Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Discussion of the 11 Plus

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
Stressed?Moi?
Posts: 1844
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:28 am

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by Stressed?Moi? »

Definitely down to the child researchermum. My ds (born 30 August) should not have started when he was 4. He just wasn't emotionally mature enough for it. He was always being set up by the big kids to do naughty things and then laughed at. He didn't get the jokes they did and thought things funny that they didn't (still very much into toilet humour). Thank god he was good academically. There is of course the problem that if they are smart, they may get bored in a younger class, but I would have traded it to have nurtured him for a further year. He was with me for 3 days per work (cooking, going to parks, reading, learning the alphabet, etc) and 2 days to nursery to be with kids his own age, then us and big sis at weekends. He swapped that for sandpits and plasticine which he hated. Added to which is the physical side of things. He was still having a kip in the afternoon up until he started school and was horribly wiped out and usually fell asleep in the car on the way home. He's in year 6 now and is still much smaller and less mature than his classmates. Luckily he's a joker and likeable which I think has been his coping mechanism. Horses for courses and of course, you know your own child.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by Tolstoy »

DS2 was November and started school in Wales the term he turned four. I kept him doing half days until the summer term. DS3, June, started school in England the September of the school year he turned 4 and I also insisted he did half days for the first term. Both schools were pressuring me to do full days but I stuck to my guns and it was the right decision. My other two were able to start full time without too many issues. Ds1 starting the term he turned 4 (Wales again). Like Mystery points out ignore the research it really does depend on the child.

As an aside I do find it strange that people see being born in the summer months as a disadvantage. Personally with hindsight I would have opted to have all summer children, handy to have an extra year to play with when life throws you a curve ball. Even as a teacher I never really noticed a difference. More notable is the way parents relate to their children, some encourage independence some co-dependence, and academically the support they get at home makes a significant difference.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by southbucks3 »

Son number three is summer born, he only attended school 8.30 until 12.15 for two terms, but even then often needed a little bit of quiet bean bag time. He just was not physically ready to start school,let alone emotionally. He took his frustrations out on me and his bruvs, often having long (1-2 hours of crying)toddler style tantrums with me by Friday afternoon. The whole of those first two terms was a waste of time really, come summer he had made a little friend and calmed down about going in slightly. I resented the whole process.
His little friend the same age was a pickle at school rather than home. He was as stubborn as a mule and piddled himself, pretty much to order if he wanted to make a point about not doing something he did not like the sound of.
Both boys are now helpful, calm, bright, top sets for maths etc, but both took a long time recovering.
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by doodles »

It's horses for courses and a lot will also depend on the sensibleness (?) Of the school.

My summer DS had a wonderful reception teacher who let them snooze and the school would let you collect them early. They also did anything vaguely academic in the morning and did painting etc in the afternoons. Reception also had a different breaktime schedule from the rest of the school for the first term and finished school half an hour earlier than the rest.

I would suggest the OP has a good look at the school in question.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by mystery »

Yes. There was nothing that a three year old could not have done in our reception class. In fact, a lot of kids were disappointed because they thought they had gone to school to learn to read etc, but they were soon disillusioned.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by southbucks3 »

He just seemed happier at pre-school four mornings a week, taking his little lunch as well. Having a glass of milk and a snack, playing but learning to socialise and talking to adults on his terms.
The teachers happily gave him bean bag time and obviously there was nothing too taxing, but the whole breakfast, uniform, school run, playground with bigger kids, concentrating, socialising, being asked questions lark was just too much for him.
I am a mean mum, I really am, but you just know when your child is miserable. He would come into our bedroom at the crack of dawn every day asking if it was a school day, we dreaded saying yes!
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by ToadMum »

From another perspective, DS1, June birthday, was absolutely ready for school (as the staff at his full-time nursery frequently commented) by the previous September, but unfortunately the school we had chosen for him only admitted children to Reception in the term in which they actually turned five, so he had to wait. All children are different.

I must admit that I had never even come across the idea that summer-born children were disadvantaged until relatively recently - some of the most academically able people I know have August birthdays and no, were not kept out of school initially.

In DS1's Year at primary school, only two boys got GS places - DS1 and a lad whose birthday is in May. We have yet to see how DS1fares at higher levels, of course, but this year he achieved 5As at AS.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Deferment Reception effecting 11 plus

Post by southbucks3 »

I am not sure it makes a jot of difference academically, son number three is certainly in the same place his brothers were at this stage. Myself, brother and sister are all summer babies, although none of us started until we were five, we all managed to do well at school. Like you say, it is just whether they are ready as an individual when they start, I honestly think the parent should be able to easily make that choice. Some children develop slower than others, you just have to look at how some still have their little pot bellies, wobbly chops and banana bunch fingers to realise that.
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now