calling all mothers of children born in late july/aug

[kissmummy]

My DS's birthday is 27/7/7. So at the beginning of the school year in August/Sept 2011 he will have just turned four. Is he supposed to start school then, or the year after, when he will be just over five? Do we have a choice? does policy on this vary by area? DH feels strongly he doesn't want DS to be the youngest in the class. I'm quite laid back (at least in theory) as my ignorance on this subject probably suggests but feel i better get my act together and do some research on the subject. I read somewhere that legally you don't have to send your child to school until the age of five, which would suggest we could wait a year?

I think you are right but ds would then start y 1 instead of reception and still be the youngest. dc3 is also late July but happy for her to srat. Our school is quite laidback.

You could wait a year but he will go straight into year 1 , which is a BIG step from reception for some children.

Someone has to be the youngest in the class , my youngest is an August birthday so he started school 4 yrs and 4 week. One week into school so,eone had their 5th birthday party !

You could have a choice to start him in reception a yera later if you went to the private sector for scholing but in the state side you will have no hope.

Different schools have different admission policies. For community schools, as a rule, the local authority is the admissions authority. A lot of faith schools are their own admissions authority, although mostly they will still adhere to the same policy as the authority.

In 2011, the admissions process to reception is due to change.
This is to put in place the expectation that all children will start reception in September.

At the moment, some schools insist on this, some don't allow it, some are in between.

At the same time, schools will have to allow parents to start children in January or April if they want - and funding will be available for pvi places if you want your child to do this. (obv, this is under the current govt)

As posted, putting it back an entire year, would mean you start in Y1 - unless there is a specific SEN.

Speak to the school about it, once you have a place. There are other types of flexibility - short days are fairly common.

My DS was 4 on 23/7 and so started school last September during which time he has changed school as we moved. I shared the same reservations as your DH but I have been very impressed with both schools and their appreciation of the difference between the older and younger children.

DS has taken it all in his stride including the move and really enjoys school.

I have a friend in the same situation of you this year. She has approached the headmistress of the school he will be going to in September and has questioned the idea of her DS starting a year later. The headmistress says that he will not go straight into Y1 if her DS does this, he will start reception a year later and be the oldest in the class. The problem will come when her DS and the other children realise he is in the "wrong" year group. She has discouraged my friend from doing this.

My DS is Oct bday ( He's YI now ) but DD is Aug. Our local school has a split year system, so the March to Aug birthdays start in Jan. She will still be wee, but not quite so wee - she starts Jan 2011.

I would agree with the other posts re the jump from Rec to Y1 being big. Rec in our school is really just an extension of kindergarten with lots of play. Y1 on the other hand is full on, reading, spelling, maths, science etc.

I also note that for my DS a lot of the friendships he formed early on have stuck.

There is a boy in my DDs Y1 class (state faith school) who has an August birthday and is the oldest in the class. The other kids wouldn't think anything of it, they don't realise that 1st September is a magic date.

I think going straight into year 1 would be a massive mistake, as reception seems to be halfway house between school and nursery so missing that would not be ideal. Also in reception there will be different expectations from different children.

I think it depends child to child - you haven't indicated whether you have any particular concerns about your son other than his age. Bear in mind there will be other children in the class with summer birthdays too.... in DDs class lots of May/June/July/Aug kids - seems to be more than half the class!

I know someone who held their son back because of August birthday and he was top of the younger class, and then the school put pressure on her later on in primary school for him to skip a year.

Haven't read all the other posts as dd is getting grumpy with me but my ds's birthday is 31/7 and he is now in year 2. He is in the top group for all subjects and in the top three for maths (he has additional work to do) so it really hasn't had a negative impact on him. I think where he struggles a little bit is where as they get older they are expected to do a lot more independent work, but he lacks the maturity to knuckle down and do it. We did consider keeping him out of school until the following year but with hindsight we are very glad we didn't. He struggled to settle in during year R at first but by the end of the year he was fine. Year R isn't particularly difficult in terms of work, it seems to be more about getting used to the idea of learning and the school environment. I would worry that a child who missed out on the settling-in year would struggle in year 1 when they do work much harder.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling but I am currently have wipes and nappies thrown at my head.....

Dd (5) has a late Aug birthday and started school days after she turned 4. For her it was the right decision to start - the school were quite willing to let her come home early on the days she was tired. I also agree that reception is a very important, fairly low key year which is great for settling in. I think many children would struggle if they went straight in in Yr 1.

Hmm - you may be right, Riven about that. DD is a July baby and she just acts so young. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about her.

DD2 birthday 25/8 so the youngest in school at the moment. She loves it and was more than ready to start. But I think we are quite fortunate that our school staggers full time starting so those with birthdays sept-dec start full time straight away, while the rest do 1/2 days. DD will not start all day until after easter so pretty good compromise. She now can't wait until she can stay for lunch.
(although a huge pain to have to traipse to the school and back 3 times a day)

Your son currently legally has to be in school the term after his 5th birthday, so in your case, the September after he turns 5.

But, as the others have said, he won't then be the eldest in reception; he'll almost certainly go into Yr 1 as the youngest, so your DH will still have the same issue. Also, he'll have missed the transition reception year, and Yr will come as a huge shock!

He's unlikely to be the absolute youngest anyway - there will probably be at least one August baby in a 30 child class.

Talk to your school about how they ease the children in. Ours, for example, does half days for the first half term.

drivemecrazy - 25/8 is my birthday too, so I was always the youngest in my class just like your DD!! And I ended up at Oxford so it didn't do me any harm .

I have two late July DDs. The older one is in Y8 now. She had always been top of her class (she is dyspraxic but academically gifted) and has had no difficulties socially although many of her friends are September/October birthdays. The only thing she complains about is that they are all teenagers now and she won't be one until July!
DD3 is in Y3 and has had no problems either academically or socially either.
I agreee with Riven, we parents do worry a lot about it. I would have loved DD3 particularly to have another year in nursery, but she was more than ready for reception and she loves school.

dd is 26/7 birthday and started nursery class just after turning 3. she loves it.

rules round here are that if you hold them back until the term after they turn 5 then they go straight into year 1. that would be a disaster IMO - friendships and routines would already be established and you'd be throwing a child with no clue about school life into the thick of it.

someone does have to be the youngest - it's not the end of the world? statistics are not in their favour but with the right support and approach they should be fine?

Your DH wants to put off starting school for a year and have your DS still go into Reception so that he will be one of the oldest in the class. I'm afraid he's going to be disappinted.

By law your DS must be in school from the start of the term following his fifth birthday, which would be September 2012. So yes, you can put off starting school until then. However, your DS would then go straight into year 1, missing Reception completely. So your DS would be with exactly the same children as if he'd started in September 2011.

Your DH is just going to have to put up with your DS being one of the youngest in the class. There is nothing you can do to change that short of educating him at home or sending him to a private school.

If your DH insists on waiting a year, you will find that your choice of schools is limited. Reception is the normal year of entry (i.e. September 2011). The school won't hold a place open for you for a full year so, unless you take up a place in Reception, many schools won't be able to take your DS into year 1.

Reception is very similar to nursery with the emphasis on learning through play and getting the children ready for the transition to more formal learning in year 1. I would agree with 50ftQueenie that a child who misses Reception may struggle in year 1.

I have two summer born DDs. DD1 (now 4, born late May) started in September, and is noticeably "behind" some of the older children, who have mostly been in the early years group in the same class room since Jan 09 (it's a small village school). It's not ideal, and I do have a heavy heart about DD2 going off to school when she is only just 4. Spookily, she shares here DOB with your DS - 27/7/7. But it's just the way things are, and better than the alternative of holding them back a whole year, I think. And having said that DD1 is "behind", I mean with her reading and maths - lots of the stuff they do is largely creative and imaginative and she can share in that as a complete equal with the older kids. And she is generally happy - gets v.v. tired, though, and has had quite a lot of absence for minor but debilitating bugs.

my DD is was born 08/08 so was just 4 when she started reception. I had the same concerns as you OP, but my LEA's policy was either

a) start reception
or
b) start Yr1 the following school year

DD was entirely average from a developmental point of view although she was pretty confident (which helped allay my niggling fears a little). I chose to go with option a) and put her into school at recption level.

My main reasons for not keeping her back were that I felt that it would have put her at a social disadvantage to put her in at yr1. The other children in the class would have known each other for a whole school year, built bonds, made friendships, formed their little groups and DD would have missed that and possibly found it harder to settle in AND still have to face the academic side of things too.

BTW, forgot to say DD is now Yr3 and is doing well. Her reading is on the better side of average, her literacy is average and her numeracy is improving (she is on the weaker side of average) and she is confident, happy and has lots of friends.

Your child will always be one of the youngest in his class whether you delay or not.

I have an August born child and tbh I think it depends on the child not their birth date. Mine is doing fine as is very bright. If I imagine my youngest had started at the same age his sibling did he would have been very tired and also probably missed me a lot more as he is a rel mummy's boy.

Seeing the difference between reception and year one twice I would recommend you do not delay and send him straight into year one.

You need to find out how the school starts the children off as the younger children might only do mornings until January anyway.

My dd started reception last sept & is the youngest in the class. In so many ways she does seem to be so young compared to the others, half of the class are 5 already. I found what she struggled with & still does at times is with being full time, she's so tired & we had many weekends when she was fit for nothing as was exhausted from school. Our school wasn't keen on my dd doing ocassional half days as she has had a few struggles with friendships so may find it harder mixing. Educationally wise she hasn't struggled & loves the learning part of school it's the playtimes & lunchtimes & free play times she struggles with. This may be down to her personality rather than her age, she is quite sensitive & sometimes just too nice when playing with others & gets upset when it's not recipricated. It may be a good idea to speak to the school in advance & ask them where they stand regarding half days & more of a gradual inroduction to school.

My son (summer born) started in the September when he was just four.

He attended the attached pre-school from 9am until 11 am. After break he joined the reception class for an hour, stayed for lunch and then came home. After half term stopped going to the preschool, so went straight into reception and stayed until after lunch. Started full time in the January.

I was really worried about him starting school so young but, honestly, it was fine. He was ready and wanted to go full-time by the October half-term.

Oh - I should add that it really does depend on the child.

My son is a pretty immature summer born and coped well.

I have summer-born neice/nephew twins. The boy very immature for his age. He surprised us by really coping with school well and went full-time quickly. Apparently he coped better than is autumn born older brother. My neice, who we thought would cope better ended up being on half-days for the whole of reception (private school - not sure my son's state school would be that flexible!).