Summerborn reception

[Userflower]

I just wanted to share some good news, my friends child started reception this week (deferred summerborn so is already age 5). There are 7 summerborn children deferred in her class. There are no children born in July or August 2021, as they’ve all deferred to start next year!
Times are changing!!

Well, enjoy your extra year of nursery fees 😂

FWIW my friend was born at 23:30 on 31 August. Literally half an hour off being in the next year down. She thrived at school, was Head Girl and is now a senior matron. Hardly a dunce because she was born a bit after her classmates.

For me one downside is that you increase the potential age gap in a classroom from a maximum of 12 months to potentially 16 (or is it 17?) months. Which is huge. I don’t see this as a good thing for teachers or children. Don’t have any answers but that’s my take.

I also think the research needs to be read carefully, beyond the headline data. As it’s been pointed out, the profile of those deferred is not a representative sample…

The 30 free funded hours are available for all deferred children but I agree it’s a privilege to defer financially

Do the studies you’re referencing take account of the fact the deferred children are more likely to be from middle class backgrounds? You’re stating that they have better outcomes, especially in teenage years, but how much of that relates to their class, parental support, home life etc vs the fact they were deferred?

Excellent points.

The studies the government have done are hugely detailed.
unfortunately they find that summer borns are even more likely to suffer with bad mental health as adults. If interested I’d urge parents to do the freedom of information request on the topic as the research is mind blowing

Of course statistics can lie! What a ridiculous statement - It just depends how you frame them. I’m not for a minute saying that people shouldn’t have the choice, but your thread title and comments come with an air of superiority that is offensive to those who (for whatever reason) did not defer their summer born children. In your eyes I should be joining the bad mothers’ club, albeit 12 years late. But I’d like to reassure newer members of the club that it’ll be okay. I knew all about the possibility of deferral but chose not to (for a variety of reasons, including the fact that we just couldn’t afford two sets of nursery fees anymore) and my late-August born DS has just received his GCSE results on his 16th birthday. All A grades, with the majority at the very top grade 9. The idea of him being a school year below is laughable, particularly because he’s always been 99th centile for height and the tallest in every year group he’s been in despite being the youngest. I refuse to believe my DS is an anomaly that defies statistics - I just think you’ve found the statistics to support your narrative. That’s fine for you & I hope it works out for you, but please don’t condemn those who make a different decision with such a goady post.

I deferred my summer born (he's just started Year 3) and when I approached three schools about it, this was back in 2021, they were all fine with me deferring. I do think it is becoming more known about now and so I think schools are now much less likely to try and make things difficult for the parents who choose this option in the way they have done in the past.

I think it will be a long time though before the practice is seen as a normal option. It is an individual choice that parents make based on what they think is best for the child, it certainly doesn't need to descend into a war against the parents who choose to defer versus those who don't. Both choices are equally valid.

I couldn't have put it better myself!

But it's not good news for 7 parents who have children in the correct school year who missed out on a place at that school because of the 7 deferred children.

What’s the point of holding them back a year if the system will put them in year 1 the year after? Might as well give them a head start in reception.
Until the system allows children who have been held back to start properly in reception the year after, then after there’s little point holding back as you are putting the child at a disadvantage by missing reception.

The system is not flexible and super rigid in term birth dates and respectively allocated year groups. It doesn’t take into consideration premature babies, summer babies or slow developing toddlers. Obviously not all summer babies will be behind; I know a boy who was born at the cut off date and he’s top of his class, but cases should be looked into when they are grey.

I have no narrative or agenda I’m purely reading the statistics on this, great your child is doing do well but this may not be the case for all summer borns and now we know more we should give our summerborns the best chance

When deferred they start reception and not Y1

Exactly what I mean about how statistics can ‘lie’. Unless the research meticulously accounts for ALL potential confounding variables then the data is, at best, open to interpretation and, at worst, flawed.

@LondonLady1980 Did you ask secondary schools in your area what their position was for deferred applications?

I personally don’t think an FOI is a responsible move. Data interpretation is an expert task. We all bring our own bias to how we read stuff, unless we’re properly trained. It seems somewhat naive to use an FOI request as the basis of a viewpoint on something so nuanced

I don’t think that 99% of deferred parents are aware that legally children ‘can leave school on the last Friday in June if they will be 16 by the end of the summer holidays’. For deferred children this is the last Friday in June of year 10. They can simply refuse to go back to school and there is nothing anyone can do about it. And another school won’t take them on after that!

Teens are unpredictable, parents may think that their child will never do that, but you simply do not know when they are 4/5 years old if they will be a rebellious/troubled teen.

It happened twice in my local authority in the school year 23-24. They went to separate schools and both found out about it online. Parents tearing hair out, stubborn teens digging heels in, no qualifications and nothing anyone can do about it.

It is definitely something that should be considered, but never is!

Have you yet spoken to secondary schools to see if there will be any barriers to transferring out of age ? There seems to be differing attitudes by counties/boroughs from what I understand.

Policy states that all deferred children stay with their adopted cohort for the duration of their education, UNLESS the secondary school can show how it's in the child's best interest to move them back up to the year they 'should' be in.

I'm not sure how any school could claim it is in a child's best interest to take them away from their peers and make them miss out on a whole year of education.

Secondary schools can't just make decisions around this issue based on the Head Teacher's personal whims or beliefs surrounding Summer Born children, there are policies they have to adhere to.

Please don’t feel like you are a bad parent. My mid August boy started two weeks after his fourth birthday and has already passed three GCSEs with 9s despite only just turning 15 and starting year 11 today - he took his first GCSE aged 13. Holding him back a year would have been a disaster.

I did debate deferring my summer born (early June) because of all the medical challenges she has, but I didn't in the end. I don't think there's a single child in her year who was deferred and it's quite a middle class school. I can see now that she would have found the year below too immature, so hopefully I made the right choice. But every child is different and some are more emotionally and intellectually ready for school than others. It must be unhelpful when they get older though, surely? When there's a 17 year old boy in a class with 15 year olds girls, for example.

Since when has April been in summer? April - August means that 5 months of kids, not far off 50% could defer. What nonsense!

If deferral is right for you child, do it.

Two problems...
Extra curricular clubs can go on chronological age. Rugby actually has to for U11/U12 boundary due to the girls being able to play U12 but not U12 (it actually came up in a game my DD played!)

Also... they can chose to leave school at end of Yr10 without sitting any GCSEs and do alternative training.

However, for most the advantages will overcome those two points.

The government rules

You have a very clear narrative and agenda! Even your statement of ‘the best chance’ is goady because you’re suggesting that i did not do that. I looked at the data - I’m a social scientist and know how to interpret it and plenty existed 12 years ago - I read it and made an informed choice. Deferral does work for some kids, but definitely does for others. The key thing is about choice - but that no one option is best for everyone as you seem to suggest. The statistics are not causal - merely correlational - with a crazy number of confounding variables that can likely explain aspects of the supposedly clear findings.