This morning, Michelle Melson’s eagle eye spotted this very interesting ‘Opportunity‘ being advertised by Bradford Council’s Admissions Team:
“Panel Members for Deferred or Offset Children starting Reception – The Admissions Team are looking for Primary Headteachers to volunteer to be part of a pool of professionals that they can call upon when a parent requests their child be deferred or offset from starting Reception.” (published September 2, 2015)
Is this really what parents, taxpayers and the government want headteachers to spend their valuable (and already limited) time doing? The Summer Born Campaign disagrees with the admissions postcode lottery that these appointed ‘panels’ sustain (just compare how Liverpool is approaching requests), but also there is no research or evidence for these ‘pools of professionals‘ to draw on that says missing a year of school is ever in a child’s best interests (just the opposite in fact).Written by author and journalist Pauline Hull
summerbornchildren 
Unbelievable. Why can’t councils simply follow the lead of Liverpool where,ahead of government advice, they have decided it is parental choice whether to start children in reception early or at compulsory school age.
Bradford; shame on you, what a waste of resources and time.
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I just can’t believe this. What a waste of time, money and resources. What exactly will this ‘pool’ of ‘volunteers’ be looking at when they assess these requests. There is never any excuse to force a child to miss a year of education.
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