School starting age, please advise

balletshoes

Let us know how you get on today with the LA OP, good luck with it.
I have to say, in my daughter's school, reception year is a formal year at school, yes theres lots of carpet time and learning through play, but even in that year they set up ability groups for reading, writing and counting etc. She was in full time nursery for 2 years before going to school for her reception year, and she was more than ready for the challenge of school.

balletshoes

mummyplus3 wrote: »

Sorry to thread-jack op!

My daughter is 4 in December 2011 when will she start school? For some reason I thought it would be Jan 2012 but I think it's actually September 2012 is that right? and in that case when do we have to start applying to schools, I'm about to move into a completly different LA.

I didnt want to start a new thread!

she'll be one on the older ones in her school year, her school year intake will be September 2012 (if you live in England).

mummyplus3

balletshoes wrote: »

she'll be one on the older ones in her school year, her school year intake will be September 2012 (if you live in England).

Thanks

Do you think its better for her to be starting as one of the oldest in the year?

I've heard its better for them to start later but I'm not sure!

balletshoes

mummyplus3 wrote: »

Thanks

Do you think its better for her to be starting as one of the oldest in the year?

I've heard its better for them to start later but I'm not sure!

In reception year I really don't think it makes much difference. My DD has an April birthday, so under the old 3-term admission system she wouldn't have started school until after the Easter school holidays (so she would have been the last intake for that year). I think that would have been a disadvantage for her, because the older children would have been in the school year routine for 8 months before she started. Having seen all the children in her year go through school with the single September start date (they are all finishing year 5 now) generally you can't tell who has what birth month by either their report results or their behaviour.

My LA was great when I contacted them when my DD was 4 and I was looking for information about what the process was for applying for her primary school. Check your LA's website, or give them a call, they should be able to give you the timescale and process.

delain

My DD1 had only been 4 three weeks when she went to school, and it hasn't done her any harm, she is doing well. On the other hand, her cousin was born on Sep 1 a few years later, and was really ready to go to school at just 4, and he is a very bright boy and probably missed out by having to wait a whole year.

gratefulforhelp_2

Soniclord wrote: »

I have a 4 year old daughter (she was 4 in May this year) and she is currently at a private nursery (a surestart one) and attends on a Monday, Thursday and Friday for 5 hours on each of those days. Now one of the workers there has said my 4 year old is eligible to start school in September of this year when she will be 4 years and 4 months old, is that correct?

The reason I ask is because I read here http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/Subjects/Articles/School-Age-When-should-a-child-start-school that most children in the UK start school just before their fifth birthday or during the Academic Year that they are going to be five. My daughter won't be 5 until May of next year so if she starts in September this year that's 8 months before she's 5.

Anyway I've also been told if we wanted she could stay at the private nursery until she's 5.

We are going to be moving back to the village where she goes to nursery, so she can go to one of the good schools in that village (which she can't if we stay where we live now because we live about 10 miles away from where they are so she doesn't fall into the 'catchment' area) and we (me and my other half) think it would be best to keep her in the nursery until she's 5 so when we do move back to the village we moved away from she won't have all the upheavel of starting 1 school, getting used to it then us having to move her to a different school when we do move (we only moved stupidly thinking we'd be better off, but aren't) council tax where we are now is much more expensive and the water bill is almost double, things we didn't know until we moved. And not something we thought of checking before we moved either. Another reason is my other half wanted to be closer to her family (but still doesn't really see them much more than before we moved!) it was only a half hour bus trip away anyway lol.

So can someone please offer some advice as we need to let the nursery know one way or the other before the end of next week.

Thank you.

She can go this September, but legally she doesn't have to go until she is 5.

Spendless

Hiya,

I live in Doncaster too My 2 chidlren are 8 and 11 and they went to the attached school nursery. Back then I 'put their name down' at the school with their details. This did not guarantee me a place or mean I didn't have to do an application. What it did do is the application form (that comes out the year before) was sent from the school. Otherwise notices go up around the town eg in the big supermarkets Tesco/Sainsburys that say 'Do you have a child born between x date and y date' then you need to apply for nursery/reception/yr 3 junior/secondary' you can get an application by contacting ........... or applying on-line'

What it sounds like to me is you never saw any of these notices. I am a bit surprised they never had any up at the private nursery you use.

Doncaster has always had 1 start date, the September following the child's 4th birthday.

You can defer, it is on Doncaster council's website that you can do this. 2 kids in my daughter's year did so (it worked out for 1 and not the other). Reception is the 'introductory' year. Formal learning starts in yr 1. Reception has some work in it but plenty of playing.

If you want to PM me the area you live in, it might be that I know something of the schools already. eg if it's somewhere my kids or my friends kids go.

Person_one

Kimitatsu wrote: »

Reception is NOT an important year in terms of education, all learning is done through play.

Quite a lot of people believe that learning through play is VERY important.

There is more to education than the purely academic.

joess

My little boy finishes his 1st year of reception next week and he's still 4 - he wont be 5 till August 23rd.

He was 100% ready for school.

We got the forms for the school intake from his private nursery

rachbc

wow - another one amazed that you didn't know this - its pretty much all anyone with a rising 5 year old that I know has talked about all year! Our school preference forms came by post but the nursery also should have told you too.

Legally she doesn't have to start til term after she truns 5 - so Sept 2012 for your daughter - however she would go straight into year 1 and would obviously have missed reception.