Question about deferring entry to reception

[geojojo]

Asking on behalf of my friend: my friend's daughter is due to start reception in September. She was recently offered for first choice of school. However because her daughter was born in late August and because she will miss over a term of pre school she wants to defer her place to start reception at the school in September 2021. She has contacted the school and they have given a straight no. What are her options now? She really doesn't want to send her daughter in September but does she have to to retain her place? Thanks

If this is a maintain school not a private school, then there are clear guidelines as to how schools should handle this, most of which end up with the parent usually being able to either defer a place to say Christmas or until September 2021. At this time I would have thought this was even more necessary to give it due consideration.
At present the one thing not to do is to decline the offered place, I would definitely accept the place. Then you need to go back to the school and the LA and make the request again, as they simply cannot just say no, without giving it appropriate due consideration.

Normally this would have been discussed before applying. The dc does not have to start in September, as long as she does before end of summer term. That way she keeps the space at chosen school. If she decides not to take up the place the child needs to be in ft education by September 2021 but that may mean she forfeits the place at her first choice and reapplies for Reception (assuming that is agreed) or makes an in year application for Year 1 , missing Reception and at whatever school has a vacancy. Missing a term of preschool would probably be less disadvantageous than the latter. Unless homeschooling is an option?

They don't keep the place , you have to re apply then unlikely you will get the school you want .. it's a daft idea .. the child will be fine starting with the others, friendships etc are all set when they start and often carry on throughout the year .

Thank you. I think it had always been in the back of her mind but thought her daughter would develop socially more than she has and now she seems to be completely set on it. She knows she should have discussed it before but I think she thought the school would be more willing to discuss. The have simply said no as they don't believe it benefits the child.

You cannot defer a place, you decline it and reapply the following year, no guarantee that she'll get a place

Oh really, she definitely thinks you can so will let her know

She wouldn't be able to go into Reception in 2021, she would go into Y1

She cannot hold the place over. The school is correct in saying that is not possible.

She can seek permission to apply again for next September, and maybe she'll be able to apply to Reception for 2021. They cannot give a blanket 'no' and must consider each request on its merits. They do not however have to say yes, in which case she would need to apply for a Year 1 place in 2021. And may well not get currently offered school as it will be full (the reception place, if they relinquish it now, will be immediately reallocated). Also, what other choices would she be thinking of putting on 2021 application form, and would all those schools accept an out-of-cohort pupil?

However because her daughter was born in late August and because she will miss over a term of pre school she wants to defer her place to start reception at the school in September 2021.

That’s not what deferring is. She would go straight into year 1 in September 2021 and have missed reception. I think most people who defer send their children to school after Christmas or Easter to avoid missing the whole reception year - and also to not have to reapply for a school place because it’s the same academic year.

Parents of summer borns do have an absolute right to delay school entry by a year, but not an automatic right to then go into Year R. You absolutely can wait a year and go into Reception a year late, but as others have said, you're not keeping the same place that you've been offered now, you have to reapply next year. In order to apply for Reception rather than Year 1, you need to seek the support of each of the schools you want to apply for. Normally you would have done this months ago, in advance of applying for Reception in the 'normal' year, to give the schools time to consider the request before the offers come out. Your friend can certainly still submit this request - I'm not surprised the schools are reluctant to consider this now (both because it's very late in the day, plus the schools are shut), but they do still need to consider it. If the school says no, your friend could still appeal to the LA (if it's an LA school), or even the Ombudsman. The school would then have to show that the child would be better going straight into Year 1 instead of Year R.

A lot of the information above is not correct. I delayed my twins starting school. They did not go straight into year one, they started in reception. You will lose your Reception place though so it will mean applying again next year. Your local authority and the schools in question will have to agree to the delayed start but if not, they need to put in writing why they feel it's in the best interests of your child that they start this year.
Your best bet is to start with Flexible School Admissions for Summer borns. They have a Facebook page and there is a wealth of information and up to date guidelines to help on what you need to do. That way you can argue your case with facts and the law which often the council and schools are not aware of. Good luck.

This maybe totally irrelevant, but just in case. If the child was premature, Bliss, the premature baby charity can help.

There are two different terms in use here.
To defer school entry means that the child starts school later than September, but still joins their own cohort at some point. E.g. starting after Christmas, after Easter, or missing year R and starting in Year 1 the following September.
To delay school entry means starting school a year later and joining the year below, i.e. starting in Year R and staying with that cohort throughout their school career.

There is a group on Facebook called Flexible School Admissions for Summer Borns. Plenty of good advice there.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/838983/Summer_born_admissions_advice_Dec_2014.pdf

These are the current regulations from the DfE

Each local authority will also publish details about deferring or delaying reception places.

There is a lot of incorrect information being provided on this thread.
The facebook group mentioned a few posts back for summer born children is the place to go for helpful information.

Legally she can:

• accept the place, but tell the school she intends to start DD later in the school year e.g. to start Jan 2021 (defer)
• (ultimately) reject the place and reapply from scratch for Sept 2021 (delay).

If delaying, the onus is on the school to justify the benefits of entry to Y1 rather than R.

The FB group mentioned is very useful: geography sadly plays a key part in how easy/possible the summerborn delaying process is.

There is a lot of incorrect information being provided on this thread.
The facebook group mentioned a few posts back for summer born children is the place to go for helpful information.

This. Ultimately you can't keep your reception place and take it up a year later. You have to give up your place and apply again next year asking for delayed entry to reception - if they accept your request for delayed entry then you apply as any other child applying fora reception place. If you get denied delayed entry to reception then you have to go straight to Y1 and apply as an in year candidate. Obviously that's a big risk which is why most people make their application to delay entry before giving up their place in their expected cohort.