As part of a review of the primary curriculum in England, the children's secretary, Ed Balls, asked Sir Jim Rose to consider whether August born children should be allowed to start school later – either in January or the following year. Jackie Cosh asks: Could this mark the end of the disadvantaged summer babies? Are they really that disadvantaged?
Numerous research studies have found that summer born children perform worse at school than their older counterparts. A study conducted last year by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Institute of Education at University College London found that children born in August perform worse at school and are more likely to struggle with reading and writing. By age sixteen the gap still hasn’t closed and they are more likely to drop out of school early.
A recent report by the National Foundation for Educational Research concluded that starting school at a young age is stressful for children. It argues that starting at four is no guarantee for academic success and many children from countries with a higher school starting age outperform English children.
And in 2006 a study conducted by Glasgow City Council recommended that no child should start school before the age of six. It concluded that boys should start a year later, to avoid them being put off learning for life.
In England and Wales children are required to begin school in the academic year in which they are five. So a child turning four on 31 August is required to start in September, whereas the child born a day later on 1 September is not.
Elizabeth Whittle’s daughter Annabelle started school a few weeks after her fourth birthday. ‘I was a little concerned and worried about how she would get on emotionally. At first she was very tired, but she handled it very well. I would have preferred if there had been a January intake but then I think I would have worried that by then the other children would have settled in and made friends.’
Marc Beishon’s son Jon, age 13, has an August birthday. ‘Jon is doing great now, but in the early stages we felt he was disadvantaged, particularly emotionally,’ says Marc. ‘We felt he could have done with more time playing. It was hard for him to concentrate and in classes he used to talk a lot and walk around when he should have been sitting.’
Some parents argue that children born in the summer months should be given the choice of holding their child back a year. And why not? Scotland offers this option to parents, with more than three thousand children each year deferring.
The end of February is the cut off date for children starting school in Scotland. Children whose birthday falls between the beginning of March and the middle of August when the school term begins, must send their children to school. Children whose birthdays lie between the middle of August and the end of December have the option of deferring but are not guaranteed another year of nursery, while children born in January and February have the option of deferring, with another year’s nursery place guaranteed.
Most parents whose children defer are born in January or February just before the cut off date. Gillian Stack from Bishopbriggs near Glasgow is one mum who feels she has benefited from this system.
‘Abbie’s birthday is at the end of January, and I had an overall feeling that she wasn’t ready for school. She just wasn’t as grown up as some of her friends and was still sometimes getting upset going into nursery.’
Gillian sought advice before making a decision and spoke to staff at Abbie’s nursery who told her that she would not be disadvantaged by another year of nursery. Now as Abbie prepares to start school this summer, Gillian is sure she made the right decision.
‘I feel now that she is a year older that she will enjoy it more and get more out of school.’
Adele Swan from Edinburgh decided to defer her son Ben, and like Gillian does not regret it. ‘Ben is seven now and is doing really well at school. While I thought he was ready academically for school, I didn’t think he was ready to deal with the routine.’
But it wasn’t just starting school which Adele was thinking about. She says, ‘I was also thinking about the other side, when he leaves school. I want him to be one of the oldest going to university instead of one of the youngest.’
Joan Struthers from Lanarkshire in Scotland put a lot of thought into whether to defer her daughter Caitlin, now nine, but decided against it. ‘I knew that children often benefit from deferring but Caitlin had been going to nursery full time since she was six months old and was very advanced for her age. The advice I was given was that spending another year at nursery when she was ready for school could actually do her more damage than good.’
But while Caitlin is thriving at school, Joan does sometime notice the age gap. ‘At one point she was in a composite class with the class above. Some of the children were almost two years older than her and the age difference was noticeable.’
Both Jennifer Cooke and her partner Alan hadJanuary birthdays, and started school aged four and a half. Their son Gabriel, aged one, was born at the beginning of March, taking the dilemma of whether to defer or not out of their hands.
‘I didn’t feel I was disadvantaged at all by starting early, and I got on well academically. But I am happy that Gabriel is going to be one of the oldest in the class rather than one of the youngest. I do feel boys are often less ready for school than girls.’
