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 😊

Ooops sorry wrong thread!!!!

You are getting a lot of positive answers and encouragement on here, but, if your child doesn't have a diagnosed developmental delay and wasn't born very prematurely, I'm not sure why you would? You will be putting them out of year forever, or making them 'jump' a year when they are older (which will be very difficult).
Have you thought about secondary transfer Don't know where you live, but what about applying for grammar schools? What about playing in sports teams - they won't be allowed to play with their class mates for clubs who will only register them for the correct age bands.

You may well lose your place, if you don't send them when they have one. You may end up having to put them into Yr1, at a school you didn't even choose.
I understand different authorities may have different policies on this, but many authorities will want to see evidence from professionals as to why this should happen. Academies (which so many schools are now) make their own decisions - of course the HT could change between now and next year.

@backforgood
You don't need any other reason apart from being 'summerborn' to request a delayed entry to reception.
If you feel your child is not emotionally ready then why WOULDN'T you?

The part about being made to skip a year is wrong and scaremongering. The school (including secondary) would have to prove it was in a child's best interest to miss an entire year of education,unlikely seeing as they fine you for a few days unauthorized.

Op joining the Facebook group mentioned above is a good idea as it is full of useful information.
You need to use the correct terms
Defer means to start later on in the year (this your legal right)

And delayed means to start an entire year later.

Once you get agreement from head teacher and your LA about a delayed start to reception you apply in the next round of primary school applications. Your application is treated the same as everyone else.
Goodluck

My head wouldn’t agree - he supports a more gentle transition for children who need it.

It is a risk- you have to get the head to agree then apply again the next year but there are. I guarantees that you’ll get the place. If you don’t get your choice of school and get allocated another where the head won’t agree to your child starting in reception, they will go straight to year 1.

*there are no guarantees

Im thinking about this as my ds has a delay and both nursery and I think the school seem to be in favour - my ex however is not in favour.

If you decide to defer I'd want a guarantee that she could continue out of year until she leaves school

There are no guarantees as different admissions authorities can make different decisions so moving la/school/change of HT can change things.
But as pp said

1. schools fine for missing days let alone a year 2 school have to prove missing a year is in their best interests 3 i predict if following this many are forced to miss a year some parents will take legal action as it clearly is in very very few dc best interests to miss a year/lose friendships 4 also not in a schools best interest if they have a space that year and kissing a year likely make the kid's results worse. (Surely they wont make the right amount of progress).

Hi, OP..

We are in London and successfully delayed our 26th August born son. He is meant to start this September, I’ve just declined his place. Will have to reapply next year.

He has no SEN just ‘summer born’ and really not emotionally ready for school.
His nursery agreed.

Some LA agree automatically and some don’t agree at all and some need a bit of pursuading.

Happy to answer questions if you have any.

"There are no guarantees" yes there are ...you can get a guarantee in writing that the LA will allow the child to continue out of year ...we've had pupils with this guarantee (all with significant SEN). Without the guarantee I'd not consider it.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

It’s a very significant decision and not one I would take lightly. I’m certainly no expert and so we are going to go in and speak to the school and seek their advice and let them meet her face to face. Luckily we got our first place school, who so far seem amazing and definitely have the children’s best interests at heart.

Good luck everyone with your individual journeys! This parenting malarkey isn’t always easy 🙈

By no guarantee, I meant that you would go in the pot again for next year, having to apply again as part of a new cohort - the place isn’t reserved for you. At least not in my authority.

We did it - got the headteacher of the school he would go to and the LA to agree, which they did easily. There was actually a letter sent by a schools minister which told LAs that prior to legislation to this effect the govt expected LAs to allow summer born children to delay a year if the parents requested it. I sent this to the head (academy). LA were very supportive.
We only got 15 hours childcare.
Has been very successful otherwise. His key person at nursery and his teachers have all said we did the right thing.

You mean no guarantee of getting first choice of school? I mean guarantee that they won't have to move to secondary school at the end of Y5 or miss out Y7.

The 'guarantee' for secondary school is only any good if you know you are going to stay within the admissions authority who has OKed it.

So if you move (or if the school becomes an academy or if there is some other change I need the rules about who acts as admissions authority and what their powers are) you could have a difficulty at that stage.

Given that my child delayed following a letter from govt to LAs clarifying that it's intention was that this flexibility should be there, i think a legal challenge would be pretty straightforward but unnecessary at 2ndary school. Plus there's loads of us now.

My dd went straight into year 1 (due to being overseas where school starts later) but she attended half day preschool and I spent the other half day teaching her everything on the reception curriculum (I downloaded it from dfe) so she could read and write. I'm not sure by 12 they will be pleased with you if they are still out of sync with their age group.

I’ve done this for my summer born (August) DC. She got a place at our first choice school which is a small, gentle school focused on nurture rather than results but my DC still felt too emotionally and socially immature. The school were keen to start her in reception. The nursery agreed she would benefit from delaying.

Thankfully I live in an area that approves every summer born deferral request. It has definitely been the right decision for us. Last year I worried I was being dramatic but this year I feel my DC is ready for school.

As others say - it’s not just reception - it’s also about age/maturity as they move through the school system.

Highly recommend the FB group that’s been suggested.

you could have a difficulty at that stage.

In theory. In practise they would need to show it was in the child’s best interests to skip a year of schooling. Which it clearly isn’t.

I had a very shy summer born son, I did not defer, as I think it would have made it harder for him, as his friends from playgroup were starting school and I wanted him to form friendships with other classmates too, rather than start separately and be the new boy.

Whatever decision you make, will be right for your child, it’s tough like you say. Good luck OP.

Good luck with it. That Facebook group is very helpful.

FWIW we live in an area where it's very difficult to get deferrals. This time two years ago I was very worried about my August born. We decided to send him anyway and a. He grew up an awful lot in those last few months and b. School really was the making of him and it's worked out really well. The class is quite "young" overall with lots of summerborns which helps.

The only time I've been annoyed is at sports day where my ds didn't have any hope of winning anything due to him (and some others) being far less physically developed than some of the older children. Academically however he's been fine despite only just being able to hold a pencil when he started.

So just a different perspective. But of course all kids are different. Sounds like your la is accommodating so best of luck with it.

We deferred our twins. They are in year 4 now. the Flexible Schools admissions on facebook is the group to contact. Also, get the schools admission code and read it. Get to know it. Know your rights. Many headteachers do not know the code and all schools must follow it including academies.

We are very happy with our decision. Our daughters are not just coping. They are thriving socially, emotionally and academically.

In the end, you have to decide what is right for you and your child. You know your child. Whatever you do, decide it for yourself and not what any of us say. In the end, it is your family, your values and what you need for those important part of your lives to thrive.