Can I start my summer born a year late in reception?

[PersisFord]

I'm so sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but I'm getting lots of conflicting information about this. My girls are due to start September 2017 but will be only just 4 and I would like them to start reception in 2018 instead so they are just 5 instead. Is that legal? Does the school have to accept them? Do I have to apply this time round then defer the place?!?!

Thanks in advance. It's a minefield!!

It's legal. It's always been legal.

But that does not mean that you have the right to it.

Your request must be considered individually (the only policy change recently has been to ban blanket refusals). But no further changes have yet been enacted, so it is very much up to the LEA and Admissions Authority to consider your case and no, they don't have to accept a pupil out-of-year if they do not think there is good reason. And being at one it other end of the defined age group is not often held to be sufficient in itself.

Why are you thinking this? DS is a late summer baby but started school when he had just turned 4.

I know they seem like babies but they sprout fast!

You can apply this time round and defer the place u til the summer term.

You cannot hold over a place from one academic year to the next.

You might also like to think now about what happens at the end of primary. Are there sufficient guarantees that your DC will be able to continue out of cohort ever at secondary transfer (or might they have to miss year 6)?

And of course it'll all need a rethink if you move house (but you'll be changing schools at an ad hoc point anyhow, so if you need to change year groups as well might not be particularly disruptive)

You can certainly ask but your choice will be viewed by a panel who will decide if it's in the child's best interests. It's not just something you can do. And unless you have solid reasons as to why starting when they are 4 isn't suitable I doubt your request will be granted.
Also bear in mind if they start when they are five they will be surrounded by children a year younger than they are, this doesn't help them grow socially, never mind educationally, they may view their peers as 'babyish' and find the educational aspect too easy, unchallenging and unstimulating.

I have August borns. As I understood it from our school they could have been held back but only in sense they would skip reception and start in year 1 the following year. This creates issues in fact it would be harder to secure a place on year one if nobody drops out before the year starts, mine would miss all the phonics etc done in reception and also the friendship groups would already exist.

Ours started as normal and are doing just fine. Every teacher so far has said you would not know they were August borns and they are in top sets for most subjects. Being summer born doesn't always mean they aren't ready

I have just done this with my Ds and there is a lot to consider, like them fitting back into there cronilogical age group etc.
I deferred my Ds because he has asd.
Please pm if you want to talk through things.

It depends on your LEA and usually there has to be a reason such as medical, disabilities or recommendation from professionals

They are SO small when they start school age 4 years and one week.
They are babies really.
They need to sleep as soon as they get home for the first term.

By year 11 they are hulking lumps who grunt if you are lucky.

Do not make a rod for your back.
Put them into school at 4.
The school are used to it.
They will thrive.

You say girls so I assume twins? Was their actual due date after 1st Sept? If so you may find it easier to delay reception a year

I also have twins although mine are March born so not relevant but I know a lot of twin mums including two who successfully delayed their twins due to actual due date being late Sept/early Oct so they 'should' have been in the later intake
This is of course dependent on the LA (no different for a singleton born early but of course twins are more likely to come early...)

I do think one key area to re doing it is to confirm what would happen at secondary so you don't end up having to skip yr 6...

My daughter is a 27th August baby so was just 4! She took to school like a duck to water. I used the yr between 3-4 to work with her on all I thought she needed before school e.g. Doing her own coat up, dressing and undressing confidently etc and she copes so well emotionally and academically! She is now in yr 3, the youngest at her junior school and she continues to flourish!

Don't be too quick to defer all children are different and generally they cope well in a good school. My son is a 16th August baby and he will start at 4 too next yr!

I delayed my August born son and best thing I ever did. He started foundation at 5 and is now nearing the end of his first year and thriving. PM me if you want. There's also quite an active Facebook page "flexible admissions for summer borns" with lots of info.

This is all great to know, thank you! For various reasons (which I don't want to say as it will out me!) they can't start at 4, so they will definitely be starting school at 5, either going into reception or going into y1. I'd rather they went into reception, and if it looks like it's going to be a problem with high school they can skip y2 or something. Or if they are obviously too advanced for their year group. They will only be a few weeks older than the September born babies though so I'm sure they would find people to be friends with.

They are twins but were born at term so no wriggle room there.

I'll look for the FB group, thanks. And I've ordered some phonics books in case it all falls through!!

You need to find out exactly what it means in your area. One parent at school looked at doing this, but the secondary she wants will insist the child goes up when they are correct age, meaning they will miss year 6.

So they will have to starts secondary with no one they know and leaving their friends behind.

It's up to the LEA.

The guidelines given in my LEA's primary admissions booklet say that you should apply for primary places and The deferral at the same time - presumably so that if they refuse the deferral, the child still has a school place allocated for the "correct " school year.

The guidelines also seem to suggest that the LEA won't defer if the allocated school doesn't agree to the deferral, and suggests that the head teacher would be able to move the child back into the normal age group if the head teacher thought this was best. And there's no guarantees made about what happens at secondary school. Just waffle about how the admissions authority of the school will decide on a case by case basis whether to admit the child out of the normal age group.

I wouldn't worry too much about them being a "year younger" than the rest of the class though. If they're August born, especially late August, the age difference between them and the rest of the class will be about the same whichever year group they're in. Assuming an even spread of birthdays, they'd just be around 6 months older than the average age of the class instead of about 6 months younger than the average age.

so many schools are academies now, the LEAs opinion is not really relevant

So if it's an academy is it the governors who decide if a child can start reception late?

But most academies used the LEA criteria for admissions so does that mean they revert to the LEA about deferrals?. Also that would still leave open the question about transfer to secondary school and the possibility of missing year 6.

The FB page is what you need for info.

Look at the website for the Summerborn Campaign, the "flexible school admissions for summer born children" FB page, and at the Schools Admissions Code and the DfE Advice on the admission of summer born children.

I deferred my August born daughter, she'll be starting reception in September this year, and for her it was the right thing to do. No SEN or other issues. We had to make a case in writing to the Local Authority but when you look at the actual legal position it is (to my mind) very clear that it's never in the child's best interest to miss reception year, so there is always a good case to make. Good luck!