Not starting school

The school age thing always blows my mind a bit. How can it be that my son who will be 5 the week they start Reception (birthday is 6th of September), will be in a class with another child who is not 5 until potentially a whole year later (by the 31st of August) its massive developmentally! I also understand how you are feeling about other friends moving on, we have made the decision to move him from his private nursery to the school nursery from September so he will do a year there and make new friends before moving up to Reception with them. (We are only able to make it work alongside our jobs because of the breakfast and after school clubs the school offer so i know thats not always an option for everyone🥲) xx

Hi just to say we are in the same boat and my little boy's friends will be moving on from his private nursery this summer. I'm a bit worried about how that will affect him and also how he will be with another full year in the pre-school room there. We are going to start looking at schools soon and maybe see if there's any space at the provision attached to the school we hope to send him to to do some days there in preparation x

Hi ladies, thank you so much for responding. So glad I’m not alone! I have to double check all the time that I haven’t totally got her school start date wrong & missed the boat completely 🫣 sometimes I wake up stressing about it! That’s a good idea about the school nursery, & now would probably be a natural time to make the change if friends are also moving on. I haven’t made a decision about schools yet otherwise I would probably consider this, although my little one loves her nursery & the team there - & they love her & all the kids, & are so good with them all that I don’t feel I have to worry or second guess anything when she is there. Not sure if that makes sense! Xx

I know what you mean but dont worry im sure your local council will send out packs and the earliest you can apply (in our area anyway) is November! You dont have to make the change though if youre both happy with everything where she is now, they will do a transition when the time comes to her new school and you've chosen somewhere🥰xx

Yeah I totally get that - my little boy also loves his nursery and we have no issues so there doesn't felt like there's a hurry to change anything right now!

Ahhh I feel the exact same way! My daughter was 9 days overdue and if she’d come on her due date she’d be starting school this year. It’s wild. I am glad she’ll be more than ready when she starts rather than potentially needing a bit more time because she’d have been the youngest but it’s still mad. She started talking and walking at 10 months old and just hasn’t stopped, of course I’m glad to get extra time with her before proper school life kicks in but I do worry that she’ll start to get bored and lack that extra stimulation. It’s something me and my husband talk about a lot and feel similarly a bit sad that all her peers will be doing this year but yeah trying to look at it positively that by the time they start they’ll just flourish even more x

@Gemma I could have written this myself! I feel the exact same way too

@Sophie that’s true - I don’t know why I feel this pressure all of a sudden. I think because patents are her nursery are talking about schools & whatnot! Plus as a parent, these are people I’ve got use to seeing & interacting, albeit on a very limited basis at pick up & drop offs. Some of the kids started nursery with my little one, so it’s a strange feeling. Xx

@Sarah this is deffo us when I’m thinking about it rationally x

@Gemma that’s what worries me is that she will get bored & need extra stimulation, but I guess being in nursery & in the room she is in, they’ll be use to dealing with that. They all seem to think she will be fine, & she hasn’t mentioned anything apart from she doesn’t want to go to school 🤣, so it is just me & my feelings x

I totally feel the same. Obviously she's a September baby but she's quite advanced, can read etc so I think she'll get bored in the next year at nursery. Not much we can do about it though.

@Tanya sounds similar to my girl. But you’re right to be honest, there’s not anything we can do about. I’m going to just try to take advantage of the time before she starts school but going to places we want to go in term time when it’s quieter 🤭 xx

@Tanya that's impressive that your little one can read. What type of books is she reading? Can she actually read the words or do you think it's more memorising the words? X

It'd a little sad that she won't be moving up with her friends but il be moving her up to the school nursery in September as she currently attends private nursery located around the corner from the school nursery, but I'm fine with it I think it will be nice for her to start school nursery forst before starting school