My little boys birthday is 30th August so would start primary school only a couple of days after he turns four. Does anyone child go part time while in reception?

[Isobel1998]

Hi all, my little boy turns 4 next year 😭 his birthday is 30th August so would start school only a couple of days later. The thought of not spending any week days with him for our little outings breaks my heart and due to my job I often wouldn't be home in the evenings.

Has anyone got a little one in school who only goes 4 days a week? Is this allowed?

What others said - is this about him or you?

Not a teacher but my impression of Reception is that among the play the teacher is teaching the basics of carpet time, phonics, using pencils and scissors, taking turns speaking and so on - that’s exactly the sort of thing you want him to be there to learn, surely, or he really will be at a disadvantage in Y1.

In your position, I would defer for a year. Good luck.

Eldest DD is 31 August. She excelled at school, apart from socially at first.

Wanting to hang out with your DS is not a good enough reason to prevent him from accessing education.

You might find this information useful. www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission

I’d personally defer a year. I do know someone who goes to school 4 days for entire school period. In p6 now, his parents homeschooled and did forest school and languages. They are v. nice people and child seems to be doing well. In Scotland and I think schools are a bit easier going about creation of individual learning plans though.

I think academically it is better to hold him back so he gets the same amount of time and a bit morning each year. It makes a big difference. Mental maturity and learning go hand in hand. Rushing him ia nit a good idea. This is coming from me who wish I had and extra year as I was quiet slow and took me ages to catch up and surpass my peers. I went to uni 1st degree and became Radiographer band 7. So it all worked out fine in the end but quiet stressful for me as a young child.

So it's about you then 🙄

When is it ever not about the mother.

They want their kids home for another year.

Op i agree with Pps that it sounds more of an issue with you not wanting your child to grow up.

My best friend’s DC is late August and he did just fine at school, though she did say he liked it better once they also stopped sending him to after school club.

Also to give the opposite perspective, if you defer, he will be the oldest in the year and this can also cause issues. It’s quite common for kids to be ready for school long before they start, and have behavioural issues as they need more stimulation by then.

I didn't realise if deferred they would then start in reception, I thought they would go into year 1.

Do children ever then get moved into the correct age group?

My DD was August born she was initially tired, she struggled a bit but did catch up well with her peers.

If the system is you go to school at 5 years old, how is it deferred entry is your child is 4. Surely it’s the other way around

They definitely don’t at our school. And i wouldn’t want them to they would be behind everyone who has had a whole year of full time teaching.

I had a Spring baby and they did half days until they turned 5. Children don’t need to be in school until age 5. At least that was the case at the time, unaware of any changes to that since. My summer born child I deferred for a year. Both worked out great,

Commonplace to defer in Scotland. You get another year of nursery funding if your child isn’t 5 before the start of the school year. Around 50% of Jan-Feb babies (which would be the equivalent of July/August in England babies pretty much) are deferred in Scotland. It doesn’t seem as common in England yet though. I wouldn’t haven’t sent a just-turned four-year-old to school either but the earliest here is 4.5 anyway if you don’t defer due to the different cut-offs (if you turn 4 in March-August, you don’t start school till the following school year).

No, but I think they can need to put children back in their chronological year group before they start secondary school. But I think that requirement might vary between different local authorities (and doesn’t apply to children with SEND).

My daughter was born in July and I won’t be deferring. I don’t see a point and I hope she isn’t in a class with children over a year older than her.

The UK gov info linked to above explains the situation very clearly. Please see this extract:

“Children born from 1 April to 31 August – known as summer born children – do not need to start school until the September after their fifth birthday, a year after they could first have started school. This is when summer born children reach compulsory school age. This advice is to help you decide what would be best for your summer born child.….
Delaying your child’s school start
Most children start school in the September after they turn 4.
A child does not need to start school until they reach compulsory school age.
You decide whether your child will start school before compulsory school age - the admission authority cannot decide your child should start school aged 4.
Your child will be eligible for government-funded childcare until they start school or reach compulsory school age, even if you delay their admission by a year.”

My daughter started school one week after her 4th birthday.
I was met with a surprising amount of judgement but of course would’ve deferred if I felt she wasn’t ready.
At risk of sounding like a “my 4 year old could cook an 8 course meal and wrote 10,000 word essays on the works of Shakespeare” kind of Mumsnetter; she could read at a decent level (I believe her reading age was that of an 8 year old), write her full name and short paragraphs, count to 100, tell the time, and was getting bored at nursery.
I believe the headteacher also has to agree with deferring? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Every child is different. I was born mid-August and probably should’ve been deferred on paper, I wasn’t half as capable as my peers at first. However, by the end of the Easter term I had come on leaps and bounds and was at the same level as the 5 year olds, just a bit more tired after a long day of learning 😂

My mum recalls there being two start dates when I was at school (started primary mid 1970s). Some children would start after Christmas- presumably summer born children.

So deferment has been going on quite a while!

I delayed my 23rd August son for a year. He’s now just turned 6 and about to start year 1. Best thing I could have done for him, however it’s definitely dependent on the child. My oldest isn’t a summer born, but I would have sent him at 4 if he was as he was ready for school.

That used to be the case but isn’t any more. You can start reception just after he turns 5 and I absolutely would. I’ve had one late August child and one September child and for the latter the whole school experience has been so much more positive. My older child is so much more confident with friends etc - it’s not just about the academics

My parents generation had stagger start for rising 5s in September, January and April. It’s relatively recent that children all start the September after they turn 4.
I think it depends on the child (summer born here who was ready to start school age 3)

You’ve said you know he will enjoy it - so you need to put him first and let him go. It’s our role as mothers to let our children go. (It gets harder and harder btw).

I’m late August and would be very pissed off if my mother had regularly taken me out of school because she wanted days out with me. It’s not his job to be your companion.

About a 12th of the class will be August born and a sixth July/August. A quarter will be ‘summer born’ - it’s not that unusual!!

Don’t defer unless there is real need - especially if you think he might be sporty - it can cause complications with teams later.

It very much depends on the child. My DS was born at the end of June, so is young for his year, but he was so ready for school when the time came, and he has kept up comfortably with his peers. If you feel your DS is not ready then keep him back a year, but otherwise let him go.

It’s worth considering how a child will develop throughout primary and secondary school - becoming sexual active, experimenting with alcohol etc. It is always in a child’s best interest to delay their exposure to sex, alcohol etc.
To give a hypothetical example - if we say that all year 10 children will start to drink socially - it would be in a child's best interest to be a year older in year 10.