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.

Teacher here. Each school has a different policy so you need to speak to the head.
My dd is a late August baby and I thought about deferring. Im glad I didn't but every child is different and only you know your son well enough to decide.
As a teacher, you can often (but not always) spot the summer babies, especially lower down the school. But by y3 or 4 its evened out and by y6 there's little difference.
There are also implications at y7. Check your child would be able to start secondary a year late too.

Something that I do think often gets missed on MN is that the class isn’t composed of September / October born children and July / August. It’s a big range, and someone is always going to be the youngest.

I’m a reception teacher. Please don’t do this. He will potentially miss too much and be in a worse position to go into year 1. I’ve had a few children that have deferred and it’s always worked out fine for them! Talk to his preschool and the school for some advice!

Wait a year. You can hold his place. No guarantee next child would get place at this school anyway. Would depend on demand. Consider needs of current 4 yr old

I deferred my June born daughter last year (so she'll start Reception this September age 5).
I know she would be able to cope in Reception last year, but I didn't want her to cope I wanted her to thrive.
She has loved her extra year at Nursery and her confidence has been massively boosted being the eldest in her Nursery class all year.
I always think there's less harm in differing unnecessarily than sending to school when they aren't ready

Absolutely do defer! I did in identical circumstances and it's the best thing I have done. He is thriving rather than just surviving.

There is not a discernible difference between ALL summer born dc and others or none of them would ever get to a grammar or Oxbridge - and they do. Plenty of summer born are just fine. Some are not but some Sept born dc aren’t either. I think boys are most likely to struggle. In the circumstances, look at your dc and his needs.

You cannot hold a place. If it is agreed, he gets taken off the list and his mum will have to reapply in the window next year.

“Someone has to be the youngest” completely misses the point. It’s not being younger than others that is the problem, it’s starting school at only 48 months old that is the issue.

To put it another way, if by some coincidence a whole class was made up of autumn borns and then one Feb born, you wouldn’t see the same statistical levels of disadvantage for Feb born because, whilst they may be the youngest in the class, they’re still starting school at 4 years+7 months and are therefore much more likely to be ready for school.

Besides, even if being “the youngest” objectively was an issue, it doesn’t have to be OP’s child.

Well yes, but if the school starting age was raised to five and so children started the year they turned six rather than the year they turned five those disadvantages would still be there. So I’m not sure it does miss the point to be honest!

If the OP wants to defer I have no issue with that but I do think it’s thrown out on here as if it’s a) automatically granted (it isn’t; the school have to agree) and b) as if it’s an entirely positive action. There are some possibilities that it isn’t and being the oldest in a cohort can present challenges as much as being the youngest.

@Sarah1584 first and foremost 100% accept the place online. If this is likely to be your only chance to get in, take it. Then arrange a meeting with the head and senco.

There is never a disadvantage to deferring, it is always going to benefit the child, even if they would have coped if not deferred, they will do better and find the work easier if you defer them. Being the oldest in a year group is far better then being the youngest.

No, the disadvantages wouldn’t still be there - it’s about chronological age not relative age. The stats are about kids who meet the threshold vs not. Once all kids reach a baseline of readiness then natural ability and other factors would determine their outcomes.

Also yes the school has to agree but in OP’s situation the case couldn’t be stronger as her late August born son has speech and language needs.

I think we’re agreeing more than disagreeing. I have no issue with anybody choosing to defer. My only hesitation is that on here it is often pushed as a logical choice rather than if there is an actual discernible reason for it, in this case speech and language delays.

But I do think being the oldest in a cohort can be problematic as well as being the youngest. It was for me to be honest although there were possibly other factors there as well.

I would talk to the school. In your case I think it would make a lot of sense due to the S&L needs. However, it’s not totally without consequence posters and posters saying there are no disadvantages aren’t quite telling the full story. It can stop him playing sport with his year group, rugby for example are quite strict about playing with the correct age and IDK if that’s something you should even consider when deciding for your tiny 3YO (probably not) but it’s worth keeping in mind because it may affect him when he’s older.

What’s the mechanism to request for a deferred year if you haven’t applied for it with the normal school application? As far as I can tell from our LA guidance, you can only do this before Jan 15th and not afterwards

As a Reception teacher my advice would be not to start part time or in April. That’s not to say don’t look at deferring only you know your child. Starting at the beginning of the school year is really important for establishing routines etc. Being part time or starting in April would mean an awful lot would be missed. Also be aware that in some authorities if you defer you go straight into year 1. Not having all speech sounds is not uncommon at this age. He will not be the only one entering Reception like this.

@Sarah1584 I think many posters are missing the point that deferring would risk losing your place at the local school.

I would generally be very pro deferring (we did it) but I can absolutely see your dilemma. There's a big advantage in going to the local school, and you can't usually hold a place if you defer. Have you checked the cut off distances for the past few years? Is there any suggestion that young families are moving to the area or leaving?

Re the process of securing a deferral - I'd recommend joining the Facebook group Flexible School Admissions for Summerborns (England) for advice.

Also: if you deferred and missed out on your first choice school, presumably he'd go to the catchment school the year after? What's the catchment school like? Actively bad, or just not your top preference?

And remember you'll have to go through the process of getting permission to defer with both your top choice school and the catchment school (and any others he might end up getting allocated to).

My son was a late talker. He’s now reading 3 years ahead. I know it’s concerning - our nursery made a huge issue of it. Our health visitor was a lot more reassuring.

He was born in early September so missed the cut off. I do think he would have been better off in the year above as he gets bored. That said, while he could cope academically, he wouldn’t have coped emotionally, not initially at least. I think that’s what I’d focus on - whether he’s there emotionally. My son would become frustrated at not being able to express himself. He’d get overwhelmed and have melt downs. If yours is more emotionally mature I’d be inclined to let him start.

I do actually think language can improve by being with other more articulate dc. It’s how dc learn when they arrive in the uk with little or no English. It’s often a great learning opportunity to be in YR with older dc. I would, I think, grab the opportunity because there are risks with deferring in terms of getting the place next year and op will need to look at her LA rules regarding deferral to understand any disadvantages.

Back in the day, my August born started in January. She would readily have coped in September but was denied the opportunity. I think most dc will cope and I don’t see anything that awful about mornings only for 1/2 a term myself. Afternoons are quite short, but the school might not agree. Starting in April isn’t a great idea and schools were told to stop this for good reason. The summer borns were hugely disadvantaged as they missed 2 terms of education. Therefore I think, given the advantage of learning from other dc, and the disadvantage of applying next year, I’d probably start him. It’s only April - he’s got the summer to mature a bit.

I would defer. I always regretted not deferring my summer born son.

Sigh.

It's disappointing when teachers continue with the myth that the children can go into year 1. I mean yes theoretically they can, but only if it can be shown that it is in their best interests to miss reception. That's an almost impossible bar to reach, especially in today's educational environment with it's attendance drive. Sometimes it's a battle initially with the school (because like here, they don't know the test they are required to use), but I've not heard of kids being forced into Y1. Same for transfer to secondary school - they stay with their adopted cohort, because it's not in their best interests to skip a year of schooling.

You didn’t need to be rude!
It isn’t a myth in the authority I work. It is a fact. Possibly, it could be fought. I don’t know. What I do know is that parents have asked for it and this is what they have been told by the LA. I’m not saying it should happen. It absolutely shouldn’t. I’m informing the OP that it could happen and she needs to find out what her LA does.

Yeah, LA's often try it on, hoping that the parents don't know the law/guidance on it, but if the parents insist, then they end up back down, because they can't argue that it's in a child's best interests to miss a year's education.