Defer reception place for summer born child

[Cascada]

DS's birthday is early June. I am considering (somewhat late in the day) trying to defer his reception place (he already has a place) for September 2017 so that he starts in April 2018.

My understanding based on the information on my LEA's website is that because we're looking to do this rather than delay by a full year that this is something that we have the right to do rather than needing to request the school or LEA's permission to do. This is because the info says once you get a place you can take it:
"Immediately (from September 2017);
 On a part-time basis until the beginning of the term after their 5th birthday; or
 Defer your child’s admission until the beginning of the term after their 5th birthday but not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made". It then goes on to suggest you speak to the school to discuss these options.

I have not yet discussed with the school and am unsure as to their attitude towards this - they are already talking about some of the reception kids potentially going on a part time basis if more appropriate so my expectation is they view that as preferable rather than deferring the place to April. For various reasons I would prefer to hold my son back fully - he just doesn't seem to be ready to start yet. I didn't raise it when we first got the place cos I wanted to see how he progressed over the next few months.

However, I just spoke to the LEA in the first instance and they said that the school would need to agree to the deferral - i.e. it was not just a discretion of the parents. This seems at odds with the guidance pasted above.

I would be very grateful to hear about people's experience of this. I would kind of prefer to be clear about whether it's a right that I have or a discretion of the school before I approach them about it. Thanks in advance.

harrassed

No one on here has mentioned pushy parents. My post was more about whether parents are delaying only because the child is younger than some of the other children, or because they are also developmentally delayed.

It would concern me if a parent delayed because they themselves are anxious, as heyroly posted.

Gibb's amendment to the code states that Sen is no longer the only reason a child can be deferred

It is already the case that SEN is not the only reason a child can be deferred for a full year. That is nothing to do with Gibb. If parents ask for entry to be deferred by a full year the admission authority must not apply a blanket policy. They must look at the individual case and decide what is in the child's best interests. It remains the case that many admission authorities will only agree to deferment for a full year if there is evidence of significantly delayed development.

Gibb's proposed amendments to the Admissions Code have not been published so we don't know exactly what they will say. We know from his letter that he wants to amend the Code so that summer-born children can enter Reception at 5 if that is what parents wish and to ensure that the children affected can remain with the same cohort. However, it is now almost two years since he published that letter and there is still no sign of the promised consultation on changes, let alone any actual changes. Since then Gibb has delayed the consultation over concerns that parents may use the proposed changes to game the system. Last October he announced a further delay saying the government needs more data before making a decision and expressing concerns about the cost of implementing the change, which is said to be high. It is possible the change will eventually be made but by no means certain.

Gibb's amendment never happened.

I seem to remember the consultation raised concerns about costs and it just went very quiet.

I could never quite understand why you would cut back on the time a summer born child would spend in Reception before they would move on to Year 1, I thought the opposite-my August born boy with SEN started when he was 4 and 2 weeks so he could have the maximum amount of time within the Reception class as possible ( he attended nursery school from age 2) before moving up. He spent most of the time playing in the water tray

My DD2 is a June baby so started Reception when she was 4.3. She has really thrived. Reception is play based, just the same as nursery. They may take a little longer to get phonics etc (they also may not!) but it really doesn't matter. There will be a whole range of children age wise and ability wise in the class. Unfortunately I think it's in parents heads and of course we want to 'protect' our children but children are amazingly adaptable and will just get on with it. I think this legal ability to defer apart from in really exceptional circumstances is not great tbh.

and what about Phonics test/ year 2 sats / year 6 sats? They are all set by age - so when your child is a whole year behind, yet still has to take the assessments for which they have done zero preparation for and none of the associated learning?

Allpizzas did mention pushy parents!

I agree with the comments about the amendment which haven't yet materialised. Even the proposals are good progress on this issue but I suppose it would be up to the parents to take the risk and depend on the approach of the lea. Here it's nothing unusual and the lea do offer a blanket approach - any parent can defer a child with no additional evidence needed.

Some may think the changes may not be a good thing but they are for the many parents who don't believe four is the right age for their child to start formal schooling. As I've said before, evidence based research shows a disadvantage to summer borns.

The research only shows a disadvantage up to a certain age though, doesn't it? By Y3 they have caught up. I may be slightly misremembering but I think that's it. There are also many other factors that can disadvantage a child other than being summer born plus not enough (no?) research has been done into a large enough cohort of children who have been deferred whilst their peers started to definitively say that this has no impact either.

Whereas some posters are quite defensive about the whole 'pushy parent' aspect, they do exist.

My concern if more folk are allowed to defer without any exceptional reason (and I know of several 'exceptional' cases where it is absolutely the right thing to do), is that the massive void between the dc of typical MNers, and the dc of those parents without the literacy skills, or confidence, or IT skills, or knowledge of English, or understanding of the system (before we get on to those who already have difficulty with parenting skills, and those who don't realise you need to talk to children, etc.,etc.,etc) will just get wider and wider and wider.

Some children start so far behind as it is, I'm not sure how putting them in a class with people tho are then potentially 15 or 16 months older than themselves is supposed to help society support the most vulnerable children.

I think the research shows a difference all the way through. August children are 20% less likely to attend a Russel group university than a September child.

Sorry harrassed, I missed the pushy parents comment because of the strikethrough.

Also lasts up to Oxbridge admissions - fewer summerborns get in.

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9897841/Summer-born-pupils-missing-out-on-Oxbridge-places.html

I stand corrected re the research 😀

Backforgood I agree there will be some parents who are 'pushy' and see it as a way to gain educational advantage.
However I still think deferring will be the minority option so it won't have widespread impact. Teachers should be able to differentiate for the range of ages and abilities in a class (although as a teacher I obviously realise it's not always that simple!).

www.conservativehome.com/platform/2015/09/stephen-hammond-mp-the-changes-we-need-to-help-summer-born-and-premature-children-succeed.html

Stephen Hammond cites various research on summer borns here, including the DfE report.

I'm d so glad I didn't delay starting school for my August born twins. I remember being v worried about them not seeming ready but they absolutely thrived. Reception class is still EYFS and there's a LOT of playing (and learning through play). They made friends who are still their best mates now, just finishing Year 5. Academically, doing very well. I don't think they'd have benefited from a delayed start at all, quite the opposite. Funnily enough, when my other two kids started, I didn't feel they were ready either, and they're September babies so the oldest in their class!

I can definitely understand as a parent not wanting your child to start school till they're ready. On the other hand - a child in my dc's Year 2 class is July born a year ahead, so is the oldest in the class by a good few months, and is ahead of all the other kids academically plus physically he's the biggest by far. In many ways he's put at a big advantage (wins all the sports day races and academic prizes) so the question is - is that fair to the rest of the class? And what happens if he was to go for 11 plus or scholarships etc out of his age group - is that fair?
I'm actually not sure since I understand that being summer born can be a disadvantage. The thing I'm wondering is - is putting the summer borns a year back therefore giving them an extra advantage the solution??

Honestly I don't think there is an ideal solution in England. The Scottish system seems to work better in this case.

I know it's only anecdotal, but DH and I are both August born, both went to top 10 universities and have decent careers. Our DTDs were premature and born in July, are about to leave Yr 6, have excellent SATS results (DTD1 got 120 in SPAG) and did very well in their 11+. I think that the difference disappears quite quickly once they're at school. The only thing that was really noticeable with ours was that they were still playing Harry Potter in the playground when some of the more "mature" girls were chatting about Little Mix and hairstyles... But I quite like that :)

Eviltwins what's the Scottish system?
Tabbymoomoo I can see your point there. I wonder if that child was particularly bright and so being older as well made it even more obvious?
My DD will be two weeks older than the next oldest and there are five September babies so far too so I'm not sure she's going to stand out. But I see that could differ from class to class.

In Scotland the cut off is February. So our friend's DD who is August born started school just after her 5th birthday rather than just after her 4th. So term still starts at the end of August but children born between February and August wait until the following year. Obviously there are still children in the same class who are potentially 11 months and 29 days older than others but no one is just 4 - everyone is at least 4 years and 6 months.

I can definitely understand as a parent not wanting your child to start school till they're ready.

But how do you know if they're "ready"?

Is there any research from Scotland (or anywhere else) to show that delaying the start of school evens out the fact that in a year group there are children up to a year apart in age?

Whenever I see the arguments for delaying school for summer born I wonder if it will just mean the spring born will become disadvantaged instead.

So can an LEA/school legally force a child to start in year one if they've deferred a year?

My understanding was that children have a legal right to so many years of education, and by forcing them to skip reception, they've then lost a year.

Ok.

We have done this. My son is May 2012 born. He 'should' have started school last September. He has permission to start in Receptin at Compulsory School Age this September.

It is not your right to enter your child into Reception at CSA. It is your right to not start your child in school until CSA. But the default is to them go straight into Year 1. To start in Reception at CSA you need permission from the local authority (or if the school is an academy and manage their own admissions, then the school itself). Is can be easier or harder to obtain, depending on where you live. Sadly it's something of a postcode lottery.

I very much advise joining the Facebook group 'Flexible Admissions for Summer Born Children'. There you will get accurate information and brilliant advice from people who have been through or are going through the process of starting their child in Reception at CSA.

Also happy for you to PM me with any questions.