Should you be able to defer school start date

[Blinkingstars]

Following on from another thread, in England I believe kids have to start school at the start of September year that they are age 4 on 31st august. So the oldest possible child in the year is born on 1 September. In Scotland we have the deferred system, where those born in January and February get to choose. Shouldn’t we just say that if a child e.g. turns 5 in 2023 then they start school in the summer of 2023, or have some other set date rather than parents getting to pick and choose?

yes some kids may not be perceived as ‘ready’ but a lot of parents just game the deferral system to suit them. Want them to be most advanced in the class - best to defer them. Nursery fees unaffordable- send them as early as possible. It can also be a big source of angst for many parents with January / February birthdays. Should they / shouldn’t they. Blah, blah, blah. It must take up endless time assessing deferral applications and appeals in councils too. One of my kids had a child so old he was a deferred September birthday, and was always bored and kicking off in class, (as well as totally dominating school sports days for years).

There is so much flexibility in Scottish schools. Not just the Jan/Feb deferrals. Dd turned 10 this year before some of her classmates had turned 9. One dc turns 11 next month so nearly 2 years older than the youngest dc. All dc can now defer if they are due to start school still aged 4 in my council area - so deferrals from choice from August, but there are still exceptions to be had for older dc too. I hadn't realised it was not all of Scotland but certainly is the case in my LA

Sone rural schools have P1-P7 in one class.

I think Glenlyon in PKC has N-P7.

You can't compare rural schools. The max class size of more than 3 years is 19 kids.

But surely that's the same in small schools with multiple years in one class? The teacher has to differentiate the lessons to the pupils needs.

So you can apply to defer a summer born child in England it's a lot less common then in Scotland but is possible.

DS1 is being deferred and DS2 will be too as both Feb birthdays. Speaking to teacher friends they all say the same thing it's best for the child. I also think they have long enough to sit in a classroom another year of outdoor play is a good thing! Yes I have to pay for another year but I would be paying wrap around care when at school which is more then nursery!

It’ll be really interesting to see if you feel the same way when it comes to studying for Highers and then again when he goes on to university/college/work.

You shouldn't need to pay unless you pay on top of the free hours. Those will still apply

He goes to private nursery and full year so he gets 2.3days a week funded and we pay the rest plus consumables for funded days.

Really? My class in a city school this year is 22. Plenty of multi-composites up at 25. I've taught both. Teaching is teaching. It's harder for planning if they cross a CfE level but P5-7 is no more challenging than P5 alone.

Age is not the biggest impact on ability. Some difference in maturity etc but not ability within a class ( if that's what you're referring to).

I forgot the age cut off was end of February. So that explains the 7yos in p2.

Thanks!

A composite with 2 years is max 25
3 or more is 19. I came across in on a government website.

Your unlikely to get a composite of 3 or more years unless your in a very rural area.
Must be really hard on a teacher to teach at so many different levels.

The thing is where does it stop? It used to be that January and February were considered the youngest but speaking to parents of September to December children now they want to defer so their child isn’t the youngest but traditionally they’d be right in the middle of the school year. As a result there’s more people trying to get older deferrals (children who are already 5 when school starts so March to August birthdays). In 2022 about 100 children across Scotland were older deferrals so were over 6 when starting P1 and it’s expected that the numbers will be even higher this year so you’ve potentially got a 2 year gap in one year group which seems a bit unfair.

There is definitely a thing that nobody wants their kid to be the youngest, but someone has to be.

People asked me if I was deferring DD for being a November birthday, but I was a November child as well so the thought never entered my mind. However with all the problems she's now having I maybe should've deferred her.

From this year any child who is still 4 on the first day of the school year can defer until the next in Scotland.

So a child who's due to turn 5 29th August can defer and be almost 6 next year starting school. They will get full time funded nursery placements still.

The Scottish government openly said they would like to push the starting age up to 6.

If they want to move the starting age they should be transparent and do it. Not leave it to parents trying to do the best for their own kids within laws that date from 1873.

Yes 1873!

I'm in Scotland and the education system is dreadful. Deferring your child is becoming very popular and shows your a good mum watching out for your child. Oh pfb isn't 'ready'. The trouble is. They already start later than England and this is touted as similar to Japan and look how good their education system is. Ridiculous comparison as they are worlds apart.
Also what deferring does is one day pfb is going to get older and suddenly your 13 year old daughter is still at primary school having to deal with her period for years in primary school toilet conditions or there are 13 year old boys using primary school toilets with much younger children/girls unsupervised because they're 'in the same class so it must be ok' and you'd think there was adult type private toilet facilities as a matter of safeguarding but at my sons school and all the local schools there isn't. All the toilets the children use are small, easy to see over stalls and it's dreadful. Just one of my many issues with this ridiculous deferred thing scotland has. Sounds good in theory. Unsafe for many reasons in reality.

DD2 was a deferred November birthday 17 years ago. But it wasn't as simple as me saying "she's not going to school".

We had to get the educational psychologist & education officer at the LA involved after getting agreement from DD's nursery key worker, the nursery teacher & the headteacher of the school that it was in DD's best interests due to her being socially, emotionally, educationally & physically immature - there was no way she'd have coped with school.

It took months to go through & there was no guarantee of funding for the additional year of nursery.

DD1 was a deferred February birthday (leap day so would've been March anyway had she been born in a 'normal' year).

DS is a January birthday but he wasn't deferred as he didn't need it.

It really does depend on the child but I do agree some people use it when it's not really needed.

If I had been deferred I'd have been turning 12 in p7 instead of s1. As it was me and about 5 other girls started our periods in p5.

But what a weird thing to think.

My youngest son is November and we weren’t informed deferral was even an option, he is autistic so maybe it would have benefitted him. But then on the other hand he hated nursery and an extra year there may not have helped much. Now I’m quite glad he has to go back for s5 whereas if he’d been deferred he would’ve had the option of leaving after s4.

My other son is old for his year and he’s always flown at school. Straight As at N5 and predicted same for higher. But on the other side of it he’s going to be old enough to drive, drink alcohol while most of his friends aren’t and there’s not as much fun in doing these things without your friends is there.

Range of academic level within one class is not what makes teaching hard. It really isn't. I've had single year classes with a spread from CfE pre-early to 3rd level. I've had multi-composite P5-7 where every child is 1st or 2nd level.

DD started nursery Nov 19, so she got caught in the covid shitstorm from the march. Even when she went to p1 she was going into an unfamiliar building with people she didn't know and struggled to cope. She's still struggling. I honestly wish I'd deferred her now. But looking back it seemed logical for her to start etc.

DD is a Feb deferral so started at 5 1/2, i'm not affluent, she's not a PFB & I don't vote Tory.
My reasons were she was so so tiny compared to her peers, they used to all pick her up & baby her.
The children she spent most time at nursery with were the ones who were younger.
I honestly don't think she would be the child she is now if I had sent her the year before.

P6 is the norm these days.