Starting in the Year Below

[Cococo]

My DS has had some developmental delay. His fine and gross motor skills are delayed as is his speech, but we believe he will catch up. We are told he will not qualify for one on one help in class or a statement as his understanding and cognitive skills are advanced. I am looking at independents for him as I think he will really benefit from a smaller class size and individual attention. He is currently 2 years old so would start in nursery in September. One of the schools has suggested he might benefit from joining the year below as he is a summer child, so being one of the oldest could be an advantage for him. However I am concerned that there are negatives to this and that he might suffer later on. Does anyone know of any potential problems I might face if I hold him back a year, or is it a good idea? - originally posted this in Education, SEN but saw the thread that there is more traffic here...

Cococo, have you had any proper assesments done, e.g OT and Salt? Do not trust them if they say he will not qualitfy, parents are told lots of bullshit and fobbed off at every point of this journey.
If you hold himc back one year, I am not sure if he could start school in Reception or would have to go into Year 1 - so ask. I know it cam be a problem in transition to high school (if child was kept behind).

Hi Cococo we've kept my DD down for a year and she's due to start school this September. In her case it's made a world of difference -she's going to be far more able to cope with school now and there will be less of a gap between her and her classmates.

However, she's had a Statement since she was 2 and I think that helped us negotiate the deferral. I also don't know how it works in the independent sector.

The reasons we were given by our LA not to do it (even tho they conceded in the end) included:

• onset of puberty being out of synch with classmates (we said rubbish, puberty can happen anywhere between 9 and 14 so irrelevant)
• secondary schools not honouring it so that DD might have to miss her Yr6 in primary or Yr 7 in Secondary - again we got round that by having it expressly written into her statement that she's offset for the duration of her education
• issues if we moved areas with a new LA not accepting a child out of year (not relevant to us since we have no intention of moving)
• she will miss her final year of schooling i.e. the year she turns 19. Something about DC being allowed 3 years for their 6th form but she would only be entitled to 2 years. This we haven't been able to negotiate away but, we took the view that we have no idea what schooling will be appropriate at that age and we'll fight that battle if and when it's relevant.

Not sure if this is at all helpful since your DS situation is different in some ways. Hopefully someone with an older child who's done might be along soon - I'd be interested to hear others' views too.

Hiya. My youngest was held back (at our request) in his first year at school. He repeated that year and then simply progressed with the new year group.

He's now in year 7 - he would have been year 8 if we hadn't done this.

It was the best thing for him. He really needed that extra developmental time, iyswim. There have been no negatives at all for him.

Thank you all. Babiki, we have had OT and SALT assessments - they are the ones that have said he is not a boy who would need a statement. I think he might be entitled to some extra support in school but not a one on one assistant. This is why I thought I should go down the independent school route as I feel he may get lost without help in a class of 30. Had not considered keeping him back a year until a head teacher at one of these schools suggested if - so he would start in a nursery class attached to the school at the same time that his actual year start in the reception class. Not sure how I feel about this so interesting to hear others experiences. I worry that if we ever did need to go into the state sector that he would have to go back up and would struggle as a result?

Cococo, in that case, I think defer, it's a viable option if statement is not likely. I understand your need for small class etc, want the same for my ds.
In my country of origin kids start school when they are 6 and can be deffered until 7...it can make a huge difference. If I don't succeed in getting statement for ds, I will do the same.
I think there are state schools with small classes out there, but depending on the area, it might be very difficult to get into them.

Thanks Babiki - If schools here didn't start till 6 or 7 I wonder if he would have caught up with his peers by then and so not need to go into the year below. It is just because it starts so ridiculously young here that my boy will not have had the chance to catch up yet. But I guess that is for a different thread. Thanks again.