Sorry......I know this question has been asked a million times, but when do they start primary??!!

[whippybamboo]

Hello,

Sorry for asking this, I am sure this gets asked everyday. Only i am a little confused as I've checked a couple of web sites and they said different things.

My DS has a June birthday, so he will be 4 in June 2011. Does that mean he could start in September 2011, or can i defer his starting to January 2012.

Also I thought that if you wished then it is possible to defer starting school until the September after the 5th birthday. So DS will be 5 in June 2012, so is it possible he could start in September 2012? Could he not just stay at his nursery?

Thank you for bearing with this often asked question, any light shed on this gratefully accepted.

Most schools have one intake - the september after they turn 4.

Some schools have two intakes (usually september and january) based on birthdate.

legally they don't have to be in school until they are 5.

depends on where you live, different in NI and Scotland to Eng, not sure about Wales

Reception class (ie the first year at school) starts the September after the child turns 4. So, yes, your ds will start school in September 2011. Some schools have staggered intake, so that children start in the term in which they turn 5. Check with your LEA, or the school you would like your ds to attend.

Your child does not have to be in education until the term after they turn 5. But it's not necessarily an advantage to defer it, because Reception provides a very good transition between pre-school/nursery and 'big' school.

I don't recall whether the school has to keep a place for your child if you choose to defer their entry. You can check that with your LEA, too.

At the moment different LAs have different admission procedures. Some have single entry in September others have two or even three (January & after Easter). Parents have the right to wait until the term after the child's fifth birthday which is when education becomes a legal requirement (not necessarily in a school). Under present education legislation, parents may make the decision to either defer or delay their child?s entry into Reception class at primary school.

• Deferring school entry allows the child to begin school at a later date than September but joining their own age-peer group. This could mean anything from missing one term to missing the whole of the Reception year and starting in Y1.
• Delaying school entry is defined as holding back a child from joining their own age-peer group and starting school a year later which often causes difficulty when transferring to either junior or secondary school.

The schools admission code for England and Wales (Feb 2009) for deferring and
delaying school entry states that:
?Where admission authorities for primary schools offer places in reception classes to
parents before their children are of compulsory school age, they MUST allow parents to
request that their child?s entry be deferred until later in the same school year. The effect
is that the place is held for that child and is not available to be offered to another child.
The parent would not however be able to defer entry beyond the beginning of the term
after the child?s fifth birthday, nor beyond the academic year for which the original
application was accepted. This MUST be made clear in the admission arrangements
for the school?

MRZ, that's what I couldn't remember: you can defer entry to a later time in Reception, and the school will hold the place for you as long as you apply at the usual time, but if you want to defer to Y1 then the school will not hold the place for you and you will have to reapply.

A big disadvantage with that is that by the time you apply there may not be space in Y1 at the school of your choice, but which you could have got into in R year.

Wow thanks ever so much for the information. I think I understand a little more now.

MRZ, you are very knowledgeble.

Thanks again

Very much depends on where you live.

Here it is standard for children to start in Reception the term after they turn 4. So my DD, who turned 4 in February, starts next week. They all start FT.

I think it is possible to delay starting until the term after they turn 5, but I don't know of anyone who has done that.