Deferring reception until next year.

[diesel10]

We have got a child that will be deferring reception until next year. The parents only reason is that he was born on the 30th Aug. The school have agreed this even though I sent over a report saying that he is fine and very capable of starting school with his peers.

 

Mum wants him to come to us 4 days a week (9-3pm) from September. We have a maximum session of 3 days or 2 full 2 half days. Otherwise parents book loads of sessions and its to full on in preschool to be there full time. Now if I say no to the 4 days she will book a day at his own nursery where he has been going since a baby. What do you think?

[finleysmaid]

_{can i just ask is he going to reception next year or year 1}

[diesel10]

The school have confirmed that he can start reception next year.

Edited May 26, 2015 by diesel10

[finleysmaid]

So if he is going straight to year 1 then you will have to do baseline etc and end of year reporting as per school. Don't panic! It's fine although the base-lining could have a cost involved...it may be that you could tag on to the school system if the child is going there which would probably be the best way of dealing with it.

If he is going to do the whole of his reception year with you then i would suggest letting Mum have as many sessions as she wants! this way you have more time to teach and gather evidence...it's very tricky if they only do a short time with you ! You will need to liaise well with the school so that he is roughly in line with his cohort. Does Mum understand that the school may not have room for him next year if she delays for a year? and does she also understand that she is able to defer entry until Easter if she wishes...which would mean he gets one term in reception and a guaranteed place ?

Deferred places and delayed places are treated very differently and as schools only get paid for the children who are there at their headcount day (in October ) then they are not keen to defer.

[mundia]

If he remains with you for the whole year, then you will be required to do the EYFSP next year for him. You should be able to get advice from your LA regarding this, as certainly in ours we ask preschool to attend moderation meetings if they have children remaining with them but with no additional needs. There will be no legal requirement for him to do a baseline assessment this September.

 

I am sure you have explained to parents the pros/cons of him starting school with his peers and friendship group against starting a year later, and the fact that although he may attend reception 'out' of year group, this may not always be possible throughout his school life, and could therefore mean at some point he has to 'miss' a year. This could have repercussions later on, although some LAs are more flexible about this nowadays.

 

In terms of letting him have 4 days with you, it appears from what you have said that he already attends two places, yours and another. Is this working well for him? If so, he could continue this routine if it is familiar to him? Have parents said why they would prefer him to have all his hours with you? Also you would have to look at your policies if you state a maximum number of hours, as you would therefore be making an exception?

[finleysmaid]

If he remains with you for the whole year, then you will be required to do the EYFSP next year for him.

 

I apologise ...jumping the gun rather there!!!!!

 

 

I am sure you have explained to parents the pros/cons of him starting school with his peers and friendship group against starting a year later, and the fact that although he may attend reception 'out' of year group, this may not always be possible throughout his school life,

 

I thought this had now been rectified and the government had decided that children out of their cohort would stay in their new cohort all the way through school???.

 

 

Sorry ...not a very well thought out response from me.....trying to do too many things at the same time!

Thanks Mundia xx

[mundia]

I think there are questions being asked about permanent deferring but no ruling. It's up to heads and LAS although possibly academies and free schools may be more flexible. Even if a primary school agrees to the child being out of year group, the secondary school nay not oblige, meaning child would miss year 7 and go straight into year 8.

It's important that parents know all this before making a definitive decision that on the surface seems quite innocuous, but could create difficulties later on.

[finleysmaid]

I think there are questions being asked about permanent deferring but no ruling. It's up to heads and LAS although possibly academies and free schools may be more flexible. Even if a primary school agrees to the child being out of year group, the secondary school nay not oblige, meaning child would miss year 7 and go straight into year 8.

It's important that parents know all this before making a definitive decision that on the surface seems quite innocuous, but could create difficulties later on.

we've been having a chat with a parent who has twins born at 28 weeks in August.....so in theory they should be in next years group. Parent however has to pay for childcare at the mo so a full time school place is exactly what she wants! The fact that neither of them are ready does not seem to have occurred to her!

[Fredbear]

Yes I have also read the debate on deferment too, but no outcome as far as I know yet.

This is always a difficult one to call. I think if parents/carers have all the relevant information and still feel this is in the best interests for their child, then this should be respected.

Not sure how you can offer them what they require without changing your policy though.

[lashes2508]

IMO , parents should and do have the right to defer , the law says a child does not need to start school til the term after they turn 5.

I have one who is doing that because his parents chose too due to his health and developmental delay. He turns 5 in August.

Parents are put under unnecessary pressure and although school reception is not as formal now it can be the best or worst for some children.

I am an August baby , I started school at 5 and still did 6 yrs primary and 5 in secondary , my parents ran their own business and had 9 other children , admittedly only 5 of us at primary at any one time.

 

I cannot see why it makes a difference and that no child should miss a school year.

I would personally offer the parent all the days but that's me , I completely agree regarding peer relationships etc but it's like saying no to jam sandwiches , many people said parents should choose .

 

Sorry gone off on a tangent but with 2 of my preschoolers not getting the school they have been having transition days at and with their peer group getting places , it makes you reassess.

[catma]

The school have confirmed that he can start reception next year.

This is interesting - if he is starting reception and not year one I would say you don't need to do the profile at all, as it doesn't have to be done until the child leaves Reception. If they haven't even started, despite being chronologically in the year group, you wouldn't be doing it surely?

In this case they would only have the baseline on entry at age 5 if the school does one and the schools tracking/ EYFS assessments.

 

Interestingly studies recently showed that deferring entry impacted on children's later outcomes vs their peers, they did less well than younger children who started with their peers.

Cx

[finleysmaid]

 

 

Interestingly studies recently showed that deferring entry impacted on children's later outcomes vs their peers, they did less well than younger children who started with their peers

Can i ask where this info came from please Catma ?

From my point of view most of the children we have sent in on deferred places have done better than expected. However i would also say that a large proportion of them have additional needs which might indeed put them at a lower level than their peers for various reasons.... a fact that is often not reported in statistics.

Last year we had a couple defer (as we have a high proportion of children with sen this is not unusual for us) but one of the little girls deferred because her Mother was incredibly ill (and has since passed away) her Father wanted her to be with her sister and to have a stable setting where she was happy. She entered reception in the Easter ...now a year on she is top of the class. Of course i realise there are always exceptions but i still firmly believe that some children are not ready for school at just 4.....or maybe i shouild say that some schools are not ready for them?

[Inge]

It has always saddened me that it all seems hinged on a date of birth and not the child.. If a child starts a year later what real difference would it make to stay in that group throughout the school life.. It could lead to a better education for that child as they were ready to learn - What is so magical about a date. How many defer a place at further education until ready for it.. is that not a similar principal..

 

I was one of those who missed a year at school, starting after my 5th birthday and ending up by missing a year in primary school, being moved a year before all my friends and it was one of the hardest times.. I still remember that year and I was 7 at the time.. I did catch up with the schooling and bounced back but it was not a good time.. I often wonder if I had been allowed to stay in the same group all my education would I have done better.. I would have been happier at primary school , by secondary though there was no difference and it was much better.

 

That said we had a spate at preschool where parents were not giving the correct date of birth so they could try to start a child early.. - Was only because we insisted on seeing birth certificates that it got noticed..

[Jester]

It's a bit different but at the school I was at, we kept a child in reception for 2 and a half terms then started they started to go into Y1 a few times a week and then they transitioned over fully in September and because it was a mixed 1/2 class they were with their peers. This actually benefited this child greatly in the long run

[diesel10]

Thank you for all your replies. I do think we need to look at our 'policy'. It was something that we agreed as staff and is not written down anywhere. We just got fed up with parents booking all the hours and their children not happy or booking and cancelling. Although with the possibility of 30 hours funded the decision will be out of my hands.

[catma]

Can i ask where this info came from please Catma ?

http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6856

 

There was something published recently which I saw maybe through the BBC, but may have been based on this. It would be clearer to say that there was no impact on closing the gap between the children because of deferrig their entry, but I am also certain I read somthing which showed it impacted on their KS1 and later outcomes - maybe in the same way, the gap still remains.

Cx