How common is it for children to repeat reception?

[givemedirections]

As it says on the title really. Child in question has severe autism and apparently they can’t meet his needs in Year 1 - but he can’t stay in reception forever? So what eventually happens?

LAs can also be super resistant to a child ‘repeating’ a year as they’ll have to fund the EHCP for longer.

We have children with significant additional needs in our mainstream school. Some move with their cohort, and others have repeated a year at some point (most commonly Reception). For instance if a child came into Reception and was assessed at 9-12 months, and finished it working at 17-24 months, giving them another year would mean that they were closer to the expected level at the end of the year and they would be much better equipped for KS1.

It’s so individual to the child and their needs and progress that you’d need a whole heap of information, observations and specialist reports before you could say whether it is the right or wrong thing to do in a specific case.

as they’ll have to fund the EHCP for longer.

This isn’t the case. EHCPs can last until 25, or 26 in some cases, if necessary. This applies whether a child is educated outside of their chronological year group or not.

I'm not sure this is actually a lie. He could be counted as a Year 1 child due to his age but working with Reception. There is no difference in funding so not much advantage in 'lying'. Some small schools or schools eith uneven class numbers have a mixed Reception/Yr 1 class anyway.

They’re not lying! He will be officially on the year 1 roll. Apart from anything else, it will muck up their admissions numbers if he’s officially in reception.

and I think they are making the adaptations necessary - the necessary adaption is allowing him to spend time in reception again.

I’m just a bit bewildered as to why they aren’t saying that to the LEA, then.

But they are telling the LA the truth, he IS going into year 1. He is just spending time with Reception because his needs can't be met in year 1, which they are also telling the LA.

No, they aren’t @spanieleyes They have told us that, not the LEA.

My LEA insisted that we kept a child in Yr1, but educated that child in EYFS, with 1:1 support as no specialist placement “could meet needs (ie were full, but it’s unlawful to say that).

This didn’t meet needs either due to the significant additional needs of the child. It was awful. That child I believe now has a special placement.

I’ve left mainstream education as I couldn’t cope with the lack of support in the system for children with high needs. I now work in SLD.

It’s really frustrating. I don’t think anyone would mind him being kept in reception - summer birthday anyway so even without the autism / EHCP he’s close to the cut off. But it feels a bit sneaky and feels a bit like the school aren’t being open about things. If they were it would be different.

Assuming the classes are of 30, they can't tell the LEA that they're putting him into year R or they need another teacher under infant class size law.
That's why they'll be putting him officially into year 1.

It sounds like you're not privy to all the facts here so I'm not sure what support anyone on this thread can give you.

As others have pointed out this is something that happens more frequently than others might like to think and there's no indication anyone is lying to the LEA.

I can't help but think that, much as this might be best for the child in question, it may be to detriment of the other children in reception if they are over numbers
Especially if the SEN manifests as extreme behaviour. I've seen how that can have a bad effect on the rest of the class. I wish there were more specialist places.

In my experience in my school it's rare (5 children in the last 7 years) and mainly for children who will move to a specialist provision during KS1. The play based approach in FS is vastly different to Year 1 and Year 2.

@Procrastinates it’s true I don’t have every single fact such as the exact dates of the EHCP, but the school have lied. They’ve been very clear that they have recommended he redoes a year of reception but that they are ‘telling’ the LEA he’s going into y1. And this isn’t the case.

We are fine with him redoing a year of reception. We are not fine with it being lied about.

They’ve been very clear that they have recommended he redoes a year of reception but that they are ‘telling’ the LEA he’s going into y1.

I think you’re misunderstanding them. He IS going into year 1. He will be in that class, on that roll, with that year group. But he will access the education he needs with the reception class because that free flow play / outside access is the most appropriate for him. If they’re telling you that they’ve got paperwork to back it up. They’re not producing different paperwork for you to the LEA.
The “legal” (for want of a better term) status of him in the school (for the purposes of the LEA is year 1. Where he accesses that education isn’t necessarily relevant to the LEA within the school

The two are not mutually exclusive though. He may well be " going into year 1" ie on the year 1 register, but repeating the EYFS curriculum, ie spending the majority of the time in the EYFS classroom. You need to know exactly what has been said and what the outcomes and provision of the EHCP are to know whether this is an issue.

But as other have said on this thread that doesn't mean they have lied? He is indeed going into year 1 but is accessing provision in reception.

My honest advice would be to stop getting involved and instead support your nephew's parents in working towards accessing specialised provision rather than arguing over semantics.

Op, have they suggested what will happen this time next year?

Do you think that a specialist provision would be better for him?

In my experience it's often in KS1 that it becomes very obvious when specialist provision is needed for a child to thrive.

I honestly don’t mean to be difficult here but how is ‘we are keeping him in reception but telling the LEA he’s going into year 1 not a lie? The intention isn’t to argue over semantics, just to ensure that any moves are in his best interests and not because of what’s easiest for the school. Telling me to ‘stop getting involved’ is also not very polite or supportive.

@Sherrystrull i think a specialist provision would work best, I think everyone does, but in the meantime we obviously have to work best with what we have.

I guess it’s the difference between ‘we think he’s better repeating a year in reception and these are the reasons and we’re completely open about this because we genuinely think it’s best for him’ and ‘we want him to do an extra year in reception because it’s best for us so if you don’t mind keeping it to yourself and not informing the LEA we’d appreciate it.’ And of course they haven’t used that exact wording but that’s the gist. It’s that which doesn’t sit very comfortably.

how is ‘we are keeping him in reception but telling the LEA he’s going into year 1 not a lie?

Several posters have explained this already. He will be on the roll for year 1 but spending his day in reception as he cannot access the year 1 provision. He isn't included in the reception numbers.

Telling me to ‘stop getting involved’ is also not very polite or supportive.

It might be blunt but realistically it sounds like a too many cooks situation. I appreciate you love your nephew but you shouldn't be getting involved in his schooling. You should absolutely be supporting him and his parents if they need that support but your place isn't to argue that the school are lying or trying to decieve the LEA because you don't actually have all the facts.

You are right to query and make sure it's all above board.

I'm a Year 2 teacher who has supported a few parents last year with the move from mainstream to specialist for their child with significant needs.

I would ask for any early review at the beginning of the autumn term with the Sendco and explain you would like your start the process towards a move to specialist.

It can take a few years and it's important to find the right provision. The Sendco will be able to suggest places and you need time to explore them and others you find.

He will be on the roll for year 1 but spending his day in reception as he cannot access the year 1 provision. He isn't included in the reception numbers.

And that’s a lie, isn’t it? It’s keeping him on roll for a class he isn’t in.

situation. I appreciate you love your nephew but you shouldn't be getting involved in his schooling. You should absolutely be supporting him and his parents if they need that support but your place isn't to argue that the school are lying or trying to decieve the LEA because you don't actually have all the facts

You don’t know what the situation is. I haven’t even said I love him - I do, but that’s not what this is about.

I'm a former Reception and Nursery teacher and I have never come across a child repeating Reception in England. So to answer your actual question, it is extremely rare and you probably need accurate advice from the few people who have been in this situation before.

Thanks @Sherrystrull

The concern is that as I’ve said the school are doing what’s easiest for them rather than what’s best for him. So for example one of the adaptations for him is that he has a sensory table and they’ve said it would be ‘more difficult’ to have this in the Y1 classroom and I’m not unsympathetic to this but - that’s what the ehcp is for. More difficult isn’t impossible and he really can’t do two years in reception.

That’s interesting @CremeEggThief - thanks.