Missing first term of school - Reception

[Lioninthemeadow]

How important is the first term of school and what do the kids usually learn? We're moving back to the UK from abroad later this year and 4yo DD won't be back in time to start school until the January term.

I'm really worried she'll find it hard starting late and will miss out on lots of things, both the academic stuff and the social/settling in to school side of things. Any experience of this from late starters or any advice on anything I can do to help her?

I think it will be hard. Dd seemed to learn a huge amount before xmas; all the letter sounds and some of the digraphs, lots of basic maths type things - ordering, adding and subtracting up to 10. I think these things could all probably be taught at home but the social side of getting to know the class, routines etc might be harder. A good teacher will facilitate the catching up and I'm sure, if you know which school it will be, that the teacher would give you some advice if you ask.

She will be fine. Many children defer their start of school until the Spring term, and legally a child doesn't have to attend school until the term after their 5th birthday.

I think she'll be fine settling in but there is a chance she'll miss some academic stuff.

But things like phonics and stuff could be covered by you if you find out what she'll be learning

Our school has children leaving and arriving all the time - between two and five per class, usually, year after year.

Some of the later arrivals end up being some of the most settled/confident/popular. I think if your DD is a naturally confident child, she shouldn't have many issues at all. If you know the school she'll be going to, you could always look at the school website with her during the autumn term (our school also has twitter) to see what's happening at "her school", download the newsletter so she can see pictures of what the other reception children have been doing, so that by the time she starts she already feels involved.

They may not have the resources to spend 1-1 time catching her up but there are likely to be other children who haven't grasped reading and phonics that well after only one term, she'll soon catch up

I wouldn't worry too much about that but would be worried about getting the child into the preferred school now that all the places have been allocated for the coming years.
You might get away with it in rural areas but in cities competition to get in the good schools is tough, even if you apply on time and live in the catchment.

I 'm sure some children start from January as well anyway, so I'm sure she will be fine.
My ds missed chunk of first term reception due to illness, but he was fine.
Reception is play based, so it's not structured like KS1, and there will be huge ability gaps between children anyway.
Only thing I think is important is self care and be able to listen to teacher's instructions, which other children would be practicing from September.

There is a lot of recapping every day. They will most likely go through sound flash cards every day so she should soon catch up on anything she has missed.
Although she will miss out socially and with the general 'housekeeping' of reception children that age make friends quickly and the other children will be in a routine and she will just drop in with them.

I think it depends whether it is a school where EVERYONE starts in September, or whether it is common for parents to exercise their right to defer entry until later in the year.

In some schools, a whole bunch of reception children will start in January. In others, almost none (DD's class, for example, was absolutely identical from Day 1 of reception to the beginning of year 3 - no moves in, no moves out, no late arrivals).

Part of the trickiness will be that you presumably won't know which school she will be going to until you come back, as you will be an in-year applicant. In many areas, schools are bursting at the seams so finding an in-year reception place is difficult, and you may be allocated a school distant from where you live. It is also not likely to be a 'desirable' school.

Hopefully she'll be OK academically, especially if I try to do some of the basic stuff she might miss at home. It's mainly missing out on the initial making friends, settling in and getting used to being at school bit that worries me. She's quite shy and sensitive and will already be dealing with the huge change of moving countries and leaving everything she knows behind.

Once I know where she'll be going I'll talk to the teacher, but we probably won't know that until the last minute. As I understand it, we have to move back (not even sure where to yet), find a rental and then contact the LEA about which local schools have places left (presumably only the less desirable ones by that point!). Which might only be a few weeks before starting.

If you have some flexibility about where to live, it might be worth making 'area where some schools had vacancies for late reception entrants last year' some priority in your search.

There are areas of the country - in general, rural areas, slightly less prosperous areas and, specifically, away from the SE - where there is not a school place shortage. In other areas, that shortage is acute (where I live there was 1 Reception place, in 1 school, unallocated in the entire, large, town at the start of the Autumn term, over perhaps 20+ primaries. Every other one was full). It may be that otherwise there will be a delay as the LA decides how to proceed, as classes at reception cannot normally go over 30. If your DD is born in the summer months, so not 5 until e.g. May - August, then she does not legally have to be in school so that delay can be prolonged.

We have lots of late arrival - some join I year 1 or 2 never having been to school and with minimal English. They do phonics in their own group to catch up but they seem fine. It a bit hard at the start but they settle.

Sorry, to clarify: A child does not legally have to be in school until the term after their 5th birthday.

So although it is absolutely the norm for children to start school in September when they are 4, IME when push comes to shove and an LA is struggling to find school places for a newcomer, they are likely to prioritise those who HAVE to be in school (in terms of activating the fair access protocol etc) and be prepared to let children who do not legally have to be in school wait a little longer.

Don't worry about it for a moment. Every reception class has a spread of ability and a spread of previous achievement and it is completely expected that kids will be working at a level that is right for them without reference to the rest of the class. Although your DD may start a little behind academically compared to where she might have been had she started in September, there will be other kids in the class who are further behind despite starting in September. They will help her progress at whatever rate is comfortable for her and she will not stand out as noticeably different.

If you can get hold of some DVDs or downloads of alphablocks and numberjacks TV programmes, and encourage her to play with educational toys like puzzles, and read to her every day, then she will already be streets ahead of some reception children by January.

We're likely going to be in the SE cantkeepawayforever, so I'm a bit worried about finding a half-decent school or one that isn't miles away, especially as I am not a great driver. She'll turn 5 later this year so I think is legally obliged to be in school in January anyway. Aaargh, I can see this all becoming quite stressful!

Thank you all for the advice, it's very helpful!

Lion, yes, i think it will be stressful! Even moving cross-country within England and needing new school places can be stressful enough.

However, I think if you're mentally prepared for it to be tricky - and also realise that you may need to start in one school but be prepared to go onto waiting lists for more desirable or closer schools - then it can ease the stress somewhat.

Have a look at schools that are near military bases. These tend to have quite a lot of in-year movement. The teachers will be used to children starting mid-year.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the educational aspect, there's so much re-learning going on through the year. I bought Jolly Phonics for our DC and this seemed to help with learning diagraphs.

Don't worry about the academic side at all. A child will not be disadvantaged at age 4 by missing the first term. At this age children catch up very quickly.
Agree with pp that the key thing is making sure you get a place in a decent school.

Mine started in January, being an August birth. No problem at all, plenty in same boat.