Shall I try to delay DD starting school?

[ThirdElephant]

DD is a summer-born 3 year old and I've got to apply for her school place by January. What I'm not sure of is whether to put her in her normal cohort or apply to delay her a year (so she'd start reception a year later at just-turned five rather than just-turned four). They do this pretty commonly in Scotland but it's not as usual in England and can be difficult to get agreed, though it is becoming more common and the government have promised to make it a parental right to delay and to keep them with their adopted cohort (though they're taking their sweet time about it!) DD was not premature and has no SEND. Academically she is fairly able, but socially I would say she's noticeably behind the older kids in her year and she often gravitates towards those younger than her. I asked if she would like to go to big school with children X, Y and Z or stay at playgroup with children A, B and C and she said she'd prefer playgroup.

The research says that summer borns are 30% more likely to suffer depression as teens/adults than their older peers, which is a large part of the reason I am considering the delay, but the unknown of going against the tide a bit scares me.

Any words of wisdom? WWYD?

because baring SEN they'll largely learn what they're taught

It's "barring", not "baring", in this context.

Anyway... your post completely contradicts the rather large literature on child development. Care to post your evidence for this enormous claim you've made which is the opposite of the findings of the academics working in this field, and the empirical data on outcomes from the longitudinal studies?

The absolute irony that she is in FT childcare either way!

Your primary set up sounds a lot more flexible than many. I only have the experience of secondary school students who have been delayed and they universally hate it.

Surely there are too many different factors at play to suggest a one size fits all yes-you-should / no-you-shouldn’t defer them approach. If a summer born kid has been at nursery and is thriving there, then the move to reception which actually has shorter days than most private nurseries shouldn’t be a huge jump. Conversely if a September born has never been in a formal childcare setting then they would struggle with starting school despite being the oldest.

Anecdotally we randomly have a fair few august borns in both mine and DH’s family, all pretty successful adults who you wouldn’t know had been the youngest in their school year. Sumner borns may lag behind at certain points in their school career but in the long run does that really matter? I’d be more concerned about them missing the reception year if they had to start in year 1, and as previous posters have pointed out some LEAs might insist they join their original cohort at secondary and miss out year 7. Which would be a much bigger problem as the leap from year 6 to year 7 is huge and imagine going from year 6 straight to year 8!

"I’d be more concerned about them missing the reception year if they had to start in year 1, and as previous posters have pointed out some LEAs might insist they join their original cohort at secondary and miss out year 7. Which would be a much bigger problem as the leap from year 6 to year 7 is huge and imagine going from year 6 straight to year 8!"

I didn't realise this happened in England! I'm in Scotland and those who defer entry into the first year of primary school will usually stay with same group all the way through until leaving. Such different systems.

@Hercisback

The absolute irony that she is in FT childcare either way!

Your primary set up sounds a lot more flexible than many. I only have the experience of secondary school students who have been delayed and they universally hate it.

She's not actually, she's entitled to the 30 hours but in reality only does three mornings and one full day a week (I'd put her in for longer tbh, but that's the maximum the playgroup allows).

Sorry, should have made it clear.

*mornings, she's in 9-12. Her full day is 9.-3.

@containsnuts

"I’d be more concerned about them missing the reception year if they had to start in year 1, and as previous posters have pointed out some LEAs might insist they join their original cohort at secondary and miss out year 7. Which would be a much bigger problem as the leap from year 6 to year 7 is huge and imagine going from year 6 straight to year 8!"

I didn't realise this happened in England! I'm in Scotland and those who defer entry into the first year of primary school will usually stay with same group all the way through until leaving. Such different systems.

Same in England effectively now. Some LAs are being pointlessly obstructive but that's not in line with the polkcy documents or DfE guidance so they get taken to tribunal and lose, then update their policies and stop making it an obstacle course.

One must remember that the very first summerborns to whom the updated admissions and transition guidance appled are only now trickling into secondary schools. So at the moment many secondary heads are oblivious to the data and legal criteria for the decision, or are "set in their ways". However, when challenged with the legal position they back off pretty fast!

Apologies I have not read TFT, but in case not previously mentioned, worth clarifying the procedure in your area if you decide to defer. Where I am, you have to apply first in regular year, but speak to all schools you are putting down on list to see if they accept deferrals. Then you then need to apply again in the following year. This means you are subject to the deferred year’s allocation. This could mean that if there are more applicants in the deferred year you may miss out on a place that you might have been offered in the original year. I know this has influenced people’s decisions where I am where the distance of last place offered can be small. Ie people who had planned to defer but then got into their first choice unexpectedly in the original allocation. They then didn’t want to risk not getting offered that school the year following. May not be relevant to you/your area. But for some people I know they put banking a place in their preferred school over trying again the next year for a deferred place and risk not getting that place. They would have probably preferred a guaranteed deferred place in their top choice but that’s not how it works (where I live at least).

@Pl242

Thank you for this. It's not a concern for us- the school we want isn't oversubscribed and we're very close to it, but it was definitely a good idea to point it out.