Should my summer born boy start school a year later?

[PaleGreenAndBrightOrange]

Hi all,

DS is a June boy. I know that summer boys have some poorer outcomes than their peers born at other times of year and that they never really catch up. I also know there are lots of exceptions and not all summer babies struggle. I was an august baby and did not struggle at school.

But another thread has really made me think about this for the first time. I have no reason to think that DS is going to struggle at school, but I have noticed that his friends in his school year born in sept/oct are bigger, more physically well developed, better at drawing etc (as you’d expect, with them being nearly 4 years old to his nearly 3) and I’m wondering if I should consider holding him back. I’m worried he might decide he’s bad at school because he finds things harder than his peers. I know the impact that low educational self esteem has on behaviour, attainment and future quality of life.

I honestly have no clue if he’s average, above or below normal development for his age which would help inform me. If I had to guess I’d say he seems bright, but I don’t really have a reference point. The only other thing is that nursery have commented that his speech is well developed for his age. Other than that, no idea.

What are your experiences/opinions on this?

Thanks!

My very late summer born was behind when they started but that was to be expected. Schools have years of experience of dealing with summer born children and of children who aren't summer born but aren't as mature physically or academically. Children are all different. In my experience my child caught up with their peers and did very well at school. Unless a child is born very prematurely or has SEN I personally can't see any good reason to defer entry

I wouldn't.

My autistic, august born 3 year old started school nursery last sept none verbal and very behind developmentally.

He's come on massively and will be starting reception just turned 4 this September.

Holding them back, IMHO, doesn't help but makes the gap bigger.

I have an August born boy but he was born very premature and has a rare medical condition which can affect development. I am looking to defer him as he has a significant speech delay.

The difficulty with many/most of the August children deferring is that the July children then become the young ones .... then the June ones.

I think on balance that it's generally better only to have a year between the oldest and the youngest in a class rather than that potentially creep to 14 months and possibly more. There are a small number of cases which are exceptional - a premature baby born at 29 weeks on 31st August being the most obvious one. As a general rule though I think it's better to have a standardised year group.

I heard an interesting Radio 4 programme a few years ago in this and they said they didn't have enough data to tell whether it was the age difference or the fact that the younger ones had had less school (it's only fairly recently that schools don't more routinely offer different start terms). They also only ever compare the September children against the August ones ..... not the February ones against the May ones.

When I was at school (a long time ago!), it worked the other way round and more routinely people were put up a year. They kept stretching the point so in my year there was almost 2 years between the August wrong year (older) and the June wrong year (younger).

If in fact the general view is that we should have different children in a school year (say that the youngest on a school year is born on 30th April and the oldest on 1st May) I think that would be a better discussion.

Have you spoken to the LEA in your area to see what their stance on on deferring?

Ours was yes you can defer, but your child will have to go straight into Y1; no option to defer and join reception a year later. Some areas are better than other (I am Essex)

I have May and August boys, my August 2nd born is a whizz at school, so my fears were for nothing in the end.

I think maybe put them in, they might suprise you. A friend of mine has a very late August girl with some delays, but she's come on leaps and bounds.

Conversely my youngest will be nigh on 5 when he starts this September (November born) and he's tiny for his age. Hates drawing, compared to others he's nowhere near them. He's very good at other things, Lego and reading etc, but physically, bit lazy tbh!

Firstly, if you defer your child for a year, you are not holding them back. You are giving them an extra year learning through play.
I have deferred my ds. He will turn 5 at the end of August and start reception in September. I didn't do it for academics, I did it for emotional maturity and self confidence. He hasn't yet started school but I can already see how this extra year in nursery has benefited him.
Check out the Facebook group Flexible Summer born. A mountain of information and knowledge.
The process to defer will depend where you live.

I think a June baby with no obvious SEN should start school with their correct cohort. It’s really only worth considering for August babies who are lower in their academic ability, otherwise it just distorts year groups entirely.

From working in a primary school, I know that it’s does not automatically follow that the summer borns are at the bottom of the class and the higher abilities are the oldest children. There can be an impact socially for children that are the youngest, but it evens out quickly and it’s unlikely that there would only be one summer born in a year group anyway, especially if we’re considering this for children who are a whole three months away from the cut off date.

It’s worth remembering that your child struggling at school is not the only potential issue worth considering. There are plenty of good schools that don’t provide as well as they possibly could for the most physically or academically able children who need more challenge or a faster pace of learning. If your child turns out to be particularly bright, you could end up with the opposite problem to the one you’re worried about.

Unless your child is severely delayed in their development you shouldn't hold them back a year. I can't imagine many local authorities would allow this anyway.
Your child will never be able to accelerate and catch up with their true cohort if you good them back, but they could always repeat a year of they needed to later down the line.

Getting the very basics of communication right in a purely play focused preschool setting will really see some children flourish.

I can also see that going into P1 would also help encourage speech too. Ah such a difficult decision isn't it 😬😩

The problem with not deferring is that those with delayed speech would suffer if it didn't work out in P1. You can't go back in time once they're in the system. Tricky one.

I find myself thinking about my son and three of his good friends. In order, their birthdays are September, July, end August, and ? December or maybe later. So the youngest is in the year below the other three, but the eldest in the group is significantly older than the other three. They've known each other since year 3/4 (but now teens), and I don't think you would have easily picked them in age order at any point. The oldest one was always fairly small, my DS (july) was tall as was the August lad, until my DS grew early ... Ability wise they all kept up with each other (all went on to senior school scholarships).

Yes we had some maturity related issues in the first couple of years with DS, but we might have had boredom related issues had he been kept back and indeed sometimes his more immature behaviour might have been overlooked more easily if adults had been able to remember he was one of the youngest in the class rather than the oldest as he looked!

OP, it's hard needing to make a decision when your child is barely 3.5, but they do develop a lot between 3 and 4. You are looking at the difference between nearly 3 and nearly 4 now, and thinking, it's huge. But in a year's time nearly 4 and nearly 5 probably won't seem as far apart.

My daughter is almost the youngest in the class and she’s doing very well. She’d be bored to tears in the class below.
I was born prematurely in August and did well at school, went to Oxbridge etc. Sometimes it’s not bad to be stretched.

OP does your son go to nursery or a childminder?

As you should have a conversation with them on his development as they should tell you if he's ready for school. Lots of early years providers work hard to get children ready for school.

There are always going to be the youngest in the class whenever they start school.
My middle son is a July baby and he was absolutely fine . In fact all the younger boys in his class all did really well at 11plus and went to grammar school.

I have 2 boys, the eldest is October born so was almost 5 starting reception and although he is quite bright and very mature in many ways, he absolutely would have struggled to start school any earlier than he did Not academically probably, but certainly emotionally.

My youngest is August born and is just coming to the end of reception. He has thrived at school, is 'exceeding' in all areas, confident, keen to learn, making friends easily and the teachers say he is one of the most mature boys in the class.

So I guess what I am saying is that they are all different and you can only judge based on the individual child!

I was open to the idea of deferring my summer born as I was really worried about it when he was a baby but I can't imagine now him not having started when he did!

I personally don’t think June is young enough to consider holding back a year, unless there is obvious SEN. If all children in the last few months of the school year went into the year below, the May born children would just end up being the youngest in class!

Ours was yes you can defer, but your child will have to go straight into Y1; no option to defer and join reception a year later. Some areas are better than other (I am Essex)

This is an incorrect application of the guidance. Each case must be decided on its own merits and councils cannot have blanket policies about referrals.

OP as others have said, its a very personal decision.

I do however think that school is just one part of it - as a pp has said, as they get older and get more involved with sports / activities out of school, age is relevant. Football / netball / hockey teams are all say U10s (Under 10s), U15s (Under 15s etc) so your DS wouldn't be allowed to play (in competitive matches) with his school friends - he'd be too old. With sporty children here, that would have been a disaster!

2 of my children have both had friends that were born on 31 August - one just a few minutes before midnight, if he'd have been born 10 minutes later, he'd have gone to school a whole year later. Both have done very well academically (getting into very competitive grammar schools).

I have never heard of anyone who regrets starting their summerborn child in reception at CSA.
I have seen many accounts of parents of summerborn children who regret sending their child to school at just-turned 4, and who then want them to repeat reception (a lot more difficult than starting at CSA for numerous reasons).

My son is about to turn 5 in June and will be going into reception in September. He is bright and articulate, but this time last year he was simply not emotionally ready for school. Yes, he probably would have coped, but I wanted him to thrive not just cope. The "extra" (not really extra though, it's simply comparable to an autumn-born child) year at preschool has been such a gift, he has had time to develop and now he is so excited to start school. Last year he just didn't understand and I was filled with dread at the idea, this year I am just so excited for him.

It's such a personal choice though and only you can make the decision for your child. Every child is different. But I don't believe a child needs to be delayed or have SEN for more time to be beneficial for them. I personally cannot see a downside to it myself.
Also worth considering that it's not just reception where a child might struggle, often it is the transition into Year 1 and beyond where the gap widens.

I wish I did.
Mine is a July baby .
My birthday is the the very end of August .

It really makes a difference.

End of august boy now in year 8, done very well. Not found him disadvantaged.

@PaleGreenAndBrightOrange

The process to request reception start at CSA (or admission outside of normal age group) will depend where you love. You should look on your LAs school website. It will also depend on the type of school/s you are planning on applying for (some are there own admission authority and some are controlled by the council). Also different areas are more permissive than others. Some are very difficult, some are an automatic yes (for schools with admission controlled by the council at least).

Also you don't want to "defer" this means to start later in the same academic year. You are wanting your child to start reception at CSA (or delay). A lot of Local Authorities and schools get this wrong too, but defer is not the right word.

So many typos, sorry!

It's not necessarily now that it makes the difference, it's second level. Socially, you're giving your child an extra year of childhood. You won't regret it.

I'm late May and wish my parents had that option 40 years ago! Academically I didn't struggle, in fact now have a PHD in Education. But socially I wish I'd had an extra year of being a kid.

Raising my own very young children in ROI where you simply decide for your own child. It doesn't seem to hold the irish back! Quite the opposite, in fact! Lovely primary level education system here, and I waited a year before sending my June born DD.