Consider deferring late-Aug born DD primary place

[OneOfManyDays]

After a bit of advice here...

My DD was born v late August, so we've always been a bit concerned that she will be the youngest in the year. If she was born 4 days later she would not have been in the Sept 2020 primary intake at all!

DD has been at nursery since 12 months, 3 days a week. And pre-school since she turned 3 for 4 days a week. Educationally is doing well - very good with numbers and letter recognition. But has no ability to sit still, doesn't care for writing or colouring or anything involving sitting down and holding a pencil and is also still rather immature emotionally (tantrums still). I know all this is completely and utterly normal for a 3yr old so not worried about this in general at all BUT I do worry for when she starts school in September. There is just such a big emotional difference between a nearly-5 year old and a brand newly turned 4 year old! DM is a primary teacher and admits that this is true but says they all even out eventually by school Year 3 so we'd just assumed she would start this September 2020.

However, coronavirus means DD is likely missing out on the next 6 months of pre-school (private pre-school so would have still attended during summer hols too). Preschool were doing so much to help her along in her emotional maturity and I'm concerned about her being properly ready to start school in Sept now. whilst we're trying to do educational/focused tasks at home with her during this lockdown to keep her on track, with the best will in the world, I can't recreate the full schedule, routine and relationship building opportunities (with peers) of her preschool. I'd also prefer her not to join school this Sept when it will be a very 'chaotic' school year (this is according to DM and DSIL who is also an early years teacher!) due to children having been out of school/preschool for a while and the behavioural impacts that might have.

Would you consider deferring placement in these circumstances or do you think its OTT?

I would keep her till five if that's an option I'm a primary school teacher and I definitely see children who are sent to school too young.

Well, I’ve already deferred my July born son, so it doesn’t sound OTT to me. There was no particular reason for us to delay him, but I’ve really noticed his concentration & maturity come on in this pre school year (for long & complicated reasons he hadn’t attended pre school before). He will start reception in Sept at about 5 years & 6 weeks old & it definitely feels like the right decision for us.

I would definitely consider deferring given her age and maturity levels.
She will have a greater chance of success overall if she is not the youngest in the class.
I don’t think it’s OTT, I think it’s prudent and smart. You know your daughter best.

No one even knows if reception classes will open this September at the moment. It seems very unfair on current reception children ( as well as every other year group) to miss out on a term so I wondered whether they would go back to reception/current year group and the new starters would start in Jan? I’m guessing this would have knock on implications further up the school though.

Mine is an Oct birthday and I’m considering keeping her home till Jan and hope others do just to let the schools/teachers take a breath and gather themselves. In your position I’d probably do the same if it’s an oversubscribed school as it doesn’t feel right pinching a place from next years cohort.

I wouldn't have any hesitation in deferring. It wasn't an option when my teens started school, the only option you had was to not send them until compulsory school age but it would be straight into Y1 and no guarantee of a place. The rules won't have changed for no reason so there must be a reasonable amount of validity behind allowing it. You know your DD best and this year more then ever is likely to be fairly chaotic in Sept plus all the pre school prep usually done is very unlikely to go ahead so she would be less prepared this year than ever.

I would defer too

If she's bright and physically able think about personality. My DD started reception this year age 4 and 3 weeks. Probably quite similar in profile, only scribbling. After some entertaining behaviour as she pushed boundaries quite hard she has really settled into school and went from scribbling to detailed drawings overnight after half a term of school.

I think defering her would have been the wrong choice - as one of the oldest in the year she would have been even more pushy around the other children.

As it happens we're moving to Scotland before August so she will be going across to P1 in the middle of the year, which I'm much happier about than putting a bright at the top of the age range.

If she'd been less bossy/pushy I'd have been more up for deferring!

I’ve taught reception and would advise anyone who meets the criteria to defer. You are gifting them a year, gifting them confidence and gifting them a sense of success that will be life long, in my opinion.

Primary school teacher here.

I’d defer too.

Thank you everyone for your comments - really helpful, honestly. I was feeling concerned that I'm overthinking things here. I've sent an email to the LA to ask for the process to be set out. We'd applied for Sept intake so expect to learn if DD has a space by mid-April so I want to get the deferring ball rolling.

It's such a stressful time for all, and I do feel for our kids who are being thrown into a new normal without the ability to comprehend and understand things in the same way that we adults can (though I admit to finding it tough understand all that is going on at times!)

I'm really worried about the lack of preschool and my child is already 4. I'm going to email them later to get some ideas of things to work on. Like you I really worry more about the emotional/social side. You can't recreate peer to peer interaction or group activities or really the routine and long days.
Research suggests that summer born babies are disadvantaged but I think you know if your child is ready. Some kids are ready the day they turn 4 some aren't even really ready by the time they turn 5.
I would also say that a lot changes with kids. She will be completely different in 6months. Is it possible to review in July/august? I think you'll know by the how she'll cope.

Definitely consider it. Two of my ds's are August born - one only had to be born 36hrs later to be in the year below!! Any how I sent both to school in their correct years. For one it was definitely the right thing to do. He's now finishing A Levels (or rather not now they've been cancelled) and is going to take a year out. As I put it he's having his extra year now instead of staying in nursery an extra year. The other ds I REALLY wish I'd kept back. He's currently in yr9 and he is able enough but I can see that some of the things he's struggles with are probably down to maturity &that extra year would have really helped!! I also have a June born DD and she would have hated being kept back and was more ready than my Nov born ds who I took out of school at the end of reception to home educate for a year or two. In short trust your instincts about your own child and don't be swayed by others!!

Primary teacher here.
I have three children and only one of them would have been ok to go into reception at just 4.
I’d definitely defer.

I'm thinking I'll do the same with mid August DD (who was 5 weeks premature and by due date should have been in the year below!) Before coronavirus we'd decided she was ready to start in September, but missing out on another 5 months of her (wonderful) preschool, and then possibly having a stop start reception year... It's seeming a bit of a no brainer now to defer her so she can do the preschool year again and hopefully this really will all be behind us by the following September and she can have a smooth start in Reception then.

I would check your local authority guidance on when you need to make an application to defer. If you look at DfE guidance then the recommendation is that parents have chosen to defer before National offer day. This is to stop parents having 'two bites of the cherry' if they don't get allocated the school they want for their summer born child the first time. Deferral involves reapplication for 2021 and the offer of the school may be different.

@OneOfManyDays I'm a Year One teacher. I think the issue with skipping Reception is that the children learn through play and social interactions. They also start to learn the first three phases of phonics. It's a bit of a shock to jump straight into Year One. There's still play elements in the first term, but then the classroom gradually becomes more formal. You can defer a year, but your child will be older than the rest of their class mates. It's up to you to consider the options.

I totally understand your worries that your summer born child isn't quite ready. In my personal experience, I was a summer born baby (late May) and my brother was born late July. We could both read and write (better than the older children) thanks to our parents. However, we were a lot more mischievous and distracted than the older children . One of my friends was born 31st August at 11.30pm! None of us struggled academically. Birth month doesn't really affect a child's achievement as they get older and older, but it can do at such a young age. A super long post, but it's definitely worth discussing this with potential schools! Best of luck x

I can foresee, with the current lack of nursery education, there won’t be any summer born children at all in 2021. They will all defer. What happens then?

That’s an interesting point bubbles, especially given that summerborns only get 3 terms of preschool free. Maybe this years reception cohort will be very quiet and next years oversubscribed.

They don't all even out by year 3. The research shows that educationally and in sport, people who are old in their school year do better and that the bias continues all the way to University. No amount of anecdotes of bright summer burns changes that. The real question is whether your child will be able to start reception a year later though as she will still be the youngest in her year group.

I’m not sure when the deadline is to defer for September. I think a lot of parents will do it if they can. Same for next year if loss of current nursery provision rolls forward and parents remain concerned. Spring term DC will be the new youngest!

The process may vary according to your LA, but is supposed to take place during the application cycle for your child’s usual cohort. The FB group ‘flexible admissions for summerborns’ is a wealth of knowledge on how to proceed.

I’m a teacher and a lot of schools still do January intake? Is that an option?

Some schools do deferred entry straight to Y1 which can highlight the differences even more imo.

Good luck

I have been wondering about this for my August born dc.
If you defer in the UK does your child start reception as the oldest or go straight to year 1 as the youngest?

You should definitely check how it works, where I am if you defer then you go straight into year one so a whole school year missed. They learn so much in reception.

That’s the whole debate BingsDracSula! It can be either, arguably going straight into Y1 is not going to beneficial for many kids, but schools can be reluctant to give agreement for kids to start reception late.

I’ve copied this text for you from my local council website -

Parents of children who are born in the summer term can request that their admission into the reception or foundation class of a school is delayed from the September after their fourth birthday to the September after their fifth birthday. This is different to deferred admission, which is an option for parents of all children, and is where a child’s admission to the reception or foundation class can be put off until the start of the term following their fifth birthday. This is only possible within the child’s normal admission year – the academic year during which they have their fifth birthday.

Children born between 1 September and 31 March, have a legal right to defer admission to reception to the start of the term after the 5th birthday (that’s January or Easter).

Summer-born children (born from 1 April to 31 August) can defer until January or Easter or to the next September with a fresh application for year 1 or for delayed admission to reception.