Should I delay my daughter's school start date?

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Help!!
I'm feeling desperately overwhelmed at the prospect of my daughter starting school this September when she turns 4 in August 31st.
I was hoping for people's pros and cons, personal experiences and in particular those with August babies of all years. Primarily I want to defer and her start reception next year, not go straight into year 1
I'm not worried about reception, but the longer term. She is so small, still wears age 2 clothes and is academically very bright but I worry about her emotionally being a year younger than her peers particularly into secondary school.

It has only been possible since around 2015 so those kids would be going into y5 or y6

This is not true. It has always been possible to place DC outside their age cohort.

All that changed was that councils were banned from having a blanket policy, and were required to consider all requests individually

Judge your child not the averages.

My DD is early August. Went to school nursery age 3 and reception age 4. Held her own confidently in the class, won races at sports day against children a foot taller than her. Quite bossy personality, confident and physically capable despite looking very slight (but is pure muscle so weighs more and is stronger than she looks). I am very glad she wasn't overdue as that would have bumped her into the year above where she would have been a cocky nightmare.

Relocation happened and we're now in Scotland so she did P1 as a mid year birthday. She's working with the year above academically (mixed class) but probably not socially.

Having had the Scottish experience with her being mid year I don't like the English start date and lack of flexibility - but I maintain the opinion that she'd be horrible if she was the oldest. She's cocky enough near the top of her composite class academically despite being at least 10 months younger than the oldest that being the oldest would be less than ideal...

DS is November so will probably be around the youngest when he starts (technically cut off is February for and August start but Jan and Feb can defer without any questions (and get full nursery funding) and many December boys defer too. We almost certainly won't defer him as he's physically strong and co-ordinated and at nearly 3 is way ahead of where his sister is as he was listening to all of her lockdown learning. He recognises most letters and numbers thanks to big sis deciding to teach him!

I have been having the same dilemma - my son has a late August birthday and is due to start school this September. I was leaning towards deferment, largely because I preferred the idea of him being at an ADvantage rather than at a DISADvantage, not because I had any specific concerns; the school said they'd support my choice and he could join the reception class in the following year, assuming there was space. They did warn me that he may have to skip a year when he went to secondary school. I assumed they were making this up to put me off (my understanding is that most schools don't really like deferment) but I checked at the secondary school I work at and they confirmed that, as things currently stand, if he were to join my school he would have to start in year 8. Something to do with funding and exams which means a lot of heads are very reluctant at secondary level to have students out of their 'proper' year cohort.

I personally think this would be terrible and, whilst I know things can change, and other schools/heads might take a different stance, it's absolutely a risk I don't want to take. So it's made my mind up - no deferment for us! He'll be starting in a few weeks at the grand old age of 4 and 2 weeks!

Both my children are summer babies and apart from the obvious gap at the start, you wouldn't notice a jot of difference going up through the school. In fact my 2 are both the most academically gifted in their classes and before the end of reception had passed through the various reading bands. Personally I didn't care about this, it was actually a huge surprise, but goes to show that it's often a lot of worry over nothing. There's a lot to be said in cliches such as 'there will be more to worry about when they're a teenager' etc etc.

I’d defer. I’ve nannied for a child who was end of august and was tiny. Completely regressed in toilet training (despite being trained since 2.5) in reception and the differences emotionally are still very apparent in year 6. I know life would of been easier for her a year later :(

Thank goodness you checked shining! Missing yr7 and starting secondary in y8 would be awful and definitely a disadvantage that would have far more impact than being a bit younger than other people!

My Dd is 1st September. She’s very bright and back when she turned 4 I felt bad for her missing out in going to school by 1 day. She was easily capable. She’s now going into year 4 (will be 9 in 2 weeks) and although she’s doing amazingly academically and would still be reasonably ahead if she was going into year 5, I can see that emotionally she is in the right year. She’s not behind, but she probably would be if she was in the year above.

(Emotionally behind that is)

This is beyond frustrating and it is rather irritating that the system has so many facets that no individual body can follow all the rules at once.

I remember looking into deferment in 2015. Finding out online that it was finally possible but the council, school and nursery being adamant that if I deferred my child would have to start in year 1 instead of nursery the following year. I trusted them. I did not challenge this. They were the experts.
So I didn't. The very next term, following a challenge, the entire system was brought in line with the rest of the country. My daughter missed out.

The head of my daughter's current school has now told me about the y6 to y8 jump which I'm pretty sure is now also hogwash but used to be the case so most councils still operate that way. I won't challenge it as my child wasn't deferred in the end.

This was the path that made me realise I was my child's only advocate. Everyone else is focused on the guidelines and rules as they know it.

I am currently watching my neighbours and friends August children. Teenagers. Yes some are doing well. Most are annoyed they can't be paid as they are not 16 yet whilst the rest of their cohort is. Again most feel they'll never amount to much as they were never really as good as their friends in class.

The system is a mess and hiding it behind the few successes is disingenuous.

August 31st birthday I would
There’s a great Facebook group with advice on different LAs and examples of letters etc you can use
‘Flexible School Admissions for Summer Borna’

Hawkeye- really? I’m august born and I know lots of others, I’ve never met anyone summer born who feels this way! It’s not a disability!

I'd only think about deferring if it meant she didn't skip reception.

If she goes straight into Y1 whilst all of her classmates have done reception she's going to be so behind on things like phonics and the rest of the class will all know each other/have little friends. My child is just going into Y1 (she's an Easter birthday so mid-year) and every single one of her classmates have finished reception being able to read, and they've all been meeting up over the summer having play dates with their friends.

We have two late summer children in DDs class. Both are fine! I am also a late summer child and I had no issues (except for all of my friends turned 18 before me which was annoying because they could go to the pubs and I couldn't!).

I also have a child who will be the oldest in their year group - she will start reception probably on her fifth birthday or within days of it.

I wish I could send her earlier! She'd be fine in the year above but she misses the cut off by days. She's got two years to go in preschool and she will likely be utterly bored by the end of it.

My daughter is end of August and I couldn’t decide if to defer or not. In the end I didn’t and for her that turned out to be the right decision for her (year 3 now) She’s such a hard worker, very mature and is doing so well. I was worried about the social side because she’s always been very quiet, but she would still be the same if in the year below it’s just her personality. My December born son on the other hand is due to start reception and if he was a summer born I would definitely look to defer. He is very young for his age and he has really struggled through nursery. I’m worried about him starting reception and thought about part time to start with but I don’t want to make things worse. It’s so hard to know what to do for the best.

@Sittinginthesand, I know! Thing is, he may well not go to the school I work in but the fact that this is a possibility is enough for me to not take the risk. I fully know that future me would 100% regret deferment if my DS was forced to miss year 7. I honestly think that would be pretty devastating. I'm also fairly confident he'll be OK starting school now... I have no real concerns.

I also have the opposite experience as my older DD is September born and turned 5 at the beginning of her reception year. The difference between them academically is pretty vast - DD could read a little bit and was so much more 'on it' when she started. My son can recognise a few letters, can write his name etc, but is massively not interested. But I also know that my DD is quite socially bored by her classmates - I think she would have been happier from a social point of view to be in the year above.

I'm also an August birthday and didn't feel disadvantaged by it at all. It certainly wasn't a disability by any stretch. I was one of the most able academically throughout school. The worst thing (as mentioned up thread) was to be the last amongst my friends to reach milestone birthdays. And also having a birthday in the summer holiday was annoying - I was very envious of people who had their birthdays at school and were sung to, had presents from teachers, cake in class and could wear big badges to draw attention to themselves. This still affects me now, working in a school. I'm still not over it 😂. (I do realise this last point is irrelevant to the thread...)

There’s some misinformation on here about children having to skip year 7 if they delay entry into reception. This is simply not true!

I’ve linked the full guidance below but in bold is the particular reference - it always has to be in the child’s best interests on a case by case basis, and in most cases it would never be in the child’s best interest to skip an entire school year.

The problem is a lot of local authorities and schools either just don’t like doing out of cohort admissions so misinform parents to try and put them off (which seems to work if this thread is anything to go by), or sometimes the schools aren’t familiar with the guidance. They just need correcting on it with reference to the guidance. Some areas will be more challenging than others but we shouldn’t let that put us off what we feel is best for our child’s entire schooling.

*Admission authorities must consider these requests in the same way as the original request but must also take into account the fact the child has been educated in a different year group up until this point.

For many children, it will be right for them to remain with their adopted year group but it is possible that others may be better off joining their normal year group. All decisions should be made taking the circumstances of the case into account and considering all of the child’s needs, including their social and emotional needs.

Unless there are sound educational reasons to do otherwise, the assumption should be that children remain outside their normal year group (that is, in the year which they have been educated so far).

If it is decided that a child would be better off being with their normal year group, you should ensure you have fully considered the impact of this on their wellbeing.*

www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/admission-of-summer-born-children-advice-for-local-authorities-and-school-admission-authorities#transition-to-junior-middle-or-secondary-school

If you stay put, then the chances of avoiding the year 6 or year 8 skip are reasonably high, and checking on how interplay between CAF and schools which act as their own admissions authority is working in practice.

But if you move, then it's an all bets are off scenario.

Also if you have a DC who might be interested in sport or in other extra-curricular activities, be aware that for those which are arranged by age they might not be able to participate with their year group. This will be barely noticeable at primary age, could become more so with a teenager depending on where their interests and abilities lie

There's a girl in my DDs class who was deferred as she's 31st August so she should be starting year 4 not year 3.

I know the family and their reasons; the mum has a boy about to start year 4 and didn't want two in the same year as he's October born (10 months older) the girl was born at 34 weeks, is fine but physically small and mum didn't want that for her.

The biggest problem for her has been sports and groups. The girl has to enter in the sports team of the year above because 23:59 on 31st August is cut off for entry, so during year 2 when the school entered a local choir competition she had to sing with the Year 3 and 4 Choir not the Year 1 and 2 as she's technically in Year 3.

So it's something to consider.

My DD is June born and I sometimes wish I'd deferred as academically she's very behind but socially she's where she should be so it could be as a result of Covid not anything else. But sometimes I wonder where she'd be academically if I'd deferred.

The HT was against it though and the Secondary school where most of the children go said she'd have had to join Year 8 so I decided against it.

I have 2 summer children one is August I didnt defer any of them. My ds is now In high school and I have no regrets. I was worried at first he would be behind and find it hard to make friends but hes been fine. Hes always been classed as on target academically and his friends are a year older and only slightly above him academically. Yes there have been times hes struggled but has always had the support he needs amd the school did say once he is the youngest and they do take that into consideration and I'm glad I sent him when I did. My dd is above academically but was very shy and I found by not deferring her has helped with that shes made lots of friends and really enjoys school and learning. Each individual is different so go by what you think is best.

My DS2 is an August baby (1st) and I deferred him to the January. He's in med school now.

My DD is end of August birthday and we agonised over this. We decided to send her but I think it totally comes down to the child. DD matured hugely in the first term of reception and has absolutely thrived at school. She is doing well both socially and academically and is about to start Y3 now. So thankfully it worked out OK for us.

I'm not convinced regarding the PP saying there are absolutely no downsides to deferring. There is a child in the other class in her year group who is an July born that deferred. She has always been head and shoulders taller than the other girls and has always seemed far older than the others, probably not helped by fact the class is apparently heavily weighted with spring and summer born children. She was also so far ahead of the others academically by the time she started school that her mum said the teacher was giving her separate things to do to the rest of the class and taking her out of phonics sessions etc. She regrets deferring her. It's a very hard thing to balance, I'm sure.

I wouldn't hesitate to defer. I say that as the mother of an Aug 31st baby, and an ex teacher. Our 31ster is the oldest in his year now instead of the youngest.

You can only defer with governors approval and if the school is over subscribed by leaving this late you have messed things up for another family. Every parent is nervous about their children starting school. She will be fine. I agree half days would be a disaster - academically and socially. Just go with it.

@Cliff1975

You can only defer with governors approval and if the school is over subscribed by leaving this late you have messed things up for another family. Every parent is nervous about their children starting school. She will be fine. I agree half days would be a disaster - academically and socially. Just go with it.

This isn't true. School admission authorities are responsible for deciding whether to admit a child outside their normal age group. They must make this decision in the child’s best interests.

That said, most local authorities are accommodating (you can often find info on their websites) and then the decision is often left to the head teacher's discretion.

So I approached my LA and they agreed my DC could defer. I then approached four schools, two of whom were happy to allow the deferral. I got that in writing and submitted it with DC's admission form the following year.

In the end we didn't need either of the schools because the special school we wanted for DC offered him a place, and the headteacher asked us if we would like him to start in Year R or Year 1. We said Year R and it was sorted.

Info here. Always helps to point out that you know your rights in any correspondence with LA and schools.