Deffering entry to rec

[Guest]

Hi,

 

We have had a response from a parent who wants to defer their child starting in Reception until the term after they are 5 (which means the child will start in January - a whole term later than the rest of the cohort).

Has anybody had any experience of this before? If so - what was the impact on the child? How did you manage the situation?

 

All advice greatly received.

[Wildflowers]

We had three children going into reception after Easter. I have had positive feedback from the parents of all of them. I believe the impact is dependent on the pre-school / nursery provision though, how well it supports a child's social and emotional skills.

[Susan]

Personally, as a teacher, I wouldn't recommend it.

Why do they want to do this?

[Wildflowers]

Because the parent and preschool see that the transition at that particular stage in a child's development would be disruptive.

[Guest]

I think it is a huge decision to be making and generally we don't recommend this move.

Even one term later into reception puts the child at a disadvantage I believe!

 

Again so many variables not least the child, the nursery experience and the reception class.

 

It's a bit of a minefield I suppose!!

[finleysmaid]

I often have children who defer for one reason or another. It used to be normal for children to enter school over 3 terms of course but now it is seen as a bit odd if you delay entry. I have never yet had a child who has suffered from delaying....it does of course cause some issue for the teachers but if their systems are set up for individuals then this shouldn't cause too many problems ....transition information is important though.

Children do not have to be in school until the term after their fifth birthday....often the parents who delay are those who are willing to spend time with their little ones,,,they often have good life skills and speech at the start of school because they have had more time to mature etc Do you know why this child is going to delay though? why dont you offer some keep in touch days or days when they can come in for special occasions etc try to make them feel welcome and not like an outsider and it will pay dividends later!

[Stargrower]

This has happened to us a few times since the one term entry into school became the norm here (two years ago). Children staying with us for an extra term have always made the transition into school easily and have settled well in reception. One little girl stayed with us until January last year. She had a 30th August birthday and was very shy as well as being tiny! She did her 15 hours with us for an extra term and made lots of visits to school in that time, then sailed in ready and willing in January. She simply wasn't ready in September - she was still three until the week before!

[barcombeplaygroup]

I have had a child that has stayed with me for the whole of his reception year and will be entering school in September straight into year 1. I was a bit nervous about it at the start but there have been relatively little problems - I do have to say that Mum has been brilliant and does such a lot with him at home so everything we do is reinforced at home. We only have him 2 days a week and it has sometimes been a struggle to try and fit everything in - also we did not want to be in the situation where he felt he was being singled out and have had to try different ways around this. We do have a particularly able cohort this year though and all children have benefitted. I only have to get through moderation and handing in his profile scores now - this was all new to me so has been an experience.

[Guest]

Certainly I'd want to know why and immediately i'd be thinking what can i offer to help this later transition to take place? Parental choice is key here and how we support them is too.

Id have kept my babies at home for longer too if I could have :1b

[Guest]

I've attached the latest advice from the DfE about delaying school entry for Summer born children.

advice_summer_born_children.pdf

[korkycat]

Thanks for this. One local school has told parents they must go straight into year one if they delay so nobody has yet although it would have benefited some of mine last year!

korkycat

[finleysmaid]

thanks so much kitkat...we are supporting a little chap at the moment for deferred entry and have been told he HAS to stay in his year group...i will send this info to the school so that we can discuss again!

[catma]

I wonder what happens when they are of secondary school age in year 6 if they start reception in their yr1 year?

Edited July 2, 2014 by catma

[Cait]

I wonder what happens when they are of secondary school age in year 6 if they start reception in their yr1 year?

Yes, I've wondered that too

[finleysmaid]

it mentions that in the info i think that they are classed in the year group not the age group for key stages

[Cait]

So do they go right through the school system a year late?

[Wildflowers]

So do they go right through the school system a year late?

It's explained in the document.

[catma]

So they will have to stay in education or training until they are 19?...think I'd be pretty P'd off with my parents if that happened!!! Still they'd be able to drive in yr 11 which would be pretty unusual.

Edited July 3, 2014 by catma

[Guest]

The school where I work as a long term supply teacher has twin girls who were born at 25 weeks whose parents decided to delay their entry to the Reception class by a year. If they had been full term they would have been in that school year anyway and are both doing really well. I wonder if there's any research about the impact on a child who's been kept back a year throughout School. I was an August birthday so was nearly a year behind my peers through school anyway, as are many other children. The worst thing about it was everyone having driving lessons before me!

[catma]

I was a year ahead. I went to university aged 17 and had my 18th birthday in my first year there as I am an autumn birthday but did all my exams etc a year ahead of my actual school year group!! Would we ever want to put children a year ahead I wonder?

[SueJ]

Thousands of years ago when some sort of common sense prevailed there were three school entry periods during the year - September for the very oldest e.g., 1st September to 31 December, January for the January 1 to March 31 birthdays and April for the 1 April to 31 August birthdays.

Staggered intakes meant that (for those children at pre-school type provisions) each cohort got to be the "oldest" for a few months (which in my humble opinion did loads for their self-esteem and confidence) and each cohort joined their mainstream provision joining classes of settled children who then helped them "learn the ropes". It also meant that there were not the sustainability issues for pre-school settings as there wasn't a mass exodus in July and August.

The cohort block dates were not rigid either and there was also a much more personalised take on borderline babies with children 10 days either side of the cut off dates being individually assessed as to what cohort was better for them. My old man is a September 1 birthday but joined school early as (he keeps on telling me ) he was cognitively so much more advanced than his peers. I also went to school early having just turned 4 (there were no reception classes in those days) so I couldn't have been a complete dolt! :blink:

My son (now 25) joined school when there were two intakes (September for the older ones and January for the younger ones) - from a PSED angle this was the best thing for him (he was a July baby and sooooooooo immature e.g, a very silly little boy) - cognitively he was just like his father - the later entry did him no harm (he now has a Masters).

If you haven't seen it the "batching" method now used is neatly summed up by Sir Ken Robinson in his Changing Educational Paradigms TED talk - the link for which is below (I also link to it via my setting website so that parents can also take note).

http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/2010/10/14/rsa-animate-changing-education-paradigms/

[Beau]

It's all arbitrary anyway! In Scotland the cut off points are different (but there is a lot more flexibility). My daughters are just under 2 years apart in age. When we lived in Scotland the younger one started school just a year later than her sister. Now we are living in England they are 2 years apart in schooling.

[catma]

Well indeed. In any year group there will be older and younger. Some younger will be less advanced or more advanced, ditto with the older ones.

Someone has to be the youngest or oldest however you do it!

Cx

[Rea]

Does all this work differently if the child is kept from starting Reception due to there not being a place?

One of our nearly 4 year olds hasnt got in at the school his mom wants so she's keeping him off in the hope a place will materialise between now and Yr 1.

Does school or the LA look differently at it? Does she need to tell them officially she wants him to remain with us and her reasons for it?

[finleysmaid]

Does all this work differently if the child is kept from starting Reception due to there not being a place?

One of our nearly 4 year olds hasnt got in at the school his mom wants so she's keeping him off in the hope a place will materialise between now and Yr 1.

Does school or the LA look differently at it? Does she need to tell them officially she wants him to remain with us and her reasons for it?

we have had this before...she is playing a bit of a dangerous game im afraid! the Lea may decide because she has refused the place that they will not deal with her until next year so the child may stay with you for the whole of their reception year (without you knowing which school they are transferring to) that will mean you have to do the profile scores and submit them and that you must plan for their learning over the year to the ELG's (this is not necessarily a problem but it can be tricky when they only attend for 15 hours)

[cjules]

I have two summer-born children whose parents want them to stay in nursery for another year. The parents have not yet established what school the children will join next September or whether they will join a Reception or Year 1 class. I have had some experience with children with Special Needs staying on for an extra term while they do a slow transiton into school but not with children staying an extra year.

What is my responsibility as a teacher? Should I be teaching them a reception curriculum or assume that this is not what the parents want and continue to follow the children's lead?

[Wildflowers]

You continue with the EYFS, providing learning towards the ELG. We had a child who stayed all of her last year of the EYFS and we continued beyond the ELGs as she was exceeding in some areas.