23rd September 2015 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Concerns have been raised regarding the September cut-off point for children beginning school. In an open letter to schools, parents and councils, schools minister Nick Gibb has called for changes to be made to school admissions policy. He notes that the September cut-off means that some children are almost a year younger than others in their year when they start school, meaning that many are forced to begin when they are not ready. Parents of children born between April and August have the right to ask to delay entry until the next year, but many councils require these children to skip a year later on or to go straight into year one.
Mr Gibb said that parents should not be forced to make the choice between sending their children to school to early, or have them miss out on essential early teaching which takes place in reception class. He pledged to amend the School Admissions Code in order to ensure that children born between April and August could be admitted to reception class a year later when they reach age 5 if parents choose to delay school entry. These changes would also allow summer-born children to remain within the same year group. In his letter, Mr Gibb stated that parents should be free to make the decision they feel is in the best interests of their child.
The changes would need to be approved by parliament, and in the meantime, schools and councils are being urged to be as flexible as possible when helping parents with summer-born children. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers have said that allowing younger children to start school a year later does not solve the problem of the curriculum being too narrow and academic for children starting school. They said that problems would continue whilst the current curriculum remained. A spokesman for the Education Faculty at the University of Cambridge added that the ‘summer-born effect’ was far less severe in other countries which allow children to start school later, aged six or seven.