Summer borns in primary school

[Userflower]

My son is an August 2021 baby so would be due to start school in September 2024. I’ve recently become aware that summer borns (born after April 1st) can defer and start reception the following year, so in my sons case would be September 2026. I contacted my local council and they approved this straight away, it was very easy. They agreed he could start reception when aged 5 and not miss reception as well as not skip a year of school down the line, he would stay in his adopted year. They said this has become very common throughout the UK and local councils are fully supportive. My son has no reason to be deferred other than being a summer born. I would be interested in hearing from other parents who’ve deferred, has this been a positive experience? I guess my only concern would be, would he feel different and out of place when down the line he’d be aware he’s educated out of cohort. Other than that, I can’t think of any negatives in deferring, only positives.

My son started reception this year age 5 (turns 6 end of July). He was also premature and due in September so he’s actually
in the correct year he should have been in.

No negatives so far, doing well with his learning. Some of the parents know as I’ve told them but not sure any of the children do. I know a few of the summer borns who didn’t defer are struggling a little bit.

I think he’d have been fine going last year, but he’s definitely emotionally more mature now and also the jump from reception to year 1 is big so I’m glad he’s not behind already.

As far as I know he’s the only one in his class but in the local area it’s quite common.

Hopefully you’ll get some responses for those with older kids!

Be prepared for lots of posts of my July/August child went when they were just 4 and they were fine.

It’s hard going against the grain but from the research, summer borns statistically perform worse and are more likely to be diagnosed with an SEN.

I haven’t done it myself, but know someone who did. My ds2 would not have been ready for school at only-just-4yo.

Obviously he’ll be old in his year; but often there are a number of September born kids so really he will just be like one of them.

It will make no difference once he has started his education.

I was summer born and always exceeded at school. My dd is also summer born and she will start school aged 4. I don’t think parents should be able to defer their child unless their child has developmental delays.

If you’re not already, join flexible school admissions for summer borns group on facebook, although they are inevitably biased in favour of starting children at compulsory school age, there are very few who regret the decision and lots of long term success stories. My May 2020 son starts reception this September age 5 - even though he would have coped last September, the change in him during this year has been amazing to see and I am confident he will now thrive.

But if you look at the statistics, summer borns perform worse on average as another poster said. Plus being diagnosed with SEN doesn't usually happen by Reception. So why shouldn't parents have the choice?

I didn't defer my summer born and it was the best decision for him. One of his closest friends was deferred and it was the best decision for her. It really depends on the child.

I wish I had deferred my August born DD’s start date. She really struggles, currently in year 3, and I think an extra year would have helped enormously.

I was surprised at how many September birthdays there are in my child’s class. At least half of the birthdays must be September - November, if not more. I have no idea how this pans out across the country but your child might not be that out of place if you defer.

Depends on the child. I have a September born - when she turned 4 majority of her nursery friends went to school. If you had asked me would have she been ready if she had been born a week early in August I would have said no. Ask me that question again at January - she was MORE than ready and got very frustrated at nursery school.

I have a memory that I didn’t start school until January - I’m May born. It was reception Sept to Dec born went PT until Christmas and then FT after. Jan to August started after Christmas PT and FT after Easter. No idea if that was a real memory!!!

My sept born best friends are mostly July/August born. At ages 14/15 very little to see the difference!

I did it, one of the best decisions I’ve made for him

My ds started reception at 4y3w.

He'd been asking to go to school for 6 months before that. He'd stand outside the school looking at the dcs in the playground and say 'why can't I go too mummy?'
He's 16 now, Ten GCSEs.

Obviously, It depends on the child, Mine wasn't particularly advanced. He could dress himself, go to the loo on his own, could spell his (three letter) name and count Smarties up to 7.
It was great for his confidence and his social skills. He loved it and advanced much faster.

I think he would mind now, if he was a year behind. Once they are in their teens, they are in such a hurry!

My DS is end of July and I seriously considered doing this as he seemed so small. I asked the nursery what they thought and they said he was definitely ready. I went back and forth for a long time but I knew he was ready. I wanted to keep him with me longer, but I enrolled him the ywar he was due to start. I made the right decision as he is doing very well and you'd never tell he was almost a year younger than the eldest in his class.

My eldest DS was one of the eldest in his year, he really struggled with school and in his class it was the summer born babies that excelled..

Does your son have the basic foundations of what school entails? Numbers? Letters? Can he socialise appropriately for his age? Fully toilet trained? Hold a decent conversation? Can he write his name? Foundation is still EYS so alot of similar stuff to nursery. Learn by play etc and introducing the fundamentals of learning. Only you will truly know if he's ready. Listen to your gut.

Go with your instinct - is he largely ‘ready’? Didn’t defer my summer born but it was clear he’s quite bright, and okay socially, so could cope. He gets ‘pushed along’ academically and socially due to his older classmates so that aspect has been great for us.

The only negative I've ever seen mentioned really is that for some sports (outside of school and inside of school as they get older) they have to play with their actual age group rather than adopted age group. However that seems minor when compared with educational and social benefits

I've deferred one (and had to fight as it wasn't automatic at the time) and not deferred another. They're now 17 and 13 and each decision was absolutely the right one for the child.

I have 2 summer born children, I deferred my son, he's now year 4 (10 in July) and it was the best thing for him. My daughter is year 3 (8 in July) and I really regret not keeping her back to, she struggles a lot more with the work.

@Userflower didnt know that 3 year olds were allowed to go to school!! what country is this? born aug 2021 and going to school sept 2024????

This might sound silly but, as long as the child is able to start in Reception having just turned 5 and able to remain in that year group throughout (including the transition to secondary school), there is another reason for deferring. Being literally the oldest in the year group will potentially be of great benefit during the later teenage years:

• When they've done their GCSEs and have that long summer ahead of them, they'll have already been 16 for ages and be able to secure a decent summer job. Whereas if they're still 15 for the majority of that summer, it will be much more difficult to find employment. All of the common places teenagers might try to get work at (McDonald's, Burger King, supermarkets) need them to have turned 16.
• They'll be the first of their friends to turn 17 - and the one who's learned to drive and can borrow their parents' car for the night is always going to be popular!
• They'll be the first of their friends to turn 18 - again, they'll be very popular if they can go up to the bar and buy all of the drinks!

Obviously, these are silly reasons to defer if your child is bored at nursery/preschool and you think they'd be much happier if they started school right after turning 4. But a friend's son, born at the end of August and not deferred, was really fed up from ages 16-18 for the above reasons!

it's very common to do this in Scotland, and results are mixed. For some children, it's very beneficial, for others, they are going stir crazy at nursery.

I think it depends on where they spend their additional year - moving them to a school pre-school can work really well. Leaving them in a private nursery where they have already spent a lot of time and are surrounded by children much younger than them doesn't seem to work out that well for the deferred child.

I think it really depends on the child. For balance/food for thought, I have a friend who, in hindsight, wouldn't have deferred her child (he is now in year 1, but performs more like a year 2 child in terms of ability and maturity) however it's obviously hard to know how it'll pan out when the initial decision to defer is made (comparatively far in advance considering the default school start date)...

Totally agree. Someone has to be the youngest.
My friend is born 31/08 (at night too haha)
She excelled at school and is now a Senior Matron.

My son is a late August baby and we didn’t defer. He was emotionally and physically a bit behind his peers for the first few years but academically he’s been fine (is at a Russell group uni now). I would say that by the time he was in KS2 he was on a par with his peers emotionally. You know your child best so go with whatever you think suits them.

the only disadvantage I can see is that if they needed to repeat a year later (say they wanted to resit GCSE’s or A levels) they may be over 19 and funding is then different.

I very much agree it depends on the child. I have a June and August born and didn't defer either. I believe this was the right decision for my August born who adjusted to school well and I'd fairly on track academically.

However I'm not so sure it was the right decision for my June born who took longer to settle. School say he's doing ok but he seems to be struggling at home which could well be an impact of school and the behavioural expectations there? Equally may be something else at play. But ultimately do feel it depends on the child.

Why should parents not be able to decide when their child is ready for school?