reception and she was absolutely fine, no academic or social problems starting school.

Ah, you're not in England. The changes to the code won't apply then but it may still help you. If Compulsory School Age is the same, then you do still have the option to defer or send part time even if it isn't stated in the admissions code. As long as you start him the same year they do have to hold his place - or as you know the school won't be oversubscribed, you have the option of not applying until you want him to start. HTH.

ShiningWhite the OP isn't in England so the summer born ruling won't apply.

OP as someone who taught reception for many years I think missing one or two terms can be worse than starting a year later as your child will be trying to fit a whole year into one or two terms.

In my area it's unheard of for a parent to defer (most can't wait to get their child into school full time). As Senco I've twice recommended children have additional time in nursery (global delay) and in both cases the parents opposed the suggestion.

shiningwhite we are in the channel islands (not one of the big ones)

Another issue I have is are reception teachers not meant to be qualified teachers?

Our one only holds a Level 2 SomethingOrOther because 'officially' there is one teacher who is in charge of the Year 1 and Reception class (an actual teacher) but in practice she spends all her time in the year 1 class and the teaching assistant (level 2) looks after reception.

Is this OK?

Thanks mrz I was wondering that... maybe it would actually be worse...

It wouldn't be OK in England in a LEA controlled school not sure if the same applies to CIsles

If you have the same infant class size rules then the mixed class of 20 is well under the 30 so one teacher and one TA seems fine. How do you know the teacher only focuses on year 1?

I think they get away with it because they officially say that R and Y1 are an amalgamated class (usually 15 ish children between the 2 years)

So they say that they have a teacher and a TA for that amalgamated class.

But in reality they're in different physical classrooms and the Teacher takes Y1 and the TA (who is level 2) takes reception.