Scotland school start deferral

[angelopal]

Has anyone deferred school start? If so was it the right decision or did you regret it?
DD has a February birthday so have decide if she goes to school in August or defer until 2019. She will either be the youngest or one of the oldest in her class. Leaning towards deferral but interested in other people's opinions and experiences.

Hi, i see mention of some children repeating a year in Primary, is that still a done thing?

I've only encountered a child repeating a year once in my teaching career. It was late 90s, early 00s afaik.

I'd be extremely surprised (with the inclusion agenda) if it were to happen now.

Thats what I thought @Balfe.

I so wished I had deferred DS (Dec birthday) as he is really struggling (not so much academically but definitely socially/emotionally compared with other children in his year. I know we made the best decision with the info we had at the time but still, the regret is there all the time! It isnt easy to defer a Dec birthday here though but I always wonder if I should have tried harder, or at least tried. And we now have an ASD diagnosis in the mix.

Thanks for post

I know both these children and their families personally. One child repeated P7 last year and the P3 repeater was 5 years ago.

Both kids repeated the year at the parents request, it wasn’t because the school told the child to repeat because they had “ failed “.

Both children now very happy and fitting in better as one of the older children in their year.

We deferred DD1 (Sep birth). She is doing a deferred pre-school year this academic year.

There was a specific form to fill in from the LA. I expected it to be rejected, tbh, and was prepared to head into tribunal. I was pleasantly surprised to hear funding was granted from initial application.

We are now looking for a Kindergarten stage until 7 which is a much bigger challenge. Only one option so far.

We deferred our February DS, never regretted it. If we hadn't, he'd be a year and a half younger than the oldest in his class. He's doing great

If I recall correctly with ds, the nursery and school advised us to enrol for P1, but we made the decision just a month before he was due to start in August to defer instead. Check with your nursery, you might not have to make the decision right now.

i see mention of some children repeating a year in Primary, is that still a done thing?

I'd say in my experience it's unusual. I know of two cases in the last 10 years at the school my kids attend. First was an end of February born boy who started P1 at the age of 4.5 and just wasn't ready. By the end of P2 his parents were at their wits end, they suggested it as a possbility and school agreed. He repeated P2 as one of the older ones but with a different teacher. He did well from then on.

The other was a girl who again at the P2 stage was really struggling with numeracy. Couldn't "get" even the basics and there were all sorts of investigations going on about dyslexia, ASD and other special needs. As part of all that, her parents requested she do another P2 before moving on to give her more chance to grasp the basics. Again the head agreed. I think that girl has has birthday between Christmas and New Year, but I'm not sure.

In both cases I know ... I wouldn't describe the parents as pushy but they're assertive and prepared to fight their corner. Not intimidated by the system or teachers. Well educated themselves and know their rights.

It's far from the norm though, and repeating years is far less easy to arrange than deferral which for Jan/Feb babies is pretty standard in these parts. And both times it's been within the first 2 years of primary, not later on.

Thanks for that info. DS is with his peers academically but struggling socially (part of his ASD). Oh hindsight is a wonderful thing and I feel like I have let him down by not deferring (Dec birthday)

Check with your nursery, you might not have to make the decision right now.

You're right :)

You must register your child in their catchment school with the correct cohort, but you do not need to decide you are deferring until August.

(That's strictly from a school perspective, not sure how nursery funding etc would be sorted).