To Defer or not

[SugahQueen1]

Hello…

DS has an ECHP doing well in school but still need support with, his speech, understanding and concentration.
DS will be going into Y1 in September.
SENco have suggested he defer Y1 and stay in reception to gain more of an understanding and better his concentration so he’s more ready than he is now.

He’s a summer baby and the tiniest little thing in his class 😅.

I’m now stuck between a rock and a hard place I know that deferring him is a good thing but I worry about him being bullied or being called a baby because he hasn’t moved up with his current class.
What upsets me even more if that he wouldn’t understand if anyone were to bully him about this.

Has anyone been in any similar situation?

I wouldn’t base the decision on what other pupils may think. I am not saying it will definitely happen or that it is acceptable, but, sadly, if others are going to bully DS they will find something to focus on whether he is decelerated or not.

What I would say is consider what will happen if deceleration doesn’t ‘solve’ the issues. Some decelerate and find that the gap between DC and their peers in the decelerated year still widens and it’s not the solution they thought it would be.

As the EHCP will need to be amended it is quite late to be considering this.

Hey,

We had our EHCP review, so I can decide whether to defer DS or not… so once they complete all the paper depending on the decision we make his EHCP will match whatever we go for.

Thats exactly my thoughts as well if the defer delays him further and he still ‘lacks’ in these areas what do we do then 😕 .. but they keep assuring me that he should and would be able to catch up with his peers.

But I think given the extra time he will catch up and be at a level of understanding by then.
With all the extra support & fundings etc …

They have spoken of other pupils who have done the same and have accelerated but all children are different so who knows.

I regret not deferring my summer born DS when I had the chance. I really wanted to, my instinct was that he needed more time to develop. I wish I had gone with my gut. I'm not saying deferring a year would have been a magic wand , my DS would still have had difficulties accessing learning. So it won't solve all the problems. it's a case of whether an extra year to play and develop and acclimatise to school before Y1 would be helpful for your child right now, for the coming year. It won't remove all the challenges but it might give breathing space. Self esteem can be built stronger when we're with a cohort we are more able to keep up with, and even if the gap widens later on the esteem from those early years can be really important, I feel.

I fully understand … I went to defer in nursery but was too late in doing so.

I do think an extra year to learn and understand would be useful for him.
His use of language has come along leaps and bounds but his lack of understanding may set him back if he goes into year 1 in Sept.

But I think with School and at home working he’ll be able to progress so much better than being rushed into something he’s not ready for.

Honestly I didn’t think it deferring was something they offered in schools

@SimilarToAClockShape you can still look at getting deceleration written into the EHCP now.