Deferring Reception Entry

[ChloeKelly31]

Hi all,

My little girl should start reception this September. She turns 4 in July. She’s naturally a reserved child and to me seems very far away from some of the things she will need to do at school, for example going to the bathroom on her own.

I’m looking to defer her reception entry by a year. Can anyone give any advice on how they went about this? We find out which of her school places she has been offered on the 16th of this month. Do I then approach the school directly and ask to defer?

Also does anyone know if you defer a year, can you still claim the 30 hours government childcare payment?

Thanks, all advice welcome 😊

An initial, informal chat with the LA is probably a good place to start.

I think you can claim the hours up to her fifth birthday, but check that.

Op does your dd go to nursery/ preschool? What are their opinions on deferring?

My 3 x dn are all summer born and have managed well. The school they went to did half days for all reception for a few weeks, then lunch then full time. Could you come to a similar arrangement with your school?

The gap between summer and autumn babies can seem vast in reception but will close as they get older.

My friend had a ds ( a premie) who deferred and ended up having to skip a year when he got to juniors so he could go to secondary at an age appropriate time. Fortunately he had gained lots of progress.

Facebook 'flexible admissions for summer borns'

You still have months for the toileting (5m) if it is just that.
How easy it is to go at CSA will depend on your LA and whether your schools are academies etc.
It is best to have sorted it out before offer day so they dont think you are playing the system. And because it can take a long time to sort out.
But seeing as schools are probably now on Easter holidays that is very unlikely as even the LA will likely ask the schools (HT) opinion.
You would need to reapply for 2020

We have had several children defer entry to Reception, mostly due to medical issues which had impacted upon attendance and learning.
In my experience it works well. Your local LEA will be able to help and it's quite an easy process as long as you have the support of a school/nursery.
In terms of 30 hour funding, in my LEA children are not able to use 30 hour funding for school nurseries if you have deferred but can access the funding in private nurseries or childminders. I'm not sure if this is a national thing or just in my LEA.

Thank you everyone for the comments. We tried to put her in to nursery when I returned to work just after she turned two, mainly to encourage some independence. Which she did not take to well at all. After 5 weeks of having a very unhappy little one, we decided to take her out and find a childminder, who she has formed a lovely bond with and is much happier. She is also very reliant on her younger sister (18 month age gap), they do everything together and she’s get very upset when they are separated.

I’m sure if we sent her she would adjust after time, but I would rather spare her the upset if we can and let her catch up slightly with her year group before making the change.

Will contact our local authority on Monday.

Thanks again 😊

Join the Facebook group flexible admissions for summer born children.Lots of good advice there.

If you defer for a full year you will have to apply for a place again later this year. They won't hold a place for you.

It is up to the admission authority (either the local authority or the school itself, depending on the type of school) whether or not they will allow you to defer reception entry until next year. Many will comply with your request but there are still some that will only defer if there is evidence of developmental delay.

Just to add my two penneth:

My DD is a July baby too. I tied myself in knots worrying because me and her Dad are both September babies, as is her sister and I was really worried she just wouldn’t be ready for school at 4yrs 2 months. But our LEA were very unhelpful, said she would just have to go straight into year 1 without the year in revelation or hang back and join her “real” year group in year 7 straight from year 5. Didn’t like the sound of any of that so me and DH decided to just see how it went.

She literally couldn’t write her name, was still in pull ups at night, quite shy and easily upset in high stress environments but had attended a nursery so we decided we would just have to see what happened. She’s not even 5 yet and has been at school 6 months.... she’s like a different kid! She’s so much more outgoing, she can read- properly read!- writes in sentences, can do simple maths.... I’m not exaggerating when I say last summer holidays she was still wetting her knickers once a week because she would forget to go to the loo. And what’s more she LOVES school. I was dreading this academic year but I’m so glad now that we didn’t defer. My advice would be send her and see what happens.

We tried to put her in to nursery when I returned to work just after she turned two, mainly to encourage some independence. Which she did not take to well at all. After 5 weeks of having a very unhappy little one, we decided to take her out and find a childminder, who she has formed a lovely bond with and is much happier

Very few children starting school have not been in a pre-school setting. Not a childcare nursery necessarily, but even most children with a parent at home, or cared for by a childminder or similar, have attended some sort of nursery school/pre-school for a few hours a day.

If you apply to defer her place, please then consider doing a split placement between the childminder and a nursery/pre school to give her the experience of being in a group setting, with children predominantly her own age.

I'm in EY and am a firm supporter of summer born deferral, when circumstances are right, but think that it's also important for children to have some kind of high quality pre-school experience.

I'm also a huge fan of childminders (before anyone thinks this is a childminder vs nursery debate). My dd was with a child minder and then a split child minder/nursery arrangement before she started school.

If she's so reliant on her 18 mo younger sisyer will them being with the child minder together another year help? Thry won't be going up to school together either way.

Socialising with younger children isn't a problem per se but socialising with slight older ones might actually help her along.

Speak to your LA but personally I wouldn't delay entry because of toileting and clinginess. She may still be the latter Inn a years time.

I would try to get her into preschool again and see how things go before making the decision to defer.

I would delay. A lot of kids seem to do OK in reception where it's mainly play based, but as soon as KS1 starts in year 1, which is quite a big change, the gap widens again and they struggle.

You cannot defer a place by a whole year. You would be urging dome this place and would have to reapply for Sept 2020.

You need to find out (and get in writing) your LEA's decision on whether you can apply for a different school year. Remember, they are obliged to consider your case individually, but do not have to find in your favour.

Get the decision in writing, as you will be relying on it in the next applications round.

I think it would be imprudent to reject the place for this September until you know for sure if you can reapply for reception for the next school year.

If you decide not to cancel and reapply, you can defer until the start of the summer term (ie April 2020) all you need do for that is inform the school in writing

We’ve deferred my August born son, he is starting this year at just turned 5 instead of last year. Just waiting to find out which school he’s been allocated.

You are still entitled to the 30 hours for the year.

Definitely join the Facebook group. Lots of experience there and you will probably find people who have been through it on your LA who can advise on the process.

Many primary schools are academies and then it's up to the view of the head teacher. We tried to do this with our summer born but the head teacher said that the EYFS teacher would adequately meet the needs of my son. He's now year 5 and still not where he needs to be.

You are likely to get a head teacher who refuses because most do unless you have medical evidence e.g. specialist letter. If you do get agreement, you may also get a secondary school who won't let your DC in "out of year" meaning that she goes to secondary school out of year 5 rather than year 6.

I'd strongly recommend any parent who thinks their summer born child needs this to go for it, but look into the impact of this for secondary school and don't be surprised if the school are against it.

You are not entitled to 30 hours funding if you defer a Reception place, but are still eligible for the 15 universal hours.

What did the LA say op?

I rang the LAnthis week. They advised to speak to our first choice school, who in turned advised they would be happy to discuss it, once they had been advised of our daughter had been offered a place there. It’s a very popular school and we live outside of the catchment zone. Fingers crossed for Tuesday and then we can start the process off...

At least you’re all prepped for Tuesday op. 🤞🏻

You ARE entitled to the 30 free hours up until the child turns 5. I have checked and double-checked this as we have delayed entry to reception.

We had a child who deferred their place and were told by the local authority and the 30 hour funding team that they were not eligible for 30 hours. I wonder if it varies in different authorities?

Ignore me! I've got it wrong. I was thinking about the family who wanted to use their 30 hours for wraparound.

You can use the thirty hours. If you defer to the following academic year you have to reapply for the School place, they won’t hold it.