Do they HAVE to start school the term before they are five?

[UniversallyChallenged]

ds is 5 in Jan. I would prefer him to stay in preschool till December, even tho he should start half days in September.

Does he have to start in September does anyone know? Have tried to look on schools web but cant find the info i need.

By law, not till he is 5. But you may lose the place in Reception if you wait - they are under no obligation to keep it open.

As Feenie says, this is the problem - but it's certainly worth asking the school if they will keep the place open for you until January.

You also need to bear in mind that if everyone else starts in Sept, friendships will have been made by January so your DS (and you) may need to make a bit more of an effort to make friends.

A lot of the easing into school life happens in that first term, too, the culture of what it's like to be at school. I'd be nervous about my child missing out on that. The teachers will assume the child 'knows' a lot of that stuff by January.

Thanks Feenie and Bramshott, will ring the school and see what they recommend

Feenie - my mother, who is a state school head, has been told by her LEA that she has to keep to place open for someone who wishes to defer entry.

oh and lljkk! Some good points there.

btw - at his preschool some children are there in their uniforms. Do you still get the 5 free sessions even if they are half days at school? It's just his brother is a year younger and disabled so i want him with him as long as poss - over protective mummy that i am . Not that he overly looks after him may i say - they fight like cat and dog

he wouldn't get his free session because that is used is pay for the school.

The preschool and the school won't both be able to claim for free sessions -- You'll have to pay for one of them.

Thanks Cazzybabs and lljkk

the term after they turn five. if i had a late summer baby then i think i would have considered holding back. dd turns 5 this month and is well suited for the school environment. she has got on fine

Interesting, cazzybabs - in that case there may be diff rules for diff LEAs, as at ours we definitely don't. Our school doesn't have its own nursery, however.

If it's a state school, they won't be claiming any of the free sessions though so you might still be able to claim them at pre-school. However, I have a feeling there's something in the wording of the free sessions form that they are for children "who are not attending an LEA primary school" or something.

Actually not until after Easter legally , but as he'll be on the older side it might help to go in September to give him a chance to ease in before real learning starts and the class fills out with the younger ones(if they have more than one intake).