Summer born defer/delay of reception

[Userflower]

Just an FYI post as I've realised it isn't widely known/theres alot of misinformation out there.
If your child is born after 1st April they are classified as summerborn and can therefore start primary school into reception class at age 5. They will never have to skip a year and will stay with their adopted cohort throughout primary and secondary school. There doesn't need to be any reason to defer other than being summerborn.
It has become so common for parents to do this especially if their child is born in June, July or August. Who wouldn't want their child to be the oldest in the class rather than the youngest!?
For more info join the fb group:
'Flexible school admission for summer borns'

Unless things have changed that isn't the case as far as we experienced it. Late summer born DS had hearing difficulties (glue ear, and we declined the grommets offer and were waiting for it to resolve). Also resulting speech delay. We asked the Head if we could defer and he said we could, but DS would have to skip Reception and jump into Year 1. We didn't want him to miss that important introduction year into learning or to miss all his friends so we went with it and he is obviously one of the youngest. Fast forward to GCSE year and his hearing and speech rectified itself, he got a great result on his 11+ and he was top of his year (300+) in Science recently. So glad the Head said no actually (although I realize that it won't necessarily work for everyone).

Sorry that was your experience many years ago.
It has now become so common for summerborns to delay it’s become a lot easier and all requests are approved thankfully

I thought it was right to ask but they don't have to agree. They just need to look at it being in the right interests of the child.

The vast majority of local councils give an easy ‘yes’ for no other reason than being summer born

IMO it just moves the goal posts. Someone else just then has to be the youngest in the year group, and in cases where there is an April child from one birth year Vs potentially an August born from the next, that puts quite a challenge with a 16month age difference

Why is being the oldest in the year so good?

Yes I understand this point but I believe every parent has to do what’s best for their child and ultimately if they don’t want their child to be the youngest then their child doesn’t need to be

As a secondary teacher, I’m starting to see a lot of very pissed off kids about this! I’m sure it’s wonderful when they’re in primary.
*But the sporty kid who isn’t on the football team, as you have to - with good reason - play within your actual birth year, is pissed off.

• The y13 who has his exams this year when people younger than him are up and off travelling round the world.
• and she’s not pissed off, but I am on her behalf - the august born girl who already doesn’t have any parental support is 16 months younger than some of her year group and struggling.

The misinformation starts in the OP.

Yes you can request to defer your summer born child, but the school doesn't have to accept it. As to how common it is, it depends where you live.

Because you you now could be 17 months ahead of another child in your class, which makes it much easier to be the best. Obviously far worse for the now youngest child who could be 17 months younger rather than the 12 months of a decade ago, but, hey, who gives a shit about them.

Statistically summer borns can struggle more in school compared to older peers, so a parent may opt for their child to be the eldest

I am 100% for parent choice in this area but I do struggle with @Userflower saying “Who wouldn't want their child to be the oldest in the class rather than the youngest!?” Erm, me!!!!!

I have two children - one born on 28th August and one on 1st September. Both are in the correct year. The August one was so ready for school it would have been a massive mistake to defer. Apart from messy handwriting in reception and Y1 due to pencil grip and taking four months longer to skip than her friends, she suffered absolutely zero by being the youngest in the year.

The September one really struggled socially and academically being the oldest in the year. A funny skew in birth dates meant that only three class mates had birthdays before March and the rest were all summer born. She was watching “Mia and Me” on TV and her friends were still on Peppa Pig, for example. The gap in what they were interested in playing with was huge. She was also able to whizz through the class work and could do everything. Extension work was provided but she could do that too. So she ended up having to help her friends do their work which caused resentment.

We even talked with the school about putting her up a year (they were willing) but ultimately we decided against it.

As she got older all these gaps have narrowed and it’s not an issue, but the first few years at primary weren’t all glowy and wonderful. Deferring could come with some negatives as well as positives (sports teams for one as well as aspects above).

Everyone wants the best for their child and there are some exceptionally good reasons to defer some children. I’m not sure deferring an April baby just because you can, is necessarily the right thing. Every child is different and the priority should be is it right for them.

I’m glad that it worked out well for you. As a general rule the vast majority would opt for their child to be eldest in a cohort rather than the youngest, this is backed by realms of data/statistics

@Userflower But less than 1% of children are actually deferred, and in some areas it’s less than 0.5%. If people feel as strongly as you state, then why aren’t they doing it?

I think it’s mostly a lack of knowledge/knowing that it’s an option but thankfully it’s increasing. Applications to delay have increased 250% year on year in the last 3 years.
Secondly the % you quoted, remember it’s only applicable for summer borns whereas that quote is for the full school population

Don't these kids held back Just get bored and frustrated staying at home for another year or being in a nursery with 3 year olds when they're almost 5. Both of mine have needed school as they become so mentally un stimulated. I'm not sure it's always the correct thing for the child. Plenty of summer born children are totally fine at school

@Userflower you are promoting this here like its a really good thing which confuses me a little, yes I absolutely agree that if your summer born child is not yet ready for school, for whatever reason, its great to have this option but you seem to be advocating that any child born after April should defer regardless, unless I am reading this wrong, just so they have the "advantage" of being the oldest in the class rather than the youngest
Someone is always going to be the youngest in the class and I dont agree that you should defer as a matter of course so your April born child can be top of the class or whatever the end result is that you are aiming for here
Also not all parents will believe that an April or even an August born needs to be deferred, my DD is an April born and was more than ready for school, it would have been a disadvantage to her to keep her in nursery for an extra year
I find this whole thing quite strange tbh

This is not a good thing and in most cases should be discouraged. It will overwhelmingly be pushy middle class parents deferring their children (apart from anything else most people won’t be able to give up the free childcare school provides). As PP have said this just means that August-born non-deferred children end up in a class with other children nearly 1.5 years older than them.

At the end of the day, barring SEN or other developmental delays, it’s a selfish decision to try to give your children an unfair advantage over others.

@Userflower Crude assumption but if birth rates are spread evenly throughout the year, that works out at 8.3% per month. Five months (April to August) would see over 40% of the year technically able to defer.

It’s important parents are aware they can defer, and yes statistically the older children in the year tend to do better academically. However, at 11+ level scores are standardised to adjust for younger children. This means that they are at no disadvantage just by being the youngest. The gap at GCSE level is practically eliminated. The benefit for deferred children is much more evident at the start of their educational careers.

I am 100% for deferring if it’s the right decision for the child. There’s two children in my eldest daughter’s year who were deferred as they born prematurely. They are being educated in the year based on their due date not actual birthdate which is 100% right IMO.

@TantrumsAndBalloonsI am absolutely not promoting this, I am raising awareness. Please revert to OP where I specifically mention June, July or August.
It’s absolutely a parents choice but parents need to know this is an option, knowledge is key

@RatherBeOnVacationyes I agree that for some it’s the right decision. This post is purely to raise awareness.
It is the choice of the parents and as fellow parents we should not judge

It’s interesting how times have changed. It used to be of some pride for a child to be moved up a year, an indication of how bright they are.

It's not the right thing for all children, but the OP is right that there is a huge amount of misinformation out there, and many people don't even know it's an option.

We've done it. DD isn't bored and gets on much better with the younger children than she did with the older kids in her "correct" year group. Her BFF is over a year younger than her (and as far as I can tell, BFF's parents don't resent us for delaying. We made the best decision for our child and they did for theirs).

In real life it's not half as much of a big deal as it is on here 🤷‍♀️

(Edited for typos)

Yes agreed! Interestingly it’s also not about moving the goal posts and other children becoming in the youngest in the year, for example May borns (if they didn’t delay). It’s about no child starting just after their 4th birthday, a few months to mature and become more ‘school ready’

And being moved up was detrimental to a lot of children. DH was moved up and suffered socially and emotionally. That's one of the reasons we chose to delay DC.