Hold child back in Reception

[shellbells12]

My 4yo is in reception. He is an August baby and also has epilepsy. When he began having seizures at 2yo he regressed in his development by 6 months but once medicated he has been thriving, he has been seizure free for 1 year and is learning well, is very social and loves being outdoors. He most definitely is neurodiverse, but is too young for a diagnosis- he gets assessed / checked every 8 months as a result of his epilepsy. We noticed since he started school that he is about 6 months behind where he should be in terms of academic ability. He is just learning to write his name. And can only recognize a handful of letters in the alphabet- he has been in school since he was 3 and is finishing reception in July.
I think if he repeats reception that he will be in a better position to thrive as he gets older in school.
The school have been amazing at providing lots of support for him and are offering to continue that all the way through, but I think he is an August baby, and with his diagnoses that maybe treating him like he is 6 months younger would be better:
my only worry is that he will miss 1-2 friends that are in his class- but we can maintain those friendships outside of school.

I would love to get some advice, has anyone been in this situation? What was the impact on your child?

On average, children born later do better than children born earlier. UK is also pretty unique, the world over, for how early we send children to school. Most other countries leave it to at least 6 years old.

In your situation, I would give the child more time.

Have the school suggested it? The biggest stumbling block is likely to be that all the places for next year have already been allocated.

If the school are willing to do it (pretty unusual from what I have read) then yes I would do that.

Speak to the school, there was a child in my daughters class who was held back a year. She went on to a special high school as never would have managed in mainstream, but I do remeber her mum saying that if she'd have gone onto mainstream high school most schools would have insisted on putting her back in with her peers. There isn't the scope of holding them out of school year in the UK system. So my only hesitation would be if on changing school would he be forced to skip a year at some point. This is probably really important to find out.

@mossylog children born later do better? That’s interesting, I would have thought it was the other way round. Where did you hear/read that?

He won’t be forced to skip a year at some stage, don’t worry about that.

Def let him do reception again. He’s a summerborn baby so many now start the year after as the guidelines allow it and it’s shown to benefit children

I'd also be curious about this, I expect they've reached their PAN through school admissions and allocated places by now.

I think in your situation it would be the best route.

The only time it really becomes an issue is in the teen years and you have one child who develops far far quicker than their peers or when they are suddenly moved back to their original year as school isn't for them and they want to leave asap. I have known both those situations but also several students where going back a year was fantastic for them.

Repeating made a massive difference to my DS. He's Autistic, was very delayed, 18 months behind in most things, couldn't write his name, couldn't reliably count to 10. The extra year and lots of therapy (fine motor, speech, gross motor) and other targeted interventions made a big difference to him. He went from being one of the youngest to one of the oldest, but he's still a bit young for his age and fits in well. I'm really glad we did it, it was right for him. He didn't really have any friends to miss, the first cohort there were actually a couple of nasty boys who made fun of him. He ended up with a much nicer group, heaps of friends, went from being 18 months behind with numbers to working 12 months ahead in a year. His writing is still behind and his reading is just starting to catch up to expected level. He really needed that extra time.

This is the exact opposite of what happens! Being a summer born child, statistically, has a big impact on achievement throughout their school life. There have even been discussions about altering grade boundaries for July/August born children at GCSE! Obviously, there is an exception for every rule but I’d always defer a July/August child. If only to ensure emotional maturity when starting school.

If the school support and can accommodate him repeating, I'd go for it.

@MercutiosFiddlestick I think @mossylog meant those born later in the calendar year IE September onwards do better than those born earlier in the calendar year, opposed to the school year. That's how I read it anyway,

September born DD was walking and talking before some of her peers were even born, it's daft to think that doesn't matter and I think there is alot more thought given now to birth month.

I have a July born child and both DH and I are July born, I don’t agree with blanket statements about deferring all summer borns, but from what you’ve described I think another year in reception would be very beneficial.

I think it depends on whether the school can/will do it.
If Reception is full for September there may not be a place for him there

Sounds like a no brainer to me. Academic demands really step up in Year 1 as they move out of EYFS - it sounds like this will be really tricky for him. I hope you can manage it.

You cant say that.
The secondary school may or may not accept an out of year admission. Plenty do not.

Who has said he is too young for a diagnosis? If for adhd fair enough I know that's not diagnosed until later but my 3 year old has already been diagnosed as autistic.

My son repeated Reception and is now permanently in the lower year group as part of his EHCP. It was the right thing for him as even he now agrees.

You need to speak to the school and the LA - there will need to be a place in the 24/25 Reception class (which there may well not be) as without an EHCP they will not be able to take a 31st child if the class is full. Unless the plan is for him to rejoin his original year group the LA need to be on board as they will need to fund an extra year's education. It's a completely different process to deferring a summer born before they start school. Without the LA's agreement you could end up skipping year 7.

Yes exactly that, I could have written things a lot clearer!

September children have a year's advantage over August born children. Also the youngest chidren in their year are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest (there are many studies on it, with a 30-70% difference found, depending on gender, age etc.), largely due to being relatively immature compared to their peers.

I would try but next year maybe full.
However it may not solve the issues especially if it is a learning issue or asd.

It sounds like he is currentky furyher behinf than as if he were about 4.4yo

You need to speak to your SENCo asap. If they can engage an Ed Psych to assess your son and determine that he should be 'Educated Out of Normal Age Range' he can be accommodated. To do this, it is helpful if you can provide information to support why he would make up the difference between him and his new peers and be able to carry on this year group. You should also ask the Ed Psych to make it a permanent determination, which would mean that he could carry on into secondary education out of year group.

You need to go through a formal process because a lot of registration for children is automatic and an informal agreement could lead to the school not following processes and being caught out when it comes to KS1 and KS2 SATs. You should get the determination initiated quickly because if they log his EYFS attainment, it will have a knock on effect as he moves through the school.

Good luck.

I would definitely try to do this and speak to the school as soon as possible.

I know a late August born child in year 1 who has been struggling to keep up all year and really think she would have benefitted from an extra year in reception.

Thanks everyone this is really reassuring - the school are being great, and are looking at options and I do think that they will allow it because of the circumstances.
I was told that there is a chance when he is in secondary that he might have to miss a year but I’ll take a consequence then once we know how he is.
@Daisypod he has been assessed for ASD and so it’s the adhd that we are waiting on when he is older.
@Justmeandtwokids I understand this, thank you, great to hear it was the best thing for your son. That’s my worry is that my son will “notice” or be upset that his peers have moved on 🫣
@Allicanteat dr’s don’t think it’s ASD but he definitely struggles with learning. My worry is the jump from reception to year 1 is so big he will struggle even more. The school have excellent support in place whatever the outcome- I’m more concerned socially will he be upset, but also if it’s the right thing maybe he will be ok!

The school should really not be suggesting this. It should only be considered on the advice of a professional such as an LA SEND specialist (terms and roles differ by LA). They are overstepping the mark by some way.

Have they sought external advice?

Hi what do you mean that the school should not be suggesting this? I am asking them to do this. We have numerous health and education professionals supporting us with my son’s care. He has SEND support in school.
why is that not appropriate to consider this for him?