August born child - starting school at 4 or 5?

[August21yellowbaby]

My son was born in august. Meaning when he starts school he will only JUST of turned 4. Whilst some of his class mates could be close to turning 6

I feel quite strongly about not sending him to school until he is 5 but my questions are

How hard is it to defer ?

Will there be any negatives of holding him back a year?

I don't want him to miss reception but I know on gov website it states they won't miss reception they will just start reception the next year

And will it affect when I do his high school application?

Hoping someone with experience can fill me in 😊

It doesn't happen in England.

It wasn’t really an option to defer school entry back in the day but my summer born son was totally ready for school - he really thrived with the structure and adapting to the new skills required. It made his somewhat challenging behaviour at home calm down. The flip side is that he was always the smallest and his self esteem really suffered because he wasn’t able to compete with autumn born children in sports which socially is a big thing. He’s now in year 9 and he’s very ‘young’ and still plays with Lego whilst his classmates are vaping behind the sheds 😂 Socially he would definitely have benefitted (and I think preferred to be one of the older ones in the year).
If I had my time again I would have deferred him.

Your friend is mistaken, unless your friend lives outside England, Scotland and Ireland.

My DS2 is a younger sibling and was ready for school by the time term began, though he'd only turned 4 a month earlier. I wavered about deferring but I'm so glad we didn't. He's quite able to keep up, he's one of 6 August babies in the class. Yes there will be the autumn born whizz kids who are operating at a level that makes you feel inadequate, but frankly that would be the case if your child was born in anything from March onwards. If your child is physically ready (e.g. toilet trained) and doesn't have an obvious SN I wouldn't defer.

Differences are still evident between Autumn and Summer born in A level results.

How easy it is defer depends your lea and local schools.

This just doesn’t happen in England.

My ds started at 4 and three weeks. Every time we'd passed the primary school in the previous year, he'd looked at me and said 'Mummy, why can't I go too?'

He loved it, couldn't wait to start. How does your little one feel about it? Do you think it will suit him? Is he very curious?

The only issue mine had, was he was very tired for the first few weeks. Otherwise it was a total success. 🙂

I deferred my August-born son’s start and I sent him to school just after his fifth birthday instead of just after his fourth and it was a very easy process.

He went straight into reception shortly after turning five and has done really well. He’s now just started Year 1 a few weeks after his 6th birthday.

Please do PM if you want any more specific details 👍

Yeah….this isn’t true at all.

So what about September born bought children? Are they all bored? August borns are a few weeks older maximum than those born in September. There are so many other benefits than just educational ones, it's about giving them time to develop socially and emotionally too. That whole extra year can make such a positive difference

My child is youngest in the year. Was so ready for school so chose not to defer. Has excelled each school year. Glad I didn't pay the extra year in nursery fees! It will depend on the child I think.

Mine was born on the 31st August. Started school at 4. He did well at GCSEs very well at A level and is now in university.

Please please pleeeeease defer! I was born August 30th and whilst I never struggled with the work, I struggled massively socially. Especially at high school. I was NOT ready!

None of his classmates will be close to turning 6 . When they start they will all be at least a year before they turn 6.

I wouldn't because I'm an august birthday and I would have been angry at my parents delaying me finishing education by a year. By age 20 I had graduated from a top university. Obviously if there was significant prematurity or delays then that's a different situation (though I was 5 weeks early)!

My dp is also august, also top university ... honestly people overthink this, you catch up!

We sent our August born daughter into reception just after her fourth birthday, because she seemed ready.

She initially coped fine in reception and was performing really well, started falling back at the end of year 1 and is now struggling to keep up with the formality of learning in year 2 (much less play based learning).

Personally, I’m wishing we’d kept he back so she could have found writing easier as that’s now seeming to hold her back in other areas. An extra year for physical development and pencil control would have made a difference I think.

Our super confident end of August ds1 started school a week after turning 4. Yes he wasn’t as academic as some classmates on day 1 but he was (and still is) the most sociable member of the class and you wouldn’t know he’s one of the youngest now as he’s starting high school.
However, in ds2 class there is a little one who deferred so he turned 5 the week before he started. He struggles socially and would clearly have struggled if he had started in his true academic year.
It will completely depend on your own child.

My late July baby went in at 4! He was so ready for it though and it's done him he world of good! He was bored at nursery and they all got excited about starting school together

My summer born started at just turned 4 and struggled a bit in reception but caught up in year 1 and just kept going, now he's just started at grammar school and is doing well. Conversely my autumn born was so bored the last year of nursery. Although she does have SEN so I am glad she doesn't have the double whammy of that and being the youngest, even though being the eldest hid her issues for a long time.

This isn’t correct - in fact, once accepted into Year R at CSA, all government guidance documents and especially the work of Baroness Barron states that the child should stay with their adopted cohort unless there is clear benefit to them skipping a year at some point - but, above all else, it must be in the child’s best interests!!

I think it very much depends on the child's personality more than age..
You can get children who are at the older end and still struggle settling, or ones who are at the younger end and adapt fine.
If they are more of shy/ dependent/ emotionally sensitive and high needs child maybe best to defer.
If they are resilient, confident, independent and have strong social skills, they might well be fine.
You know your child best.

In practical terms though, how do you know if your child who is only 3 when you apply is going to be ready for school in 6 or 8 months . Especially if it is your first child and you've no point of reference.

Is it too much of a generalisation to say that later is better for most kids? The only downside I see of waiting is a financial one.

I don't buy the "bored at nursery" argument as nursery is mostly play based, child led and fun!

How is he academically? Mine is Aug born and started school just after she turned 4, she was ready for school, was enjoying the learning at nursery and doing very well, plus all her friends were starting so we didn't want her stuck in nursery on her own.
She's in y3 now and we've just had parents evening, she got a glowing report, ahead in most things, in particular maths and reading.
Glad we didn't defer as i think she would have been bored.

@Focalpoint The change happened due to parental choice. The compulsory school starting age has been the same (4-6) for donkeys years.

As far as I'm aware it coincided with the introduction of the 2 free preschool years. I think that the later start is a positive thing though. 5 is the perfect age in my opinion, mine are born in October and November so they'll be a bit younger but I don't want them starting at almost 6 either so it's tricky. I did my leaving cert at barely 17 and filled out my CAO form at 16, in retrospect it was too young for me.

My twins are late august born and turned 4 exactly 2 weeks before what should have been the first day of Year R for them this September; we delayed them purely because they were born “out of year” by being premature and should start next year if born when due!

One of them is bright and chatty but, watch him try to concentrate on anything and he has the attention span of a gnat and gets frustrated that he can’t do things; he gets incredibly emotional at the slightest thing and struggles with 2 1/2 days a week at preschool - he would never cope with 5 days; he also can’t dress himself, do zips or buttons, cut his own food or wipe his bottom after a poo. His brother, while quieter and more measured in mood, is very sensitive and find boisterous children ‘too much’ for him - he’s currently struggling with how a particularly confident 2 year old at nursery is towards him as she’s too rough. He also can’t cut food up, can dress himself but struggles with fastenings and doing his socks.

We approached 4 schools to get their agreement (not permission unless they’re academies and their own admissions authority) that, if allocated a place at the school, they would start in Year R not Y1. All 4 head’s agreed without persuasion and, in 2 cases said I had obviously looked into it and made an informed decision; another said he, as a parent, had considered delaying their summer born child but, instead chose a small independent school. The other head went away and did some research before answering - and said this was so he could understand the long term impact on the twins.

The biggest thing for me was I didn’t want my boys “coping” or “managing” or “getting by” throughout their education. I want them to enjoy learning and growing rather than scraping by and not achieving their full potential.