Legally, in the UK, children do not have to start school until they are five-years-old and the Department of Education states that any child with birthdays between April 1st and August 31st are allowed to start reception either part-time when they are four, or delay their start until the September after they have turned five.
Olivia had only just turned four a couple of weeks before she was meant to start reception and her mum, Rosie, told the Birmingham Mail that she felt her youngster was “not emotionally ready to start school just weeks after turning four”.
She added: "She’s quite sensitive and takes a long time to get used to people. She was still finding it difficult to adjust to pre-school and I knew she wouldn’t cope with the full-time hours of school – she often still needed a nap in the day.”
But while schools are allowing parents delay their kid's start until they are five, they are demanding that youngsters go straight to Year 1, skipping the reception year, which Rosie believes doesn’t make any sense: “Now I’m being told that she will probably have to start school at the same level as those in her chronological age – so she would skip straight to Year 1. It means she will miss out on an entire academic year, which makes no sense. She will start already a year behind her peers, it will mean she is destined for a school career which will see her struggling and playing catch-up – exactly the situation we were trying to avoid in the first place.”
The mum is now fighting to get her daughter into the reception year but has to provide evidence of "exceptional circumstances" as to why she should be allowed.
"We have been asked for evidence of special educational or psychological needs, but she doesn’t have any, we felt she was just not emotionally ready to start school last September,” said Rosie.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: "We changed the school admissions code last year so that it is more flexible for parents of summer-born children, making it easier for them to defer their child’s entry. Parents should also have the flexibility for their children to attend part-time until they reach their fifth birthday or request their child enters reception class rather than Year 1, following their fifth birthday. Schools and councils must make this clear in their own admissions arrangements – and we have published guidance to re-iterate these responsibilities. We are working closely with school admission authorities to make sure they are acting within the rules and we will not hesitate to intervene where this is not the case.”
