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Tink
04-11-2011, 07:34 AM
I went to a meeting last night at school, to see about my DD starting school next September when she is 4:eek:
Don't get me wrong she is more than ready to start but some of her nursery friends are not ready and it is such a big decision for parents to make.

Have any of you experienced this? and did your child settle well?

miffy
04-11-2011, 07:39 AM
Around here schools have just started doing one intake per year in September. I have a mindee who was 4years 3months in September. They have settled well but mum and I both feel the school expect too much from such young ones - they come home with homework :eek:

Miffy xx

Tink
04-11-2011, 07:41 AM
Homework:eek: I had not heard about this early intake and had lots of questions and am still a little confused:blush:

smurfette
04-11-2011, 07:45 AM
Hia my eldest dd started at four having only turned four end of july .. She was very ready to go having had two years Montessori pre school and was reading and I didnt feel I could hold her back for another year or she would have been bored stupid! However while she is bright and has always done well and never had a problem keeping up it has created it's own problems .. She is the youngest in the class with a gap with some of the kids of one and a half years so I find her innocence is sometimes lost! I have to balance what I would normally allow her to do with her needing to fit in with her classmates somewhat (eg what she reads, birds and the bees talk etc) and I do worry she is going to be so young doing exams etc, in hindsight I wish I had held her. She also had problems in the playground as she was so small though socially fine. My other two dds started at five and my middle one particularly has benefitted from this she is up at the top of the class is very socially able and settled quickly. It does depend on the child but my advice would be hold her it will cause you less worries later

rickysmiths
04-11-2011, 07:46 AM
This is always what happens because children go into Reception in the year in which they turn 5. If their birthday happens to be on the 31 August then they will be just 4 when they start on or around 1st Sept. On the other hand the child who has their birthday on 1st Sept will go in at just 5 and a full year older.

I'm afraid its all about money these days now and the schools have to get all the children in early to get full funding for the year. It used to be many years ago that they were taken in in Sept/Jan and Easter.

It is your right as a parent not to send your child until the term in which they turn 5 which is went they legally have to be in full time school. The trouble with not sending your child when your place is offered, is that if you are in an over subscribed school, going to loose your place in the school.

rickysmiths
04-11-2011, 07:51 AM
Hia my eldest dd started at four having only turned four end of july .. She was very ready to go having had two years Montessori pre school and was reading and I didnt feel I could hold her back for another year or she would have been bored stupid! However while she is bright and has always done well and never had a problem keeping up it has created it's own problems .. She is the youngest in the class with a gap with some of the kids of one and a half years so I find her innocence is sometimes lost! I have to balance what I would normally allow her to do with her needing to fit in with her classmates somewhat (eg what she reads, birds and the bees talk etc) and I do worry she is going to be so young doing exams etc, in hindsight I wish I had held her. She also had problems in the playground as she was so small though socially fine. My other two dds started at five and my middle one particularly has benefitted from this she is up at the top of the class is very socially able and settled quickly. It does depend on the child but my advice would be hold her it will cause you less worries later


The trouble with holding them back is then getting a place in the school. I have not come across a parent who has chosen to do this and there will always be the spread of a year between the oldest and youngest at most in a class.

Tink
04-11-2011, 07:53 AM
This is my worry. Her birthday is the 23rd June and she will start September. It's a huge decision for me and my husband to make.
We have 3 options:
1 - send her part time or full time September
2 - send her part time or full time January
3 - send her part time or full time April

If we send her part time we can't change to full time or vise versa, and yes it's all about the money.

I was all set for her doing 2 years in nursery and starting school when she is 5. I still don't understand as she will leave senior school at an early age and I don't want to push her iyswim oh it's too much I couldn't sleep last night worrying about it.
She only started nursery this Sept and now they want me to make decisions about when we want her to start school.
Head teacher said forget about it till Jan next year, how can we do that?

smurfette
04-11-2011, 08:49 AM
Sorry system is different here in Ireland .. Parents apply for place the year they think child is ready and just reapply following year if they decide to hold them .. We only have one intake in september

rickysmiths
04-11-2011, 09:05 AM
This is my worry. Her birthday is the 23rd June and she will start September. It's a huge decision for me and my husband to make.
We have 3 options:
1 - send her part time or full time September
2 - send her part time or full time January
3 - send her part time or full time April

If we send her part time we can't change to full time or vise versa, and yes it's all about the money.

I was all set for her doing 2 years in nursery and starting school when she is 5. I still don't understand as she will leave senior school at an early age and I don't want to push her iyswim oh it's too much I couldn't sleep last night worrying about it.
She only started nursery this Sept and now they want me to make decisions about when we want her to start school.
Head teacher said forget about it till Jan next year, how can we do that?

I do sympathise but this has always been the way the system works. At least you have some options, in our area it is a simple yes or no and all go in in Sept. If you were to send her part time for the Sept term it would give her a chance to settle into the new routine and then go full time in January. I think you may be surprised at how quickly she will settle and of course she will have the support of a fab mum and dad.

I wouldn't worry too much about the year she leaves High School. She wont be leaving school at a very early age and she will be 18 before she goes to Uni.

My dd left this summer and is now at Uni. Two of her best friends have June birthdays and have both started Uni this term and one of them has been through school with my dd since they were at pre-school in 1995.

Good luck it will all work out fine.

IsabellaB
04-11-2011, 09:19 AM
This is my worry. Her birthday is the 23rd June and she will start September. It's a huge decision for me and my husband to make.
We have 3 options:
1 - send her part time or full time September
2 - send her part time or full time January
3 - send her part time or full time April




My son was 4 in May and he has gone full time since September, he is tired but no more so that his older sister. We had the same options as you do and chatted it through with the teacher and came to the conclusion that full time was the best option.

Although they are at school (and I know every school is different), reception class is not that different to preschool, most things are still play based and fun and they have time to chill out in the afternoon. I was helping one day a couple of weeks ago and they were all laying on blankets whilst the teacher read to them, some fell asleep and she was fine with this. The teacher also advised us that for 4 year olds tiredness is a genuine reason to have a day off sick if you think they are too tired.

venus89
04-11-2011, 09:21 AM
I don't think you should get too caught up thinking about her age, I think you should be basing your decision on how mature you think she is. If she's quite mature she'll do just fine, there are much younger children who start school than yours and do brilliantly, and there are much oldren children who go in and struggle. Only you know your child and how she'll cope but if she does OK at nursery then there's no reason why school should be any different.

Ours had homework (and only one september intake) - take a book home and share it with your family. They're not going to be expecting them to write a 500 word esssay when they're 4!

PixiePetal
04-11-2011, 09:32 AM
Until this year children were part time until the term they are 5 but now it is all in full time from the off - it seems parents do have a bit of give and take as ex mindee is doing a couple of half days (mum is a bit wimpy with him and he would well be able to cope IMO) no idea how they got this but hey ho :rolleyes:

My DD was half days in 1998 and would have loved to stay all day - she was very mature and bright. born in May 1994. DS was full time straight away as his birthday is Nov and he could have done with starting earlier too - he was doing full days at playgroup in 2001 before he went to school and learning lots at home with me.

Helen79
04-11-2011, 09:36 AM
I was all set for her doing 2 years in nursery and starting school when she is 5. I still don't understand as she will leave senior school at an early age and I don't want to push her iyswim oh it's too much I couldn't sleep last night worrying about it.

Even if she doesn't start school until she's 5 she'll still leave senior school at the same time as if she starts when she's 4.
If you defer her starting school until the Sept after she's 5 she'll start school in yr 1 not reception and she'll still leave school just after she turns 16.

dd's school only have 1 intake in Sept so she started when she was 4, unless the children are Sept babies then most children will start when they're 4.
dd had homework in reception but it was just tracing letters and reading books and wasn't compulsory, just to do if they wanted to. She's in yr 2 now and doesn't get any homework other than spellings.

singingcactus
04-11-2011, 10:02 AM
As already said pretty much every child starts school at age four in England. It's sucks, but that's the way the government think we want it. My twins were august birthdays, they started 2 weeks after they turned 4. They will leave school this year at just 15 - just like I did. (and just like me they will go on to further ed having just turned 16).
It seems like a big deal, and it is, but at the end of the day your child will in no way be the only 4 year old. There will be a class full of four year olds. My boys started school 11 years ago and four was the start age back then, with only one intake a year and straight to full time.

dusky777
04-11-2011, 10:46 AM
My grils are both August babies oldest 5th and youngest 27th!

My oldest wasnt really ready but had attended a local nursery for pre school sessions and took a while to settle in but i dont think i would have it any other way. She made lots of new friends and i think if she had started the term before her 5th birthday like they say they can she would have felt left out etc as friendship will have already been made etc.

My youngest turned 3 this august and started at the school pre school on the 2nd Sept, shes the smallest there but loves all her little friends. We had screams for the 1st week but that soon past. Now she ask every morning...is it school today mummy?! She goes monday wednesday friday.

Just remember you know your child best so its up to you

xx

samb
04-11-2011, 11:07 AM
I am confused - i know you don't have to send your child to school until the term after they turn 5 but most children are 4 when they start school in England. I am almost 30 and we started school at 4 too so it's been going on a long time. Unless maybe you are not from England? I know a friend of mine from Sweden was shocked when she got the forms through to apply for school for her daughter at 4.

As others have said it really does depend on the child. I look after a girl who has her birthday Aug 31st so she started school a few days after her 4th birthday. She is good socially and interested in learning and although was a little behind with reading is now catching up (in year 1 now). My daughter has her birthday Sept 29th and so she started and then 4 weeks later turned 5. Now she would have been fine to go earlier but obviously she wasn't allowed as you start the school year you turn 5. My son is due to start school in Sept. His birthday is June 29th, so similar to your daughter. He doesn't seem ready to me. His speech although is coming along much better now still has many sounds missing and so he can get frustrated with people not understanding him, he very much loves his comforter, is ok socially but wouldnt really go off and make his own friends etc. I must say I am slightly worried about him going to school. However as he will (hopefully) go to the same school as his sister I think he will want to be there. We also have the option of sending the younger ones part time or full time from Sept. This year has been the first year we have had the choice - before all children born after Easter would go part time for the first term and then full time after Christmas. Ther are only 2 children out of the 30 reception who are part time and to be honest I am thinking that i will send my son in full time purely because I think once he is there he wont want to leave and he will excel quicker than if he comes home at lunch and his peers stay on.

Has this not come up before with minded children? Its still a way off really and they change so much in that time. By year 1 they will be very much evening out and their birth place in the year will not be so important.

Mouse
04-11-2011, 11:26 AM
I am confused - i know you don't have to send your child to school until the term after they turn 5 but most children are 4 when they start school in England. I am almost 30 and we started school at 4 too so it's been going on a long time. Unless maybe you are not from England? I know a friend of mine from Sweden was shocked when she got the forms through to apply for school for her daughter at 4.



I'm confused as well! All my children started school at 4, as have all the children I've known.

I think I must be missing something.

mama2three
04-11-2011, 01:30 PM
The change is that whereas schools had a choice in the number of intakes they offered , and when a child went 'full time' during the year, the government now dictates that all children should be offered a full time place the september after their 4th birthdays. So whereas before a 4 year old was part time for some of the year depending when their birthday fell , they are now full time straight away.
Parents still have the right to choose whether to accept the place though - my own ds went for 4 days for a while and split the funding with forest school.

To the op , if you choose the full time option school will secure the full time funding. if you feel its too much after a trial then drop a day , or afternoons , or whatever you feel best. If the school has only applied for pt funding for the term they are less likely to accept you wanting to increase sessions.

Your daughter will stay on in education to 18 , as will all children, when she starts will make no difference to this whatsoever.

maisiemog
04-11-2011, 01:38 PM
We're on the opposite side of this. Our dd is a september baby and will definately be more than ready for school. The way they start the reception class at the school we want her to go to means that she will actually already be 5 when she starts. She's the youngest of all her friends and they all start next september, where as she has to wait another year after that. I'm dreading it when they start because she already wants to go to big school like my after school mindees do! In fact I think she's already more ready than my mindee who just started and is only just a year older than her, but an august baby so 2 school years ahead of her!

tulip0803
04-11-2011, 01:42 PM
Many years ago my son started school just before his 5th birthday he took to it fantastically.

5 years later my DD1 (August birthday) started school in the Jan aged 4 years 5 months again she loved it - she had been trying to follow her brother in from the time she could walk.

We moved and 4 more years later DD2 started school here the term before her 4th birthday. She was 3 years 10 months in the September and started fulltime straight away. I knew she was ready and she loved being there and again coped fantastically. Other children were definately not ready. Some parents sent them part-time others held them out for a term or 2 however the free childcare places cease here the term before their 4th birthday and the part-time nurseries are unwilling to take 4 year olds so many parents have no choice whether their child is ready or not. They look so tiny to be in full uniform.

Mouse
04-11-2011, 02:24 PM
The change is that whereas schools had a choice in the number of intakes they offered , and when a child went 'full time' during the year, the government now dictates that all children should be offered a full time place the september after their 4th birthdays. So whereas before a 4 year old was part time for some of the year depending when their birthday fell , they are now full time straight away.


None of mine every had the option of doing part time. It was straight into full time, the term after their 4th birthday. A couple of them were only just 4.
I suppose it's better if parents have a bit more of a say over it, though I do wonder how many parents will hold the children back because they think the child isn't ready (or don't want to let them go?), when in fact they would be more than capable.