The BBC’s Ian Wight reported on the battle that parents of summer born children are facing with admission authorities when they request a reception class place for their compulsory school age child. Continue reading
BBC Look North report on summer born battle
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Why can’t summer-born children start school later?
On February 26, journalist Sarah Cassidy published an excellent article in The Independent titled, “An age-old problem: Why can’t summer-born children start school later?“.Her report included the experiences of parents of summer born children who are facing a year 1 entry for when their child reaches compulsory school age – instead of equal access to the full seven years of primary school education.
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New website launched for Scottish parents
A new website Taking Parents Seriously launched in Scotland this week with the aim of offering advice to parents and guardians on their rights and on how to get heard.
The impetus for the site’s creation was the experience of two parents who felt their son was not ready for school at the age of 4 but felt they had no choice but to enrol him in school earlier than they wanted to: Continue reading
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BBC Two Daily Politics summer born report
Lib Dem MP Annette Brooke appeared in a report and studio discussion on the BBC Two Daily Politics programme today.
More information and links to Watch again are here:
BBC: Primary school start age for summer born children challenged
Pre-school Learning Alliance adds its support to our campaign
Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, has formally added his organisation’s name to the Supporters of our Flexible School Admissions for Summer Born Children campaign.
He has given us permission to quote the comments below, which he made during a BBC Radio Tees interview in January 2014:
“I have a massive amount of sympathy for parents of summer-born children. In reality, although flexibility is there for parents, it is difficult for parents to access. To further compound this many schools and local authorities convey mixed messages to parents. Continue reading
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Report Authors’ Response to the DfE’s press statement
Report Authors’ Response to the DfE:
1. “We have changed the School Admissions Code so that it is more flexible for parents of summer-born children, making it easier for them to defer their child’s entry.”
This comment is not relevant to the issue of summer born children being able to access Reception class at compulsory school age (since they will not be ‘deferring‘ entry), and even for parents seeking a deferral during the Reception class year before their child reaches compulsory school age, section 2.16 of the 2012 Code only says parents can “request” a deferral. Many parents have been denied this request and told their child must start in the September following their 4th birthday. Continue reading
New SUMMER BORN REPORT published
Following months of research, Michelle Melson and Pauline Hull have today published the 87 page report titled: Compulsory School Age in England has been Lowered to 4 through an Unfair and Unlawful Summer Born Admissions Process.
The report claims 2012 School Admissions Code is not fit for purpose, and on the deadline day for all primary school admission applications, calls on the Education Secretary to amend the Code, and use his powers to intervene in all cases of unlawful, unfair and unreasonable admissions practices in the interim – before Reception places are allocated on April 16, 2014. Please see 3 page PRESS RELEASE for more information and contact details. Continue reading
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United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
On November 21, 2013 in response to the UK’s call for views ahead of its next (fifth) periodic report to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), journalist Pauline Hull submitted the following suggested ‘additional example / supplementary evidence for inclusion’.
[It is worth reading it in the context of this October 28, 2013 statement that appears on the Department for Education’s website: “The department for Education is the lead department with responsibility for implementing the UNCRC in England.“] Continue reading
Admissions Conference in London today
An Admissions Conference delivered by Capita takes place today and tomorrow in London, and aims to address and update on the progress made so far following the implementation of the 2012 School Admissions Code, and to help local authorities and schools understand the importance of working together to ensure that admissions are fair and transparent, and operate effectively to keep all children in education and support progression. Continue reading
Sir Ken Robinson today on BBC Radio 4
On Desert Island Discs this morning, Kirsty Young’s castaway was the educationalist Sir Ken Robinson.
A must listen if you have the time!
Also see Sir Ken’s own reflection on his interview here.
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Day of Action in Parliament
Wednesday 30th October sees a Day of Action as the Too Much Too Soon campaign lobbies Parliament, Read more here:
Summer born VOTE on daynurseries news article
An online vote question this week asks, Should the Government change legislation so parents make the decision whether their summer-born children start school later?
The question follows an article by news editor Ellie Neville, on the daynurseries website: ‘We don’t want our son to cope; we want him to have the opportunity to thrive’, says a mum fighting to keep her summer-born child from starting school at four
Please do cast your vote.
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Starting age of formal education debated this week
Take a look at the ‘In the News‘ page for links to articles this week on The Telegraph and BBC News websites. I will post more on this week’s events in due course, but a few things to note in the meantime:
The debate about increasing the age at which young children begin formal education is not the same as suggesting that all children enter primary school later. I have read numerous comments this week suggesting that children from less motivated backgrounds could end up missing out on valuable years of education, but if they’re learning through educational play at school, this would not be the case say these experts. Continue reading
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DfE says empowered parents should be primary decision-makers
During today’s Common’s Debate (held in Westminster Hall at 4pm), Elizabeth Truss, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education, answered some of MP Annette Brooke’s concerns regarding the current problems being faced by the parents of some summer born children.
She stated that the Department for Education is fully aware of this situation, and importantly, in statements emphasising the department’s recent Q&A advice for admission authorities, and adding even further clarity, Elizabeth Truss stressed the importance of a parent’s role in any decision-making (my emphasis below): Continue reading
Important debate in Westminster today
Earlier today, Annette Brooke, the MP for Mid-Dorset and North Poole, opened a Westminster Hall debate calling for a fairer school starting age for Summer-born pupils.
The full Hansard transcript of the debate can be read here, and you can also view film coverage of the (4.00pm) debate here.
On behalf of all parents with summer born children who are not ready for school age 4, and the many parents facing strong opposition from admission authorities, I’d like to thank Annette for doing such a sterling job. Continue reading
Summer born irony in China
This week, the article ‘Schooling policy brings about a C-section rush‘ describes how August has become a highly sought after month for children to be born in China – so that they won’t have to wait an extra year before starting school.
The school entry cut-off in China is September 1st, and parents there are very keen to make sure their children enter school earlier rather than later – in order to “get a head start in the competitive society” Tho Xin Yi writes. Continue reading
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BBC One’s ‘Inside Out South East’ reports tonight
“Coming soon” on BBC iPlayer in case you missed it tonight is a film by Chrissy Sturt on BBC One’s Inside Out South East. Chrissy reports on “the parents fighting to change how summer-born children are matriculated into school”.
Shortly after the programme aired, Darren Doyle, the parent of a child of a summer born child made the effort to post his daughter Katy’s story on this site (you can read it in full HERE). She attended a primary school in Scotland, where the school year cut-off was March, and when Darren’s job moved the family to England, the strict admissions authority he first encountered here wanted her to enter Year 8 (thereby missing out on ALL of Year 7), just so that she would be in her ‘correct’ chronological year group. Continue reading
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These admission authorities HAVE allowed flexibility
There wouldn’t be a campaign for greater admissions flexibility if countless parents were not facing strong opposition to enrolling their 5 year old summer born children into reception classes.
However, there is also some very good news to report too; a number of admission authorities have agreed to the above request. Their flexibility and (in some cases) support deserves a mention here, and much thanks – for they have not only made decisions in the best interests of the children in their care, but they are also setting an example to others that this CAN be done, and it IS workable. Continue reading
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Flexibility Exists in Law – Please Let Parents Use it
This month, an article in the TES asked, ‘How can we help summer born children to keep up?’, and some of the issues it raised have prompted me to again clarify many of the myths surrounding parental calls for greater admissions flexibility.
To begin with, I am not convinced the article asks the right question; but moreover, given Helen Ward’s concluding thoughts on the matter (whether age-adjustment testing would really make the system fairer, or is it just that parents “want our children to be first”), the article ultimately focuses on the traditional (more tangible, but narrow) measures of how children are ranked during their school education and is therefore in danger of undervaluing what is truly of most importance to the parents of summer born children… Continue reading
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Assessment and testing in early childhood? No thanks!
This is a guest post by campaigner Dr. Richard House; he lectures in Early Childhood at the University of Winchester and is a founder member of Open EYE, Early Childhood Action and the Save Childhood Movement. Dr. House is an avid supporter of our summer born campaign and we are very grateful to him: Continue reading
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