Any right to request my child starts in September?

[Beingnicemummytomorrow]

The school my DD1 has got a place at have a January intake for summer birthday children, which applies to her. Have I got any right to ask for her to start in September? She seems really ready/eager for it, and her preschool friends are all starting in September. I'm just worried that all the friendship groups will be set up by the time she starts in January, and the new govt regulations which come into force in 2011 (when schools have to offer a Sep start)implies that late starters do have a bit of an academic disadvantage.

I'm not going to lose sleep over it, but does the school have to consider a reasonable request to take her early (or conversely, are they not allowed to be flexible about it?)

The local authority sets the criteria so you would have to appeal to them.
I know how you feel - we were in the same position last year. All DD's friends left nursery to start their primary schools in one county in September, DD had to wait until January because we are in a different catchment. However, she has been fine and has made lots of friends since she started. At least 50% of the reception class started in January so all the frienship groups have become mixed up anyway. It hasn't been the problem I thought it would be.

In our LEAS, Surrey, each school set their own critera. I have always found our HT ameanable to requests however ours all start in the first half and are full time before Christmas so not a huge difference IYSWIM.

They wouldn't consider it for a friend who misses the cut off by 4 days!

You can of course ask, but I doubt that they will agree as if they do for 1 then they would have to for all who asked.

There is absolutely no reason for not allowing your child to start in September other than it disturbs their carefully laid out plans!
So demand that they take your child from September.

i think actually they can refuse. because your child doesn't have to be in school at all until they are 5, so i don't think you can insist they start earlier.

i h ad a similar problem and got a right flaming on here for being pushy!!!! my son was on half days from september to december, and he was very unhappy and desperate to go all day, which school had said they absolutely would not do.
i asked on here if i could insist and was given a resounding NO! in response

What an odd post admission - you concede that each authority has carefully laid out plans (based on budgets, class sizes, staffing etc) yet say that such plans should be thrown to the wall if an individual doesn't like it.
As I said, this was the case with my daughter this year, but it is just the way it is - when did we start seeing full time state education for four year olds as an entitlement???

Thanks for all your responses - will put in my request but prepare myself for disappointment...

I'm sure I'll manage to get myself all worked up about it and then get to September and feel relieved to postpone the big moment of letting my first one go...

It isn't so much the school's policy it is down to LA funding. If the LA operates on 2 or 3 intakes a year then they probably wouldn't fund a full time place in a reception class.

There is no statutory right to "demand" the school takes your child in September (as you seem to gracefully accept).

Although I think UK school admissions are generally a mess I am beginning to have real sympathy for the people who have to deal with parents who are so keen on DEMANDING what they WANT rather than accepting what they are entitled to or campaigning for change where they feel the system is unfair.

Our school is flexible, so around three of the summerborns were full time from September this year, by parental request. Two more tried it, but were really not ready and the school sent them part-time. One parent was furious as it was inconvenient, but the child was a mess in the afternoon and very unhappy.

I do think the government need to ask for a consistent approach from LEAs.

At the moment in one LEA a summer born child would not be allowed to start until January yet in another, a parent requesting that their summer born child not start until January would be turned down and told it's September or nothing.

Good luck

I think the situation dates back to "free" nursery places for all four year olds. Some LAs used excess places in reception classes to fulfil the obligation rather than build nursery schools or create new nursery classes.

Brogan your last point is not completely accurate. Any parent can keep their child out of school until the term after their 5th birthday so they can start late at any time.

my dd's school have 2 intakes. She fell into the Jan intake and IMO it put her behind very littel acedemically, but friendship wise it isn't very helpful. Luckily for me dd is very chatty and outgoing so was ok, but the Sept intake called the Jan intake the little ones/new ones/morning only children for quite a while. She is now in year 1 and things have evened out. BUT if I had my time again I would've pushed for her to go sooner. Her pre-school leader said she was bored at ever session from Sept-Dec and she even said that maybe dd should've gone to school in Sept, but I didn't want to be the pushy mum so didn't ask the school.

However, since dd started school I did find out that one parent insisted her May dd started in Sept(our school cut off end April to start in Sept) the same mum now has her 2nd dd starting in Sept who is also a May bday and they have again agreed she can start in Sept.

I'd say give the school a ring, they can only say no.

Clemette, yes, a parent can legally keep their child out of school but if a school has one intake and the parent of a summer born child does not start that child in the September then the school do not legally have to keep the place open for them.

So parents need to weigh up whether to send their child in the September or risk losing the place.

I think that if a DC starts school in 2011/12 then there is full flexibility.

(No good for you OP I know).

Thought that people might be interested in this summary from the DCSF website.

Have a look at the section entitled "Four-year-olds".

OP - I wonder if you could use the fact that this will be the law for the next intake to try to persuade them to take your DD in September?

This should not be about funding, it is what is best for the child. If the child is a summer baby then there could be good reasons for keeping them out of school till January.

If you are allocated a place at the school, then that place will remain open for your child till it is taken up at the right time in the reception year. That may mean that the school have a class of 30 children but may only have 10 or 15 starting in September. The school has to have a teacher in place by law for the class, the only question mark about staffing is how many teaching assistants they may have in the Autumn Term and how many they may have in the Spring Term. The funding for this period from September through to the end of March is already in place in the school because it is based on the numbers in the school the previous January.

There is however an absolute reason why the school wants your child there in January, because the funding for the next 12 months from April onwards is based on the number of children in the school on the specified date in January.

Which is why I say that the parent should ask for the child to be admitted in September, if they are really ready for school. Admission in January should be based on when it is best for the child, not when it is best for the school.

But how does a parent know if their child is ready for school until they start? Schools should be run as a collective, not to suit the needs of the PARENTS.

How annoying OP.
clemette, a parent is far more likely to know if his/her child is ready for school than an LEA admin on the basis of the child's date of birth! and it doesn't sound like OP is worrying about her own needs but her DD's.
My DD is summer born yet she will be more than ready to start in September. Fortunately this policy does not apply to us.
Definitely worth a try OP.

My point is, no parent knows how their child will respond to school until they get there. There is no evidence that children NEED to attend full time education at four, or even five; indeed the Scandinavian model is much more evidence-based.
I sympathise with the OP, as I said I was in the same situation last year. "Academically" my daughter was ready to soak up knoweldge, but socially she has struggled with the rough and tumble of the playground. I was convinced she was ready but can see that there are advantages to her having started at almost five instead of just four.
My comments about own needs were nor directed at the OP, but at posters who advised "demanding" things from the LA that they have no "right" to demand.

brogan my ds1 is a summer birthday and had to go into reception aged 4.1 yes, legally he didn't need to go until year 1, but there would have been no place for him.

It was very tough for us all. He was way to young to be at school.