Has anyone had success requesting early Reception admission for a September born child?

[edelweissss]

Just wondering if anyone’s had any luck getting their child into Reception early when they were born shortly after the 31 August cutoff. We completely understand the rules, but it feels tricky when a child seems ready and just misses out by a few days. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s tried this with either state or independent schools was there any flexibility? Also, is it possible to ask for an assessment outside the normal age group, just to see if the school agrees the child is ready, without it affecting the usual application process? Any experiences or advice would be really helpful

Agree.

Local libraries run tons of free events for kids that are worth looking out for- rhyme time, literacy etc. Imaginative play can be free, and art can be made from anything- DD adored junk modelling, for example.

Museums are often free (or very low cost). Our local museum runs kids events all the time, and they get to learn a lot about where they live.

Nature can be found everywhere- even in the most urban places. It can be a zoo or farm, but equally a nature walk through the park/in a garden/other area, or a snail counting/spotting on a rainy day (DD used to love this) is just as good.

Music can also be found all over the place- our local council runs free music events to encourage people to go into town, or there are buskers to listen to. You can also watch a lot of different types of music on the TV, online or on the radio.

Our Rainbows costs £15 a term, whoch covers everything (except a discounted theatre trip each year, whichbis entirely optional). In terms of uniform, it can be picked up second hand, or the leader has donated uniform for those in hardship.

Play dates in the park can be free. Visiting friends can be similar.

You just have to look around you to find ways to engage that don't cost.

it is not possible in the state school system. There has to be a cut off somewhere and it’s 31st August/1st September.

There are plenty of other things you can do with your child to give them a breath of experience.

I have a September born and a July born. For my eldest (July born), I opted for a school nursery. He needed experience socially of a whole class of children for as long as possible in preparation for reception. Turns out my instincts were right at age 2 when applying for a nursery place as he’s ADHD, ASD, Dyslexic. This was before the option to defer entry. I wouldn’t have chosen that either, thinking of the impact this has in Y11.

For my youngest, the September born (who was interested in learning, socially able, confident, could count, write his name and read some words - self taught), I chose not to go to a nursery at all. I preferred a childminder and the odd playgroup she would take him to. I wanted him to have the home and family experience I couldn’t give him as a full time working mum. I also didn’t want him pushed to perform academically before he started school - to be fair, it wouldn’t have been much of a push as he was interested, BUT. I would have hated for him to be bored in Reception (with phonics, reading and maths) and be put off school. This has not held him back in the slightest.

My views about this for my own (very different children) were formed from being a primary school teacher with 25 years experience, the majority of it teaching in and leading Early Years and SEND.

Education is a long game. It needs playing carefully.

She would be at a huge disadvantage against her peers you may think she's ready but it doesn't mean she is . I've seen a fair few parents that thought their children were advanced only to go to that 1st parents evening and they're behind in everything the cut off is absolute and there is no exceptions for good reason .

There is. I posted the government/LA information above. Early admission can be requested.
@YenSon - it is possible within the maintained system, as in there is a system to allow the request and for it to be considered.

Just rare that it is approved.

Squirrel scouts and rainbows will be a very minimal cost and most groups have discretion to waive fees for those in need. And you could quite easily find low cost/ free alternatives to all of the above, but I suspect you don’t want to because you’re just being argumentative.

Most children educated out of year group will have the decision made at a later date.

Many state schools in the UK however have nursery classes that are delivered in a very similar way to reception classes. Some offer 30hrs a week. Children can start soon after their 3rd birthday so get almost an extra year doing phonics, maths, PE, cooking etc. Some schools have set ups where children work on all sorts of things in groups across the whole of the EYFS and some even have continuous phonics groups where the whole of reception, KS1 and a couple of nursery kids do phonics in groups at the same time each day. If you're keen to get your child into a structured academic setting that is conscious of their developmental needs and adaptive to how they may change in the near future these are the schools to look for.

Single private girls school mum here (in charity shop clothes, a 15 year old car and a leaking bathroom before anyone makes comments about the wealthy elite).

I definitely would not move your child up early, it really sets them up to fail. It is a huge advantage not being one of the youngest kids in the class.

I know a parent who put their September born daughter in our nursery for this very reason and it did her the world of good. We often have two or three kids a year who come just for nursery and go back to state school for reception and others who choose to stay.

If you can get them into a private school nursery for the year I would. Don't try to get them to jump a year. My experience locally is that the nursery staff work to set the children up for Reception and it showed with the children who had been at other nurseries.

Some private schools can accept the 15/30 hours free childcare and take childcare vouchers. Mine are at a GDST school (there are 26 across the country) and they take them. It is worth asking. One thing that may be an issue is private school nurseries tend to run on term time only and we have longer holidays. Finding childcare for the weeks when everyone else at school is a nightmare.

For the future, do have a big think about the finances when you are looking at reception onwards. Try not to get seduced before you have done a ten to fifteen year financial plan. The fees were easy to plan for, it's the uniform, trips etc, charity days etc that add up. Our second hand uniform shop is fantastic but if it wasn't I would be spending £750 per child per year on uniform alone. Before the vat, school fees locally were increasing roughly 4% year on year and there is always a huge financial jump to senior school. Also factor into your budget for a cost of living increase too (ie what happens if your 4% mortgage became 8% and do you want to move house because this chunk of cash coming out each month will affect how big a mortgage you can get).

I don't regret a penny and I have skipped meals and the heating to make the finances work, and our annual holiday is three days camping in August (and yes I know I'm lucky to be able to). But the costs were definitely more than I carefully budgeted for and it is a challenge.

So in short, take advantage of a good private school nursery for this year, definitely apply for mainstream school places in the meantime and have a big think about what you want life to look like.

@edelweissss
Wanted to add a few bits for you to consider.
Academic readiness at 3/4 is a questionable thing. Generally - it’s too early to start formal education at that age - and most other countries do it later. UK does is because they don’t have a good and universal provision of kindergartens (combining play and some learning) - the way many other developed countries do.
So - in the UK - 4yo’s are taken into classrooms, given pens and letters. And proceed to take 1-2years to start reading properly and learn to write.
Kids in many countries start formal schooling at 6. They lean the same skills (reading/writing) in a few months because they are much more ready for formal learning.

Accelerated (=earlier) start of formal education in the UK has NO benefits. UK kids do not score highly (or higher) than many developed countries on reading, maths, sciences at ages 7, 10, 15, etc.

That’s the academic bit. There is also a social bit where being the youngest in the year is simply not great for the child. Not when you are the tiniest in primary. And not when you develop way later as a teenager.

There is no rush. Really. Both of my kids read at 3, and were way ahead of an average 4yo when they started reception. Didn’t mean it would have been better to send them to school. One of them was a summer baby - so younger than the most. And the social difference between the oldest (fall born) and summer kids was still visible in secondary.
And don’t forget the gruelling exams they have to sit at 16 and 18 in the UK. Why disadvantage them by making them sit those a whole year earlier than necessary???

Your child is not bored at nursery. A smart kid will always find a way to occupy themselves - create play, draw, make things, read books, etc - which is the best way they develop at that age. Playing is what your 3yo needs - not sitting at a desk getting writing lessons.

If you don't like your particular nursery - change it. But starting Reception earlier is not a great idea.

(you do know that in the US most private school kids are deferred from Apr/May birthdays on - and that is specifically to give the kids the most advantage as they go through school….)

Not trying to be preachy but think about this when they’re in a class with children almost a year older (like us that have August babies). When they get to Y4/Y5 and you want them to still maintain a little bit of innocence it’s hard when some children around them don’t believe in santa, know more about human biology etc. A year is quite a gap around that age. I have a Sep daughter and August twins and by far the easiest ride was for the Sep daughter.

If you pay a private school they will allow it, but why very few children are ready in all areas early if they are academically gifted often their social and emotional skills are lacking, children don’t thrive at a young age if put in institutions hence ebullient in lots of foreign countries children don’t attend school until they are 7.

I am a 4th September birthday. My parents had me assessed by an educational psychologist who said I was ready for school, I’d started writing but forming letters incorrectly so starting school seemed the logical solution. Unfortunately the state sector wouldn’t accept me a year early so I went to private schools until I was 13. By then the state sector didn’t get much choice and I stayed a year ahead. This was more than 30 years ago though so things might have changed. Being a young one in the year had no impact on my exam results. I do not believe it makes a difference but is down to the child.

Thank you so much!

Sounds like going down the route of a nursery attached to a private school could be a good option for you.

I'd avoid going a year ahead though. I say this both as a mum of September child and being a late August birthday.

For my son being older has definitely an advantage, especially from the emotional and confidence side. He was very ready for Reception when it did come round and had a strong experience throughout primary.

From my own experience as late summer born, I did well academically, but I 've thought several times that an extra year would have done me a lot of good from the emotional perspective. Not that starting a year late was a thing back in the 80s!

This came through more at secondary school, where I was the youngest in the year, plus a late developer. It was a private school and it was a nice enough place, but I always struggled with confidence and was less emotionally mature than my friends. It's a feeling and a position that can take some years to shake off.

Many factors feed into this of course, but generally that extra year is priceless particularly in the long run. I wouldn't give it up.

Are they that minimal? Its£8 a session for my dgs at beavers. That's could be 2 or 3 family meals Plus uniform and trip costs

BTW I DID find lower cost alternative thingswhen y kids were small butterss far ess ofthem nw and far more expensive private groups

Depends on the group. It’s £35 a term at our group. We often have a store of second hand uniform that people can access for free (they only need the jumper), and people often give them away on local Facebook groups as well. We subsidise trips and camps (which are optional anyway). And as I said, all groups have the discretion to waive fees where there is a need, which would make it free.

Ours are £30/term - about £3/session, but we have reduced rates for low income families, a stash of uniform and subsidize trips where we can.

Possibly easier to do in private. It's very easy to find out as you have a direct easy access to the head in private. Just book up and ask surely?

In state it's not so easy as I did the opposite to you and dd is the oldest in year and out of cohort. So you will need your thinking outside to box to not forced back into the correct year. I've had a lot of that in state.

Member these kids grow up. My dd will be driving before her peers and legally drinking. Small things really but still things to consider.

Money talks and private schools are struggling so they might say yes. But imo they are wary of lids who will not academically florish and they might worry from that angle. Also if you move to state he might need to repeat a year to correct

My friend did this, however she sent her son to school the year he should have started, (so just before turning 5) and then about 6 months later, when he was already in the system so asked for him to be moved to the year above using the “he only just missed the cut off” argument, as well as the fact he was doing so well (understandably as he was the oldest in the class).

The school had no objections and moved him up and he went from being the oldest in the class to the youngest in the class.

All was fine initially as school isn’t particularly challenging or demanding for the first number of years, but when he reached years 4 and 5 he began to lag behind the other children (academically) and the differences in his emotional/maturity levels also began to be more apparent when he reached year 6. He just generally started to struggle and as a result he stopped enjoying school and didn’t want to go, which then manifested in some minor behaviour problems in the classroom.

My friend started to regret the decision she’d made and asked if her son could be moved back down to the year group he was originally with and she was told no.

Think long term OP.

Research shows that being the youngest in the class can have real disadvantages throughout a child’s education so I don’t understand why you’d purposefully put your child in that position?

My son is October born and benefitted a lot from an extra year at nursery, he’s in the top phonics group and was fully ready for school

Some of the August born struggle (not all though)

Your only option would be moving to a private school for a year as they start a year younger

I'm in this position with my daughter. She's a September born with an older sibling and she would easily pass all the school readiness tests far more so than my late August born eldest did when he had to go to school. However. The statistics are very, very clear about the disadvantages of the being the youngest in the year. Google some of the standard attainment charts. You will see a perfect sloping line descending from a high point of average attainment for autumn born children to a low point of average attainment for summer born children. This disadvantage diminishes as children move through the school system but, crucially, it does not disappear, even at GCSE and A-Level. Of course exceptional summer born children still do very well at school compared with average or below average autumn born children but not as well as they would have done if they had been in the year below. Markers for social happiness, such as statistics around bullying and loneliness are worse for summer born children, and some studies show that August borns are up to 90% more likely than September borns to be on their school's SEN register. This isn't because Virgos are prone to ASD or ADHD, it's because children who may be slightly slow developers socially, emotionally, or academically are likely to cope fine if they are older for their year, but tend to struggle with expectations of achievement or behaviour if they are very young for their year, and to be labelled and treated as having SEN as a result. It doesn't sound like your child is a slow developer rather, like my daughter, the opposite! but it remains the case that you are likely to make your child's school life harder if you send him or her to school early, and given the statistical disadvantages academically even in the late teen years, it could eventually make the difference between a place studying at his or her top choice uni or degree course (or whatever his or her ambition might at that stage be, wouldn't necessarily have to be university related) or not.

Thank you to you and everyone. I’ve decided not to go through with early year admissions. You were absolutely right, and I really appreciate you sharing your opposing views so kindly.

Having had a second born older in the year DC in the year above where they should be due to international academic year group cut offs at later stages of primary and then stay up across various school moves and UK 6th form I would say with the benefit of hindsight don’t go looking for an early entry. You don’t know what you don’t know and at 3 or 4 years old you honestly have no idea what the future holds for them. They may seem ready but hit set backs later. Many social & academic struggles manifest much later. I wish I had done things differently- it’s tricky when you have what appears to be a very switched on in a hurry little one in front of you but honestly, it’s not a race to the finish line.

You’re right not to try. I expect it would be rejected anyway. But as others have said usually being the eldest in the year is academically and socially a big advantage so don’t take that away! I’ve met so many mums over the years gutted their baby came early at the end of August and had been hoping they had a Sept birthday. And now you can actually delay summer born children to start later. I’ve never heard of anyone wanting to put their child in an earlier year.

Plus as they get older, my August born friend couldn’t get her provisional licence when some of us had passed our driving tests, missed out on nights out due to lack of ID etc
Younger when taking exams and going to uni.
Don’t do it! :)

If 2 were born after the cut off whybwould it be 2 being held back, surely it would be the one whobwas born on the cut off day?

For example, I’d guess 2 born on 1 September (2016) and one born 31 August (2016). The August baby would have been eligible to start school in September 2020 being the very youngest and just 4 and the September ones September 2021 when they’d be 5.

Now on the face of it I’d guess most people would instinctively want to delay the younger one so they’d all be the oldest rather than youngest but a year’s worth of nursery for three kids could well have tipped it the other way.