Deferred child at school

[Maries88]

Hi
Has anyone on deferred there child starting school? My summer born child was meant to start school this year but I deferred it till next year however I am.now thinking ot wasn't a good idea and thinking of maybe starting him after Christmas? Has anyone done this? I am not sure what to do. I think he is going to get board if he doesn't start till next year but isn't just yet. Will there still be spaces

He has missed out on everything that is done in reception to settle children into full time school. I would leave it until next year now so he has that opportunity and isn’t at a disadvantage

We deferred (related to medical issues rather than on principle), and it was the best decision we've made.

I definitely wouldn't suggest joining part way through. With phonics they learn a new sound every day, so they'll be at a massive disadvantage, having missed so much.

I would suggest starting either now. (ASAP) or next September. Purely because this first term is massive in terms of laying down the foundations for learning in Reception. For example, if you start after Christmas a huge chunk of phonics will have been missed, which means that your child will be feeling "behind" from the start which isn't ideal. It is really important to build a positive learning experience. Also, lots of friendship groups will be solidified by January which might make it a little bit harder too.
One thing I would say is that many summer born children manage really well in Reception. Try to choose a school with lots of play in the curriculum. Sadly not all schools value play as highly as they should.

I did speak to school today who suggested starting October half term

Half term is definitely better than January if they can't get you in earlier. Other than being summer born are there any other reasons you chose to defer?

Otherwise, if you ultimately decide to defer, just make sure it isn't a case of going straight into year 1, because that is the most difficult scenario.

Why not wait until September though? There shouldn't be any reason for him to get bored any you say you don't think he's ready at the moment.

I've seen so many boys at my children's school (and it is almost always boys seemingly) who started before they were ready and ended up with many years of issues, school refusals, struggling academically etc. There is very little downside to deferring.

They don't do that any more.

@Babyboomtastic Yes they do. See attached. It depends what you ask for and what’s agreed. If op waits, the place could be taken for YR. A child in care or with a higher ranking in the admissions policy could get the place ahead of op. I’d try for next week, not after half term!

Plenty of summer born dc are perfectly ready for school!

He might not get into that school, they'll be decided using the admissions criteria just like this year.

But the likelihood of him going into Y1 is tiny because the onus is on the school to argue that missing an entire year of school is in that child's best interests, ie that reception is worthless.

There is research to suggest that deferring where possible produces better outcomes for the child. Additionally, in some of the most successful European countries, school often doesn't start until age 5 or 6. So not a bad idea at all to wait until next September :)

Is your little one in preschool or anything in the meantime?

If you have made the decision that he’s ready there is nothing to gain by waiting. Get some uniform and start him next week if the school will allow it.

What has made you change your mind? What will he be doing this year if he doesn't go to school?

@Babyboomtastic I posted the deferred entry rules for my LA. It’s clear it’s y1 if there’s a space. Delayed is different and of course dc can miss yr. I’d still grab the YR place asap.

No, you're getting delayed and deferred entry mixed up. Delayed is where you joj on the chronological age group just later (theoretically in Y1, but usually Christmas/Easter reception) or deferred, where you start in reception a year later.

It's not upto the school which route you take and the school can't refuse a reception entry if they meet admission criteria (catchment etc). Sometimes they try, but I've never heard of a case yet where they haven't backed down on being challenged. As I said, they'd have to show it is in the child's best interest to miss reception...

The child here was planned as a deferral, so the above applies.

I would definitely get him in in October half term if you can. The sooner the better.

the data that referring is better is currently very skewed as we don’t yet have the data of children going all the way through school to sixth form. The first cohort who were allowed to defer are 17. Signs are appearing though, anecdotal that all the advantages are at the beginning of school life but not at the end.

I deferred my summer born son. He wasn't ready. He really matured in that year and went in fine. He was absolutely fine and thrived. I wish I had done it with my summer born daughter who is a few years older.

I wouldn't be afraid to stick with your original plan. However starting now, October or Christmas will likely be fine. I would teach some phonics if starting Christmas. Begin with S A T P I N and buy some early books. Use Oxford owl videos to support you.

I think deferring would be fine. Not necessary, but fine. But I wouldn't have him join mid year.

I think starting mid year would really disadvantage him. Massively more than being young for the year, or now being old for the year (next year) would. He'll have missed all the settling in stuff and all the first bits of work. Plus won't have been there when everyone was first making friends. If he was maybe going to struggle to keep up starting in September, then how would he cope in January when not only is he still younger than most of his class, but they are doing work that builds on something they did in October, that he wasn't there to even try to learn?!

@Babyboomtastic I attached the details from my LA. Maybe you would like to read it. It clearly says you would reapply for a place in Y1. It could not be clearer.

My daughter ended up being a September baby. But I would have deferred her had she arrived August. She needed the extra year.
depends on the child. They won’t be bored. Pre school is there and they will benefit in the long run from being at home an extra year. No stress. More common than you think

Per the screenshot above, the terminology is being used wrong. Delay means they will start reception a year later, which is the recommended option.
In the past only referrals were permitted where the child would go straight into year 1.

@Maries88 If it was a referral, then I would say it makes sense to start asap if you having 2nd thoughts about going straight to year 1 next year, which would likely be tricky. However if you have got approval to delay his entry to reception, then all the statistics show how much better it is for kids to start later, particularly for boys. It's not just the Reception year you should consider, it's when that jump comes going into year 1 when there is reduced free time and again in year 2 where there is almost no free play. A year really makes a difference when they're young and you can tell who the older kids are in a class. I dont know your reasons for holding him back in the first place but consider his emotional and physical readiness not just academic.

Is he at a preschool attached to the school he'd be attending? Honestly I'd speak to them about it. My ds is an august baby and just started reception, it's a small school so I had a big chat with the reception teacher about his school readiness and she said if he wasn't coping he could do afternoons in preschool or just do mornings for the first term etc, basically that we'd find an option that works for him. As it is he's been fine, but it was nice to have the reassurance that they could be flexible to suit his needs.

They will have done a lot of settling in by now but he might be able to catch up, like I say, I'd speak to the school and see what they think. I'd avoid leaving it until after Christmas though as they will have done lots of phonics etc by then.

Could he start on Monday. I can't see any reason to delay at all, if you are set on him starting this year.

My child was not ready for school and we looked at deferred entry, be careful. In our area the primary school were happy for our daughter to be deferred however I was advised by the head teacher they could not guarantee the secondary schools will accept this. I emailed around to 4 secondary schools in our area and 3 out of the 4 said they do not accept deferred entry and my child would have to go from Year 5 to Year 7 or Year 6 to Year 8 when starting secondary. They have had appeals in the past from children who had been deferred and all were declined apart from one which was deferred due to medical reasons. Just a warning!