Do you support summer borns starting school a year late?

[Tortycat]

I'm not a teacher but gate crashing this thread as would be interested to hear what those working in education think. Ds is end of july 2014 born and behind in a few ways though no obvious SEN (eg still struggling to potty train, still sometimes naps). I'd like him to start school next year in reception instead, as not only do i think he's not ready, I'm aware of disadvantages for summer borns at schools, especially boys. However the head of our local school seems very against this.

Is there any particular reason why this should be? He's given us none except that its not necessary. I feel like a pushy mc parent but i cant really understand why he's against it

Yes.absolutely and if I could do it all again i would fight my DD1 (Aug bday) daughter starting. She was miserable, tired, not ready for it and I genuinely think it did more halm than good. The school was cra p and made no allowance at all we ended up moving her to a softer school after 1 term and whilst it was easier she was knackered permanently. TBH we began to think it was her. But when DD 2 (Sept bday) started she found it so much easier from an emotional perspectiv e.

Thankfully no lasting issue for DD1 and she is now a bolsh y 14 year old with attitude but I remember those times very sadly. And it was all so unnecessary. X x

The reason schools are unseen is that if a few parents start doing it then suddenly instead of a 12 month gap between the oldest and youngest (which seems massive at 4 - there are kids in ds’s class who were born before he was conceived!) then you quickly get a 14, 16 or 18 month gap.

Add to this - those parents who have the knowledge, skills and finances to fight to hold back are likely to have children who will thrive even as the youngest. It is the August baby with the chaotic parents who are barely coping who needs holding back.

FWIW I briefly considered it with ds but decided against it - partly due to concerns about secondary. And I am very glad I sent him to school! He has positively flown! Two terms in I can’t imagine him still at nursery.

Unkeen not unseen!!!

But surely, someone has the be the youngest?

By moving the cut off. You're just moving the problem along?

Life isn't fair, some kids are clever, some kids are sporty, some kids are creative, some kids are musical, some kids are average and some kids are less than average.

Life is a lottery and the best lesson is the one that teaches us to make the best of whatever hand we have been dealt.

What do you deem summer born though? The last week of August or anywhere June to August?

If the latter then my 29th May dd could be argued that she's nearly a summer born too.

I think we need to stop moving goalposts. Someone will always be the youngest.

Someone will always be the youngest but at least the youngest isn't just turned 4.

In Scotland the cut off is 4 by the end of Feb to start school in August. January and February birthdays very common to defer. Some December and occasional November.

Basically if your child is still going to be 4 when they start school in August you can request they are deferred but the child's needs are obviously taken into account.

There is no issue when going to secondary school.

Do consider not just the educational aspects of being with children who may be 10 or 11 months ahead of your child (if you don’t defer), but also the social aspects of being stuck with a cohort of children some of whom may be 13 or 14 months younger (if you do). That’s a big difference when you’re five!
As the parent of an early-September born child, I often wished she could have been with the cohort a year ahead, rather than the “babies” in her year group. It took a while before some of the younger ones caught up socially; I still think she would have been happier starting at just 4 with older, more interesting children.

Someone has to be the youngest - and of course the classmates birthdays will fall all the way through the year-group. It's not the case that your DC will be only with DC much older - they will be in a range which includes them.

Making the age range bigger doesn't solve the inherent issue that comes with arranging schooling by age.

Mum of mid-July born DS. He had no probs starting school. Yes the older children were generally a bit more advanced- but this had no impact on my son!! We just cracked on. Someone's got to be the youngest....Yr 6 now. Still a bit shy. Lots of nice friends and Working At Expected levels for maths and writing. Working Above for reading, so doing fine academically.

Foundation stage/ Early Years teachers are generally knowledgeable and experienced, and can handle the age/ ability/ maturity range.

Don't hold your child back- they'll be bored stiff after a while, repeating another year of pre- school while their friends move on.

I think it would be much better if we had the flexibility for the last month so that parents and schools could make an informed decision based on the child. I also think that there Should not be any assessment on reception children that is used to measure their progress later on. When I worked with a school all the children they were concerned would not meet expectations were summer born boys.

I would have liked my son to be deferred to next year even when he was a spring baby.

Honestly, he was perfectly capable to do well academically, just not able to sit still for as long as his peers. He has grown up thinking he is a problem child. (But described as very mature and considerate when working with younger kids).

My 2.5 yo is August born and unless she changes will be going at just 4 because she's confident around children twice her size and would probably be quite cocky as the oldest in her year! If she were less confident I would be more likely to defer her - will just try and up her preschool hours in the last term before she goes to school!

I am a summer born child, right at the end of August. I never had a problem. It was annoying that I had to wait so long to get to the age all my peers were but that was all, never affected me academically at all.

My DD is mid August born and starting school this Sept. I did consider deferring it for a year, it was an option on the application, but I decided she would be fine but she is doing really well in terms of development. If I had thought she wasn't ready I would have deferred definitely.

Like a PP said I think it should come down to how ready each individual child is but there would just never be enough funding for that.

I have a 31 August son. He also has ASD and emotionally he seems around 10 years old
However he started school at 4 and academically he's doing brilliantly and has some lovely friends. I don't see that deferring entry would have made any sense.

My youngest was born in late June and started reception this year. I was very apprehensive as we had only managed to get her toilet trained 2 weeks before she started school and she regularly fell asleep in the buggy on the way to collect her sister from school.

She is very small for her age and has hypermobility as well as low muscle tone and the toiletting issues mentioned above. I was very nervous about her starting school and was worried it would be too much for her.

After a shaky first term with lots of toiletting accidents she is now really well settled and doing great. Her handwriting is better than her 7 year old sister. She is thriving in the new environment and soaking up knowledge like a sponge.

For us, starting her in September was the right choice, but you can only follow your gut. September is a long time away. I had serious doubts in the April before my daughter started that she would be ready, but she has grown up so much in the last year.

Good luck whatever you choose.

The criteria for "summer born" is any child born after 1st April, so it's actually very broad.

I have two summer born boys.
My eldest is 28th Aug, who I didn't feel was ready for school, but I went with it. He was fine/ok academically, but very young in terms of emotional literacy, with few friends. I'd only just got him out of midday sleeps when he started. He did start on a part-time basis, and I think that was right for him, only going full-time in the Feb.
I often wondered whether I should have kept him back, beat myself up about it for years. But then, in Years 5 & 6 he suddenly started flourishing, and he has been fine ever since. He's currently in yr 8, and is firmly in the middle/top of his year. We're so proud of how far he's come.
Our youngest has always been ready, mid-July birth, but you would never know.
I do teach a boy in Year 8 who was kept back a year (he is fostered, after difficult formative years). He really hates it, and lacks self esteem because of it, as well as has behaviour issues because he feels he has to have authority over the rest of the class.

So, I think with hindsight, I would say don't keep him back. There will be massive gaps, especially at the beginning, but he will make progress, at the right pace for him. Especially with your support as you are aware of the issues.
I hope this helps.

I'm a teacher. I have twins, born in July, 3 weeks early. They started school a few weeks after their 4th birthday, and, despite looking absolutely tiny next to some of their classmates, got stuck in straight away. They still felt "young" for much of primary school - more likely to be running around playing Harry Potter in Year 5 than talking about pop stars and hair styles (like some of the girls in their year) but are now in year 7 and are flourishing.

DH and I are both August birthdays and have both done well academically. I know it feels weird sending your only-just-4-year-old off to big school but I'm fairly sure, statistically, that most catch up within a few years so that by the end of primary school, there is little difference. Unless there are SEN, I wouldn't delay the start.

My previous message was incorrect. "Summer born" is any child born on or after 1st April.

My son is a late August boy and really struggled during reception. He did a term of year one and then everybody was happy for him to redo reception as he was struggling so much and he has stayed in that group ever since. It was the right decision as now he is in year seven and doing brilliantly socially but still by no means top of the class. He's just not one of those super bright hard-working boys unfortunately but he is a lovely kid and will do ok.

Don’t do it .... it will come back and bite you when he is Year 11. Mother of summer born and teacher for 20 years secondary

Juliej00ls - what's the issue with yr 11? I know they can leave school at 16 technically - is that what you mean?

Never understand your system. In lreland its nearly totally up to the parents. Most schools would encourage Summer borns lto wait another year and if there is high intake there a cut off date eg June 1st. Surely every child is different and l think , especially for dc born prematurely there should not have to be a battle to get what suits the child. As a longstanding teacher l would say its desperate pressure asking a child to do this year what he could so much more easily do next year with a bit of maturity. And we have a shorter day.
Two of mine were summer born and bright and capable but l kept them until they were 5 as they are in school long enough and l wanted them to be oldest not youngest when it came to 10/11. Worked brilliantly and l was never sorry.

It was fine
Agree with comments too about naps and toilet training and size though!
I also did ensure that my kid was sent to a nursery beforehand that prepared them for reception so she has started phonics and numbers so academically it wasn’t too obvious she was the youngest.