Should I defer my August-born son starting primary this September?

[Sarah1584]

I’m so unsure on whether to send my August born son to school this September. He is currently having sessions for speech and language, he can talk just in short simple sentences and missing some sounds in words. He will turn 4 a week before being in the following school yr. He currently goes to preschool and loves it, but does seem quite immature still.

I applied for his primary school place not expecting to get our first choice it’s not our catchment school, or the school where his brothers go (we have moved house). It’s in another village much closer than where his brothers go.

I was expecting for him to get where his brothers are also where he goes to preschool, had he have gotten that school I was going to hold him back a year but now we have our first choice I’m worried if I hold him back he might not get that school next year.

We also want our 9 month old to eventually go to this village school.

I am so torn on what to do.

Why don’t you speak to the school, and ask them for advice?

I am going to request a meeting with the school so see how they support summer born children if necessary.

Send him part time til Christmas

This maybe of interest

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b29e5ed915d3ed9062971/DFE-RR017.pdf

There is no harm in keeping him home a year.

I think this would be the worst of both worlds

I feel he could cope going full time as loves his preschool, I just worry he will be left behind as he seems so young still.

do you think if I deferred his start till April the school would then let him repeat reception properly September 2027, meaning he won’t have lost his place

It really wouldn't. he will get used to going every day without being over tired and by January will be clamouring to go all day. Back in the 80s this was fairly standard for summer babies my second did it and it was a much easier transition.

But it does depend if you can put your child first or if you need to work and have to put work first

I’d see if you can have a meeting with the school to discuss it and see what they suggest and how flexible they can be.
You can always send him and if it’s too much for him defer or “repeat the year” .
Reception is very much about learning through play and developing skills, there is a big range of abilities and maturity in every reception class and a good school will have strategies for managing this

The report linked above says summer born children have a slight disadvantage and more so if they delay entry till later in the year BUT those who go part time till Christmas don't have any more disadvantage (they do better than those who wait till Jan to start).

Check what happens if you defer, some schools take them into reception a year later but others put them in P1 which seems counterproductive as they’ve missed a year their peers have had!
also, how are you going to get kids to two different schools?

I deferred by August born daughter and I’ve never regretted it for a minute. She didn’t have any developmental issues but was small compared to her peers and easily overwhelmed by wilder more confident children.

I spoke to the headteacher (coincidentally an august born herself) and she recalled falling asleep in Reception and being upset that she was smaller/slower than the others. She accepted the deferral and my daughter started reception 4 days after her 5th birthday.

She’s now in year 11 taking her GCSE’s and has never been prevented from taking part in anything year group related and like I say I don’t regret it for a moment.

I’ve been teaching in primary schools for more than 25 years. I’ve never seen any discernible difference in ability or attention span between the oldest and youngest children in a year group. Each child is different and is treated as such. If you do decide to defer, make sure your child can stay with the same year group for their entire school career. I’ve heard of deferred children having to ‘rejoin’ their correct year group at some point and so missing a year of education. What does your child’s current setting think about deferring them?
All that being said, you know your child best and must do what you think is best.

Going part time would surely miss some quite important things without necessarily returning to them, I would have thought.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with deferring and the school may be amenable to this (many are struggling to fill spaces) but they would need to agree: it isn’t a given.

That's actually quite concerning given how clear the data is on this. It's not a small gap, especially at reception and ks1 level. Perhaps if you've only taught y6, it's starting to even or by then, but if you can't tell the difference between a typical just turned 4yo and a typical just turned 5yo, that's worrying.

For example, at end of ks1

September-born: ~72–75% reach expected standard
August-born: ~55–60% reach expected standard

KS2,

September-born: ~69% reach expected standard
August-born: ~56% reach expected standard

How can an experienced teacher either not be aware of this or not notice this?

Definitely! There are only be benefits and no negatives. 4 is much too early to start school.

Our son was born last week of August. If I knew then what I know now, I would have 100% held him back a year! Especially if he’s having some delays in speech.
my son struggled with communicating with his peers throughout reception/ year one and he’s only really found his feet/ confidence now.

I would recommend speak with the school. Definitely don’t put him in part time.

Yes I would, particularly for a boy!! They generally just want to be active!!
My son is September born, so happy for him to go into reception. (Not that I really agree with the age children start formal learning in this country!)
My August born daughter went straight into Y1 for various reasons and is doing really well.
A male friend who shares a birthday with my daughter went down a year and then rejoined his correct school year in year 3/4 - he's doing really well!

Definitely defer. There's no good reason not to and plenty of reasons why not deferring is bad.

We deferred our late Aug daughter. She’s now in reception at 5 and a half and thriving. She would have been fine with the academics tbh - she’s above expectations for everything - but I was worried about the social impact for later down the line. Already there are kids chatting KPop Demon Hunters because they have older siblings and I got the sense she would find a summer at 12 when other girls were nearly 14 too much.

I’d love to defer my May boy but I think the big gap would make him stand out too much.

In your shoes I wouldn’t hesitate to defer. Ignore the stuff about skipping a year later - there’s clear govt guidance that it has to be in their best interests to do so - which it never can be.

Join the Facebook group Flexible School Admissions for Summer Borns - there’s a wealth of information there which cuts through the misinformation.

Thank you, I think I definitely need to have a meeting with the school and see what my options are. My reason for not deferring is that we really want our sons to go to that school as it’s a lot closer and a much better school and worry that we wouldn’t get the school next year as it’s out of our catchment and the intake is only 15.

What year group did you teach? That is a completely bizarre take. There is a huge difference in reception between the oldest and youngest that is very apparent. I could have practically lined the kids up in age order in both of my children’s reception classes and I barely spent any time with them. I have one summer born and one autumn born and both their teachers frequently referred to their age when discussing their progress even up to year 2.

Plus there is a huge body of evidence that shows that children who are young in the year are statistically both disadvantaged in terms of academic results and more likely to be diagnosed with SEN than older children.

It’s also not true that deferred children have to rejoin their year group - that may have been the case previously but it’s not what the guidance says. Deferring is increasingly common and children stay in their deferred year group throughout their education.

OP for a boy (boys are typically behind girls in school readiness anyway) who is one of the very youngest in the year and who has communication delays it is a complete no brainer to defer him. Speak to the school about how best to do this - you may be able to defer his existing place rather than reapplying next year.

In this case I would not defer unless your child is miles behind for reception, but as others have said talk to the head teacher and maybe the reception teacher and see what they say.

Currently having this dilemma with my July born son.

For me the benefit of keeping him back would be coping with the demands of year 1. I think he’d be fine in reception but later not cope in year 1. I don’t think it’s helpful to start reception a term later or go part time. That doesn’t give them the benefit of reducing the load once they get to year 1 later.

If my son was under s&l that would be a done deal for me.

Are your older children at the school you want him to go to? As he would get siblings priority…