When will DS start school?

[BikeRunSki]

DS was born in the first week of September 2008. When will he start school - will it be the week of his fifth birthday (eg Sept 2013, so he would be 4 for a few days at the start of the week) or a year later in the week of his 6th birthday?

If it makes any difference, our local authority only has one school intake a year.

Sept 2013 just before he is 5.

Yes sept 2013, he will be one of the very oldest, some will just have turned 4 in August.

Being the oldest is a Good Thing btw.

Just to correct this slightly, he can start in September 2013 but he doesn't have to start until January 2014. It is your choice but personally I'd go for September 2013. You apply for admission at the same time regardless of when you want him to start.

yy prh47 you are quite correct of course, term afte rhe turns 5 is when he should start. In fact of course you could HE and then he doesn't go to school at all .

But certainly I would agree that I would have him starting with everyone else in the September.

Thanks ladies, it's as I thought but then someone told me that he had be be 5 on 1st Sept for him to start school, which made me think that that woudl only happen when he was cvery nearly 6, which seesm Way Too Old to still be at nursery.

I am more than happy with him being one of eldest in year (we know two others likely to go to same school who are a few days older), especially as he is a boy (slower development etc). I was one of youngest (Nov birthday, but French system (of 70s at least) split the year groups on age on 1 Jan) and I hated it! Had various other difficulties, and all in all coudl not read til I was 7!

HE had crossed my mind, although I am not worried about conventional schooling and the local schools.

I'm in a similar situation - do they enter reception or year 1 when they are 4/5?

when do they apply?

how long do you have to be in the catchment??
TIA

sernegeti most children start school in reception (more correctly Foundation Stage 2 or FS2, FS1 being nursery school), when they are 4, in the school year they turn 5 (so when they are just 4 in the case of summer borns; when nearly 5 for autumn borns.)

Some local authorities have a Jan intake for summer borns; more and more are moving towards one intake in Sept. You can defer but I personally wouldn't recommend it.

You usually apply in autumn term a year before you need the place. In our LA it is by December; some LAs have an earlier deadline.

You only have to be in catchment when you apply, as far as I know. I don't think there are any rules about length of residence there - after all, if you have just moved to the area, as long as you are applying before the closing date, you have as much right to a place as someone who has lived there for 10 years.

HTH

Both my boys were born in September, one in 1998,the other 2001, they started State Nursery the September they were 4 going in to Reception class when they were 5.
Has all changed now then?

Now they start state nursery the September after they turn 3.

Just to clarify a couple of points in Clary's answer...

From next year parents will have the right to delay entry until January or after Easter. However, I'm with Clary in that I wouldn't recommend it.

Many local authorities don't operate catchment areas at all. If they do the requirement will be that you are living in the catchment area at the time you apply and continue to live there until allocations are made. As Clary says, someone who moves into the catchment area just before the closing date for applications is treated equally with someone who has lived there for 10 years.

majafa I assume yr boys started in reception the Sept they turned 5? If a childwas born on Sept 1, for example, yes they would in fact be 5 when they started school. In that case nothing's changed.