Starting school at 5 – the impact of school on summer babies

When we got our offer letter just over a year ago, offering the Wee Man a place at school I did have to sit back and think a bit. At that point, he wasn’t even four yet – his birthday is in August. How could he possibly be starting school in a few months?

The Other Half was pretty amazed too. In New Zealand, children generally start school on their fifth birthday and it’s not compulsory until age six.

So I looked into whether he actually HAD to go, or if we could delay a bit…

…and there were two options available.

Firstly, we could defer his place and he could start the term he turned five, which would be the following September. That sounded viable, until we discovered that he would end up going straight into year 1 – a year much more devoted to traditional schooling than the transition type reception year. In the end, it felt like that would be less beneficial than just starting in reception aged 4.

Secondly, he could attend reception, but only part time – leaving at 1.15 instead of 3.30. I spoke to the school, and none of the other children would be attending part time. So I decided that probably wouldn’t benefit him either – he’d end up missing out on all the things his friends were doing in those extra two hours, even if it did mean I could attempt to get him to nap.

So in the end, we had an excited but exhausted four year old last September. He’d come home from school worn out, and fall asleep on he the sofa – but he’d also come home full of new things he’d learnt and wonders he had realised.

Socially he was ready.

Educationally? Maybe less so.

But I think that’s the case with all children – and that’s why delaying starting school won’t necessarily help. There is so much focus on achieving certain levels and standards, it just doesn’t take into account that all children are individual and some will learn differently to others no matter what age they are.

Technically, Wee Man is ‘ahead’ at maths and ‘behind’ at writing. Realistically, I am not worried. He is still only 4! 4 is a time for learning through play, for enjoyment in discovery and for developing social skills and awareness. It is not for rigid assessments, giving of E grades and labelling children as substandard.

Would starting reception aged five instead of four make a difference? For the Wee Man, I don’t think so. He may end up being labelled as ‘ahead’ for more things, rather than ‘behind’, but I reckon he’d still be learning the same as he is now – and probably being a bit more frustrated because I don’t know how to answer his questions so well as his teacher does!

But for other children I can see why it might make a difference – and so I think it’s important for parents to recognise that they do have options. And if the school system could change a bit and become more relaxed and less rigid that’d be pretty good too. It’s not so much age that matters, it’s recognising that every child is unique – and viewing this uniqueness from a positive angle of ‘what they can do’ rather than labelling them for what they can’t.