Summer borns in primary school

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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.

I deferred my Summer born (August baby) so he started reception when he had just turned 5.

He is now in Year 2 and doing well. He joins a year 3 class for maths as he has a calculator brain, but otherwise he’s perfectly happy being in Year 2.

He understands that we deferred him and that he ‘should’ be in Year 3. We’ve never kept anything from him about what we did and why.

Obviously he’s the oldest in the year but the next oldest children in the year are only 5 days, 10 days and 12 days younger than him. There’s lot of kids with September/October birthdays so it’s not like my son is the oldest in the year by a mile.

The teachers, and the Head have made noises over the last 18 months about moving him back to the school year he ‘should’ be in as he is very clever but it’s not something I’m interested in.

May is ridiculous! June is pushing it in my opinion.

My deferred son is in Year 2 but for the football team he plays with, he is in a team with Year 3 children.

The league have said that when it comes to deferred Summer borns the parents can choose whether they want their child to play in the team of the school year they are in, or the school year they ‘should’ be in.

We have often asked our son if he wants to drop down a year group and play with his Year 2 Peers (his classmates etc) but he’s adamant he wants to play with the Year 3 children.

I wish I had been able to do this for my child. Many years ago now, but he started as an August born boy in a class that seemed full of Sept / Oct born girls. The difference was enormous. Reading, writing was miles away from some of his classmates. I was always being told he had excellent ideas and vocab. Just couldn't get it down on paper. Many years spent worrying about possible sen, him constantly disheartened by the need for this extra session and that extra support even though he tried so hard. Ended with l0ow stats scores but the differences lessened at secondary. All kids are rebanded in first term regardless of sat score and after that he found his tribe. Confidence grew and he's now flourishing in college. Although he is where he needs to be now, I truly believe If he had started a year later I think it would have saved years of worry and the knock to his confidence.

It depends on the child, some are very not ready and some would be going crackers being held back despite being summer babies. I have a dd born July, kept in her assigned year group and keeping up with top of the class- deffo didn’t need deferring! I also have a ds about to start but sept born so will be the oldest and thank goodness, he has sen and will really struggle to keep up despite being the eldest and had he been born in august I would have deferred him

I mean... I do. I have taught EYFS. Of course it's not identical to a training course in an adult workplace, no. I was using an analogy.

There are carpet sessions. These are not differentiated as such because the teacher only has one voice. They are not the majority of the school day, but they are part of it. There will be things taught in carpet sessions that she will have done before, and will be sitting through again. This isn't to say she is going to dislike school, but she will not be being intellectually stimulated to the extent that a child who did not already know how to read/write would be.

I respect that you have your opinion. Mine is different to yours.

Our local authority will accept an ‘out of cohort’ application for summer born children but they make the decision which year group the child goes into, either Reception or Year 1. If you push for out of cohort education and keep your child back you do have to make an application each year to stay in the cohort of choice going forward. It catches up with you in Year 6. Some schools may operate a part time timetable for a child who presents as very young at age 4. Every child is different.

I think it completely depends on the child & school. My son was born end of July and he went to the nursery attached to his school (we live very close so pretty certain he'd get in). He was excited to move up to reception with a lot of his friends so think he would've been confused if we'd kept him in nursery for no real reason. Also, having been to stay&play sessions at his school it's mostly a lot of fun in reception for him! (don't know if this is generally the case in reception or some schools are more strict). He loves it and has come on so much with his reading and writing. So in his case I don't think it would have been beneficial to defer.

My August born daughter will start school in September having just turned 5. She will be ready to thrive, not just survive, having come out of her shell and blossomed in confidence being one of the oldest at pre school.
There is well publicised data from the DoE showing a wide gap on average (yes average) attainment at 11 between the oldest and youngest children. In fact a DoE study has just been posted today on the brilliant facebook group flexible admissions for summer borns showing the stark decrease in achievement at KE2 as children get younger in their year group.

I have an August baby who i didn't defer ,however i did what i thought best for her ,i didn't send her to school nursery every day until it was nearer the time to start reception and when in reception if there was a day that she was tired out or we had something nice to do together then i would keep her off , she was so little she had no understanding that i had kept her off and i didn't make a habit of it.
She is my 3rd child ,the other 2 were Winter birthdays and throughout her time in school it was obvious to me that being 9months or so younger than some of her peers was never taken into consideration which i think is quite unfair.
I think it is absolutely right that parents are the ones that get to decide what is best for their child ,another 6 months at home would have suited her and us i think.

My child is a May baby. Started when they were 5 years 4 months. In y5 now anf no regrets. They like it.

My DD is end of August and started primary at 4 years and a couple of days. She has been absolutely fine but I was worried she’d struggle academically - always knew she would probably be okay with the social side.

I know someone who held their DD back a year (she’s in the same school and used the childminder we did years back). Her daughter did brilliantly having been held back too. I’m sure it’s child dependent and only you can know if you think it’s the right thing to do.

I quite like how the Scottish school system handles this. In August 2025, children born between 1st March 2020 and 28th February 2021 will be starting Primary 1. The youngest any child can start school is 4.5years old. My DD is an August 2021 baby and won't be starting Primary 1 until mid-August 2026. I wouldn't be having her start primary school after the summer this year. If that's what is expected of your August 2021 baby then you are right to defer. Madness that they expect barely 4yo children to start Primary school.
Some children are ready at 4.5yo but some are deferred here too, particularly if born in February and would only be 4.5yrs in the August.
Our school system does have a rather unique issue at the other end. Some kids have to stay on to the Christmas holidays if wishing to leave school when 16 rather than finishing up in the summer as they aren't yet 16 at the end of term and are instead only a few months past their 15th birthday.

This is reassuring. My DS is like yours, he’s been desperate to start school since some of his preschool friends went last September. All he talks about is “when I’m 4 I’ll start school in September”. He’s champing at the bit. I’m sad, because I want his curiosity for longer, but I can’t keep up to be honest. No genius, but curious and eager. Excited about letters and particularly numbers (enjoys basic addition, subtraction and multiplication). He can write his name and most numbers and he has good comprehension/understanding. We chose the school we have over our other favourite because they keep summer born “back” in Year 1, so it’s a mixed EYFS and KS1 class, and tbh I’m worried that even one more year of EYFS is going to be a struggle for him. Two would be too much as he likes structured learning.

I think what this thread shows is that all children are different.

I'm so torn on this.

I'm glad parents have the choice to do what they feel is right for their child, but it puts summer borns that aren't deferred at an even bigger disadvantage. Two of mine are summer born (didn't defer) and my daughter has a child in her class who turned 6 a few months before she even turned 5. For those kids who would definitely struggle I think it's the right approach but I don't know how I feel about parents doing it just because "summer babies on average do worse". Someone has to be the youngest.

That's much more significant than I knew.

68% of September born children meet age expectations in Year 6 compared to 54% of August born children.

Even at KS4, it's 46% of September born students chieving 5s in English & maths, compared to 40% of August born students.

It's weird that it's hidden in some blatantly obvious stats about how students who have more than 4 weeks off in a school year are going to struggle!

My premmie DS was one of the brightest in nursery but so very tiny that doing up his coat was tricky even when we had deferred him a year.

If you have an August born you will know which cohort feels like the right one. Some can do youngest in year happily, but others will really struggle

If you’ve taught EYFS and this is truly your attitude and opinion then I pity your classes.

In my experience kids of this age actively enjoy knowing the right answer and find repetition fun. They love repeating things that they enjoy - rereading favourite stories, singing rhymes they know, rewatching favourite films. My DS didn’t find reception boring in the slightest. He was absolutely “intellectually stimulated”. So he did a bit of phonics on the carpet each day that he already knew. He was being stretched in his independent writing, in his small group activities, in his own reading books at home and at school, in the games with his friends. And it will be just the same for DD, who, btw is autumn born so will be in the correct cohort for her age.

But it’s not about “someone having to be the youngest”.

It’s about the fact that there are increased risks with summer borns when it comes to poor educational achievement and increased likelihood of being diagnosed as SEN due to them starting school at such a young age.

Why should a summer born child’s well-being and academic potential be brushed aside just because “someone has to be the youngest.”

I don’t think there are many parents out there who are deferring their child simply because they don’t want their child to be “the youngest” in the year. They do it because of the potential repercussions of their child starting school at just turned 4 years old.

If due to start sep 2024, isn’t it anyway agreed as that date has gone? What happens in gcse year? Does it mean they take them later if deferred?

There was no need to be rude while saying your piece. I'm a fucking good teacher. I am now in management and I know that many are not. Pupils who are ahead do get bored, and this may not be in EYFS but may be in general.

I don't know why you're attacking me as a person and politely ask you to stop. I haven't done the same to you. I respect your opinions and your decisions in life. I just don't agree with them.

Yes, the figures are significant.

The trouble is a lot of people don’t look at them before making their minds up on the subject. So often what you get on places like MN are uninformed opinions.

One thing to be aware of is that these sorts of figures can only indicate what’s happening at a population level. They can’t indicate what will be best for an individual child, a parent or teacher is better placed for that. They can only show what the chances are that the decision you made will be in DC’s best interest.

It is! I really don’t think it should be allowed. Just for the simple reason that April- September represents 6 months and half a potential school year. If lots of people do this then those who don’t defer are potentially in a class with those 18 months older! It’s completely ridiculous.

It does in Ireland…why do you HAVE to be a certain age? If you start secondary at 13.5 or 12 then you will be 16.5 or 15 sitting your GCSE equivalent someone else could be 17 or 19 sitting A-level equivalents. What does it matter?

I agree! My daughter is the oldest in her year. Like yours she would have been fine to start the year before (and actually, she was bored at preschool as had a very inexperienced teacher) but is anything but bored in Reception even though she's one of the best readers etc. Reception is so fun and they make it stimulating. She doesn't feel she's learning things she already knows. It's great for her as she is going to find the jump to year 1 really easy.