My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Scottish education- anyone, experience of delaying childs entry into primary 1?

30 replies

SCOTCHandWRY · 21/01/2013 13:34

We are choosing to delay DS4's entry to P1 until he is maximum possible age (the year after he would normally go, but as he is still under the age of 6 in the August of that year, we have the right to do this). We are happy with this decision, and our reasons for doing it.

We know (from personal experience, but from other parents too), the pressure put on parents NOT to delay entry if they have already used up their optional "free Nursery place" at age 3,4 years old (as the child then gets an extra year in nursery class which the council has to fund).

Therefore we are choosing not to apply for a nursery place (deadline next week!), to start just after he turns 3. We will apply next year and have him start nursery class age 4.

Has anyone else did this? How did the school/council react? I am a little unsure if we should bring up the topic with the school now (nursery class is within the school), DH thinks no, it is our decision, just apply next year.

OP posts:
Report
ilovepowerhoop · 22/01/2013 13:10

its fairly common to defer for January/February birthdays and you dont need a reason for it. It is less common to defer if their birthday is before that and normally needs the nurseries input as to whether they would provide the place for the extra time. I would probably apply for the nursery place just now and see what happens in the next year or so as a lot can change in a short space of time.

Report
AgentProvocateur · 22/01/2013 13:23

I would apply now. The council will pay for two years nursery, so if you defer P1 entry after two years it doesn't have to pay for the third year (but they usually do). By applying to nursery now, you're keeping more options open.

Report
plentyofgrowingroom · 22/01/2013 13:37

My DD is a February birthday and I didn't mention deferring her until she was almost 4. Her nursery teacher wasn't particularly pro deferral and there were mutterings about possibly not getting the extra nursery term funded but we did.

Report
HelpOneAnother · 22/01/2013 13:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CecilyP · 22/01/2013 16:56

Agree with HelpOneAnother that you should check with your own council. My council will only fund a nursery place for children who defer entry to P1 if they have January or February birthday. I don't think that forgoing their nursery place the previous year would make any difference to this.

Report
Catriona100 · 22/01/2013 17:01

Have you thought through what it will mean for your son when all his peers are moving up to secondary school but your son still has another year to go? Or when he joins a local U8s football team but all his classmates are in the U7s?

I guess if you are on DS4, then you are already familiar with these sort of issues, so apologies if my (well-meaning) question causes any offence

Report
habbibu · 22/01/2013 19:47

I don't know any Jan/Feb children (oh, one, actually) who weren't kept back until the next year, nor any parents who regret it. It seems to be the norm in this part of Fife. Catriona, the ds's peers would be in his P7 class, and would have been his peers throughout school, surely?

Report
QueenAmidala · 22/01/2013 19:59

My mum had somewhat the opposite issue as i'm a Feb birthday and she was pressured to hold me back a year, but told them to bugger off (she could clearly see I was ready for school) and started me as normal - on the other hand my little brother could have benefitted from being deferred for a year but as a July birthday he wasn't allowed, then he learned nothing for the first 18 months of primary Smile

I know my DH and a close friend who are also Feb birthdays and neither of them deferred either. I wish I could have deferred my son, and he is an April birthday!

Report
AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 22/01/2013 20:15

definitely check with your local council. i made the case to our council that dd1 had only had 14 months of nursery and so could i have 10 months free, which would take me up to the June and they ptsl.

Report
SCOTCHandWRY · 22/01/2013 20:25

We are in Fife Smile both fife and the schools guidance on entry state that there is no obligation to enrol a child for p1 entry until the August after the 5th birthday.

DS4 is not a jan/feb birthday, he is a late autumn birthday. Legally it is absolutely the parents decision, been reading more about it today, it is NOT the nursery or the schools decision but the issue of the free optional nursery places clouds the issue because parents do get pushed in one direction or the other depending on the availability of funding for an extra year at nursery.

We are not wanting an extra nursery year- we want to start at 4.5 and start p1 the next year.... One year of nursery will be more than enough.
Fife guidance info states priority for nursery places should go to 4 year olds (who have not had nursery place as 3 year olds). Which would mean kids in our DS situation I think.

OP posts:
Report
AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 22/01/2013 20:29

you are making a mountain out of a molehill, then, he'll be kept back anyway.

Report
AMumInScotland · 22/01/2013 20:34

I think you still really need to check with them about the funding, and get it in writing if they will fund you for what they would define as his first "school" year rather than his "preschool" year. Otherwise you could find that they stick to some wording about how they allocate funding and you could miss out.

They might give priority to places for 4yo, but not necessarily for funded places when you have the option of sending him to school.

It depends how big a problem not being funded would be for you, but if you are hoping for a funded place, I think it's best to get them to clarify and agree it at this stage - it would be up to the council rather than the individual school, i think.

Report
CecilyP · 22/01/2013 20:38

You are absolutely right that children do not have to start school till after they are 5 which means any child who turns 5 after about the middle of August could defer. The provision of free universal nursery education hasn't so much clouded the issue as created the issue. Prior to that, very few parents chose to defer. I understand your point about wanting to move your DS's year of free nursery education forward a year, but only Fife Council itself will be able to give you a definitive answer.

Report
FannyFifer · 22/01/2013 20:39

I will more than likely be deferring DD she will be 3 this Feb.
I have applied for her nursery place this year, intending to start her after the summer.
Will speak to nursery staff prob this time next year to say she will be deferring.

Report
FannyFifer · 22/01/2013 20:41

Sorry meant to say she will have 2 years at nursery.

Report
plentyofgrowingroom · 22/01/2013 20:43

I'm in Fife too and know of several people with DCs with Autumn birthdays who have deferred and received the extra years nursery funding so 2.5 years in total.

Report
FannyFifer · 22/01/2013 20:45

Did the Fife Klaxon go off of what?
[Waves to fellow Fifers] Smile

Report
plentyofgrowingroom · 22/01/2013 20:46

Just what I was thinking!Grin

Report
trixymalixy · 22/01/2013 20:52

My DS has a January birthday and I have absolutely no regrets about deferring his entry to P1.

My friend who's DD has a December birthday also deferred and as far as I know had no issue getting funding for an extra year in nursery. This was in South Lanarkshire.

Report
LifeofPo · 22/01/2013 20:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 22/01/2013 20:53

Glasgow definitely has an issue with that extra year of funding.

Report
LifeofPo · 22/01/2013 20:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

SCOTCHandWRY · 22/01/2013 21:41

Grin Lots o Fifers about tonight! People who have deferred, did the DC get bored doing nursery for 2 years? I think as we are not sending DS into p1 until the aug after he is five, 100% sure of that, I think if the council say he can't have a nursery place at age 4, we will just tell them politely to get stuffed and make our own arrangements!
Applications to p1 don't need to be submitted until the end of jan of the year of entry... Small village school, place a certainty so not worried on that score.

OP posts:
Report
plentyofgrowingroom · 22/01/2013 21:57

My DD wasn't bored, She did 2 years plus a term. There was an element of coasting in the last term but that just added to the excitement of looking forward to school for her. Her nursery key worker said if DD was bored, the nursery wouldn't be doing their job properly!

Report
isw · 22/01/2013 22:55

East Lothian here. Dd feb born we are deferring so will enter P1 at 5.5 no problems at all. So 2 years do pre school with no funding issues. There are a few Nov and a lot of Dec born in her class who have also deferred so she is no means the oldest . Certainly not bored!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.