Wwyd?

Round here if you don't put their name down when they are entitled to go you wouldn't have a cat in hells chance of getting them into the school of your choice the following year (unless you dropped them down a year I guess). So Martha will be going at 4 years 3 months. I was the same age when I started school, just a bit worried about her emotionally but she will be at pre school from Sept so that will hopefully help.

I'd put her name down and you can always change your mind and not take it........and ask about deferring entry if you are concerned.

Stacey why are you worried if Dawn is a November baby? It's only really an issue for kids born in the summer........

I would certainly register her as, closer to the time it might be too late.

Both mine started school early.....DS about a week after his 3rd birthday and DD the september after she was 3 (purely because the nursery was so full they couldn't accept any more children until the september). In the Welsh schools here the children can start nursery (which is intergrated into the main school ) at 3....DS did 2 years in nursery but DS will have only done 1 before moving into reception because of the numbers at the school.

I don't think it's affected them negatively in anyway at all. They're both extremely confident, intelligent and sociable children that already have many good friends, good social circles, are ahead (school wise etc) of the children who are the same age and who go to the english local schools (they start a year later than the welsh schools). Plus it gives them some valuable time away from me which I think is important in developing their self confidence and independence.

(I also get a little time away from them too to regain my sanity lol)

I don't think Aoife would have any problems in being in nursery next year...I think she'd love it! It would give you a little more time with Imogen and baby and let Aoife have a little bit of her own life too.

Register her now so you won't have to worry about it next year and then reasses how you all feel about it later on in the year

I agree with everyone else about registering her as soon as you can and then you have a year to decide.

India is a Sept baby so goes to school next year, 2011. However she is very tall, articulate and bright for her age. She will be 4 in a couple of weeks but everyone we invited to her party thought she was going to be 5. She is losing all her friends from nursery as they are going to school. She is desperate to go and ready to go. I am happy that she has another year of nursery and think 5 is probably about the right age. What I'm trying to say is that no matter when your child is born you will worry that they are either not ready or bored where they are. Its one of those parenting situations where you cant win.

I would apply hun , as others have said ALOT changes in a year

If she doesnt start next september that means she will be at home for another 2 years , and going straight into year 1 would be very hard i think. Year 1 is very structured as they are part of the official curriculum (sp?)then ,with them being expected to beable to read & write already. I dont think id be comfortable sending my lo straight from home into reception There is also the issue of friends aswell , most children in yr1 will have been with friends theyve made for 2 years already if theyve been in nursery and reception together.

H is 3yrs 2 months and is starting nursery in 2 weeks. I do know where youre coming from as i do feel he is so young still , but at the end of the day i have to put my feelings aside and do what is right for him , not me. He is more than ready to start nursery in all ways possible , he is almost itching to learn and i think he will do fab , i dont think there will be any 'struggle' on his part due to him being young....5 of his friends hes going with (from playgroup) are all june/july/august bdays too so they seem to be very common now days!

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Interestingly my journalist friend has written this recently and she does know alot about education, she used to be a teacher and now writes regularly for the Guardian on the subject http://readyforten.com/users/readyforte ... -at-school

My sister went to school a year early. Was born June and was 4 when she went to school in the August intake. She did really well throughout school and it never really had a negative impact being a year younger. You notice a gap less and less as she got older and although she is 2 years younger than me, growing up she was practically on the same sort of level most of the time.

Socially she has fantastic skill. Better than me. She was the baby of the class in the first year and milked it for all it was worth.

As people have said, a lot can change in a year and keeps your options open to apply and then see if she's ready or not. A lot of it is down to individual child and support / learning at home too.

I haven't read every post, but i had a similar situation.

DS3's birthday is August 20th.
Legally a child does not have to start school until the term after they become 5 years.
BUT if you want to wait until the term after they start 5 for them to start school there is the good possibility that the child will then miss Reception and be put straight into a YEar One class as that is the 'age range' they belong to. They become bottom of the list on the 'Admission Criteria' for reception as they do not 'technically' belong to that age group.

From when DS3 was a few weeks old i had planned to send him the year after he was 'supposed' to start - in full agreement with the head teacher, health visitor etc. It was only when i requested written reassurance that he would go into a reception class and not year one when the time to apply finally arrived that this was discovered.
Consequentally he started school aged 4 years and 2 weeks. He was still not fully toilet trained, he was also a very young 4 year old in every way - whatever the average range for being able to do anything - he was at the bottom of that range - still is.
I took a laid back approach to reception year as i knew he was not really ready but felt we had been forced into it, He has generally enjoyed his year and when he goes back next week into year one he will also be accessing the reception curriculum as obviously he needs to build on what he has managed learn.

Good luck with your lo.

DD1 effectively started school a year early. She was born 30th August but was nearly 2 months premature so should've been an October baby for the following years intake.

She hasn't had any problems keeping up academically, and only really suffered with being a little emotionally immature (not helped by the fact she had to go to before and after school club 4 days a week ). There were lots of tears from tiredness by the end of the week and her teacher told me she didn't always 'get' some of the more complicated games that the older girls in her year played. However, stimulation-wise, she was definitely ready to go, but she had been in nursery since she was 7 months old so I didn't have the same wrench away from me at a later age.

She's had a wonderful first year at school and matured enormously, but you can only decide for yourself based on how you think she would manage. Like PPs have said, there's no harm in applying for the place - you can change your mind at the last minute if you want to.