To repeat reception or not

[user1498076524]

My DS is just 5 his birthday is in June, he is supposed to be moving up to year 1 this September but his teachers have today met with me and said they do not feel he is ready for it yet.

He can't read or write anything apart from his name and they say he is struggling in basically every aspect of reception. He has seen an educational psychologist but unfortunately she is useless and has taken over 6 weeks to submit her report...and it still hasn't happened. He is also waiting on a speech and language referral as his teachers feel he doesn't have much comprehension of what is being said to him.

He absolutely loves school and has made some really close friends in his year group and I am so reluctant to hold him back a year. I feel that repeating the year would be of absolutely no benefit to him and would just mean that he has an extra year at school which I don't think he will appreciate when he is older. I also feel that the play based way of learning in reception probably isn't helping him and a more structured classroom environment such as year 1 would be a lot better for him, although his teachers disagree. I just really don't know what to do and I need to make a decision by tomorrow so just wondered what other people would do.

Ed Psych doesn't mean there are concerns the parent isn't aware of. For some LAs it is mandatory to include an Ed Psych assessment to keep a child back a year once they are in education.

Schools don't suggest teaching children out of year unless there are concerns.

I know that -other posters were suggesting the concerns were more serious than the parent was aware of but I merely stated that that is not necessarily the case.

It's a rare thing for a school to suggest this so I'd suspect it was necessary. However he's your child and you have to make that decision. Technically high schools can demand that children enter in their age appropriate class but I've never seen this happen where a child has been kept back for SEND reasons.

We're not in the UK, and about a third of DD' s class are repeating the year because they haven't made sufficient progress to be ready for the next one. I found this shocking at first blush, but having thought about it some more it makes sense to ensure that children have the basics secure before moving on to the next stage

I would hope the school has fully discussed with the OP their reasons for suggesting repeating reception.

I like the French system of 'redoubling' a year.
Mine is the youngest in her year and although she won't repeat you can tell. It is tough particularly for boys.

This document about educating children out of their chronological year group. may give you some unbiased information

apps.warwickshire.gov.uk/api/documents/WCCC-699-685

I would listen to the school. It is unusual for them to offer this and must feel like it is the best. I am sure friends will be made easily. Good luck

I have taught children in secondary who were held back a year and it has never been an issue. All of these children struggled to pass GCSE's etc. as it was and I believe the extra year was a massive help. It's unusual to offer it and if the primary school are I would accept it. I cannot see an reason for it being an issue at secondary school. I think it will be psychologically much easier for your son to establish new friendships than it will be to struggle so much in class.

I didn't think children could be kept back. The school should be meeting his needs in his year group with his peers. Are you sure this is about what is best for your child and not a cost cutting/organisational exercise. Inclusive practice is just that. Quality First teaching should address children's needs then individual plans should be in place to show anything that is additional to normal classroom practice. This may include identifying additional support to be provided through the school SEN budget

My son is 19 this month and even now I wish we'd been given this choice when he was in Reception.
I really think that summer babies could do with starting school a bit later and boys, especially seem to be emotionally younger than girls.
He's struggled a bit with exams and I just think a year would have made a lot of difference to him.
I'd suggest you let your son repeat Reception - he'll make new friends easily enough and his current friends will still be in the same school

We use EEF to ass eeess success based on evidence. This might help your thoughts. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/resources/teaching-learning-toolkit/repeating-a-year

That link is incredibly biased , very much we ( the Lea) know best.

WhatAway children are not kept back. In very specific circumstances it can be helpful for a child to remain in a year. Yes the school should have plans in place to support him academically but this isn't a usually method of getting out of providing that support. At the end of the day, it is something that has been offered to the OP. It isn't an order.

I would listen carefully to the school. They won't have suggested this lightly, it's really unusual. At least be very clear what support your child would get in year 1 and have a look at the expectations etc ( some schools are not that different between year 1 and R and others step up expectations very quickly. The end of year 1 can involve desk based learning all day in some places and others are more relaxed.

Being significantly behind or at the bottom of the class academically is horribly demoralizing. I would be very cautious about accepting this for your ds. If another year in reception including some specially tailored intervention helps avoid it, or even if it just might, I'd bite their hand off.

I don't think I would. Reception is very young they are all still learning with a wide range of abilities. For me the fact he is happy, keen to go to school and has good friends would be the most important deciding factor. Rocking that might not help boost his self esteem or desire to learn.
Personally I would be asking the school what they would be offering him to ensure he catches up. Be careful they are not motivated by lacking provisions or funds- whilst a major problem for schools this shouldn't mean your son isn't adequately supported.

Perhaps get some basic pointers and work hard over the summer focusing on perhaps his phonics or pencil grip.

They also shouldn't make you decide before the Ed psych report and recommendations are back as that doesn't make sense.

We wanted ds to repeat his school nursery year. He has summer birthday and special needs. We were told that he would still have to go to secondary at the proper age - but we were refused anyway :-(

As the HT of a primary school when deciding on the best course of action including spend EEF is used because it gives objectively gathered evidence from research. It has nothing to do with any LEA
I also recognise how schools need to save money and distribute numbers of children and staffing . Coached as best for the child is a great way to get parents onside but tbh not always true in all schools. I think the OP needs to be sure that this is being put in place for the right reasons. My LA would absolutely frown on this. We would plan and support this child to be able to access the curriculum with his peers, initially continuing with the EY curriculum and then moving on to the Yr1 curriculum.

I would. I'm planning to delay school entry for my youngest (born very prematurely at the end of August) so he goes into reception a few days after his 5th birthday. His development is delayed because of his rocky start.

I think the early years are very important. I have a clever 6 year old (September birthday) who excelled in reception but really struggled in year one. I want to give him the best start and that includes him not feeling not-good-enough.

If the teachers to suggest it, you need to seriously consider it. They will have his best interests at heart.

Stating school 'later' is different to repeating a year. Children don't need to legally be in school until the term after they are 5 and parents are well within their rights to choose this, just many don't for summer born children this is perfectly reasonable except for still having to reach national standard and sit SATS at the same time as their peers at the bed of yr2