roobush

Hello

We've just moved over from the uk. We have a son who is four, five in september.

He is due to start school in feb 2012.

I've heard that it is possible to hold him back a year and start school when he is six.

I was wondering how common is this?

And- why would you do this?

I've been pretty hands off with him in terms of teaching him to read, write etc as he went to a montessori type preschool with emphasis on play so I was wondering if he would struggle a bit with the first year of school here.

He would have started school in september this year, so holding him back a year doesn't seem to make sense to me as he is ready to start learning to read etc but I was wondering what other parents views were on this.

thank you
roobush

quoll

Nope definitely dont hold a September birthday child back. Those kids who are held back are the ones with a birthday close to the cut off date (varies according to state but probably consider birthdays from March/April to July. A September baby is going to be one of the eldest in the class anyway and there are no great benefits to keeping a kid back unless they are socially totally incompetent - not toiled trained, serious language difficulties etc.

Dont know where you are but your son could be accessing some sort of preschool program now - some states do this better than others (ACT is best of course as we have universal free preschool education!!!)

Edited to say there is some misconception - the Education Act says that children must be in full time schooling at age 6 which is where the confusion comes in, the vast majority of kids start at 5 or about to turn 5

Buzzy--Bee

Definitely agree with Quoll, get him into preschool now as then he'll get a report from preschool which will be passed to the teachers when he starts school in Feb.

If you're considering our area then Elonera preschool is the pick, however you'll only get in there if someone has moved away mid-year.

BB

NigelWaring

Do remember though that the purpose of Pre-schools is more social than academic, it is to teach young children social skills and teachers receiving them generally notice the benefits.

Just been to Finland, they have one of the most successful education systems in the world, it is very different to anything else and the children join it at the age of seven. The biggest problem seems to be its success, they all do so well that there is no one to clean the lavatories and all the other horrible jobs, they need some guest workers.

Buzzy--Bee

I assume that was not the reason you were visiting?

BB

rajj

Our younger one has just started secondary but we were once faced with a similar dilema. We started her off in primary school as quickly as possible in the UK. Was not a good idea as she found it very stressful. Fortunately we came here soon after and kept her in kinda for an extra year which in hindsight was great for her development. She started off way behind compared to other kids, but caught up rapidly and very soon started to excel (probably due to the extra year just developing instead of learning).
Kids in the uk seem to be under pressure far too early.

carolinephillips

There is a vast difference between the pressure in the UK when children can start school in September aged just 4 years and a day old, and immediately get all the National Curriculum stuff to have to conform to, in classes of 30, and the more laid back and mature age of 5 plus here.

There is an awful lot of development that goes on in that year, and learning the vital skills of negotiating, cooperating, socialising, listening and having the ability to sit for more than a nanosecond are just some of them. I speak as both a primary school teacher and an experienced pre-school teacher. Children are not really ready at just 4, whereas they mostly are at 5.

If your son is not going to go to school till 6 he really needs to attend a kindy or preschool to help him with all of the above, but judging by his birthday he should be fine at school as he will have the developmental maturity to cope.

LittleKittyCat

Agree with the others that with a September birthday it wouldn't be worth holding him back. Our eldest is an April baby, and we spent ages trying to decide whether to send her or whether to keep her back. In the end we decided to send her because she is pretty bright, but she is the youngest in the school. A couple of my friends have May/June children (also girls) but held them back.

Academically we have had no troubles (top of the class for reading etc), but physically she is miles behind the others, and tends to come last in sporting things like cross country. Luckily she is not at all bothered (at the moment, don't know whether it will be a problem in the future). However, your son is likely to be one of the eldest in the class, so that shouldn't be the case.

emma75

We arrived last October and i wanted the kids straight back into a routine and back into school asap regardless of the fact there were only about 9 weeks left of the school year. My youngest who had completed his first year in the UK and about 6 weeks of year 1 went back into kindergarten. My then 8 year old went back into year 3 and started year 4 in February, he is a fib baby. My youngest stood out in kindergarten and i was very surprised to hear he way behind the other children. After a long chat with the teacher we decided to re start him this year in Kind. He was 5 years 8 months at the beginning of this school year and to me a perfect age to be starting and pretty much the same as all the other children. He is a june baby. He really would have struggled going into year 1. Its the best decision we made and he has come on so well just in the past 5 months. He does complain that the teacher makes them do work though! I think reception in the uk was more play based. My opinion would be to send him. he will be about 5 yrs 5 months which is about right.
Emma

jad n rich

Middle teen was held back by us. He was a december baby, and the cut off date was december 31 in qld. He would have finished grade 12 at 16 and 11 months - too young.

It turned out well, eg with driving, first one with a truck, did him no harm with the ladies Slightly more mature, skipped the drug type peer pressure many younger mates go in to, being older he had the balls to say no.

Worked out well IMO.

Sorta wish we had kept the youngest one back too, also end of year, but hes very academic, school wouldnt hear of it. Hes also Very tall, would look a right loon in shorts in grade 9 now But he feels pressured sometimes, hes just not into smoking, drinking etc so he often doesn't go out with the mates knowing what will be going on.

Amazulu

If he is old enough to go to school then let him go. My son is the 2nd youngest in his year as his birthday is in April. He's done really well and is not out of his depth academically, maybe a bit physically as 6 months at a young age can make a big difference, but he's playing rugby, tennis, doing cross country etc and is holding his own.

Get him in school - he'll be fine.

Nickimas

It's always such a difficult decision when it comes to your children I've been having a similar problem myself (although not in Australia we are currently living in Germany). My daugher started British school at 4 and went through the system until Easter this year (she turned 6 in May). She is now not entitled to attend the British school over here as my husband has changed his job. The German children don't start school until they are 6 so I've had to put my daughter into a Kindergarten (luckily I've found one on a farm so nothing like the normal Kindy's which she would have been bored with). I could hold my daughter back a year if I wanted to and keep her in Kindy until she is 7 giving her a chance to learn the language; however to help me make this decision I went and visited a couple of schools and then took her with me to one that I felt would help her develop her language etc. My daughter was keen to start the school (even though she can't speak German) and so she made the decision herself, which made me a lot happier.

Perhaps you could do the same with your son, look at a couple of the schools yourself first and then take him to look around one you know has space for him and see how he feels as well. Children are very good at adapting very very quickly and I'm sure he'll have so many friends and will enjoy school lathough it doesn't stop us worrying about them.