Children in England to start school at four

Children in England are to begin school from the September after they turn four. But their parents will be able to request that they stay at a day nursery until their formal education begins at five.

The recommendation to lower the school starting age and bring it into line with Northern Ireland was made by Sir Jim Rose in his long-awaited Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum, published on 30 April.

In it the former Ofsted chief inspector said, “The preferred pattern of entry to reception classes should be the September immediately following a child’s fourth birthday.

“However, this should be subject to well-informed discussion with parents, taking into account their views of a child’s maturity and readiness to enter reception class.

“Arrangements should be such as to make entry to reception class an exciting and enjoyable experience for all children, with opportunities for flexible arrangements such as a period of part-time attendance if judged appropriate.”

Sir Jim Rose also recommended that the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) provide information to parents and local authorities about the “optimum conditions, flexibilities and benefits” to children of entering reception class in the September immediately after their fourth birthday.

Currently, summer-born children begin primary school in the January or April before they turn five, giving them two fewer terms in reception than their autumn-born classmates. Children in Northern Ireland also begin their formal schooliing in the September after they turn four.

In a written statement to the House of Commons on 31 April, Ed Balls, Schools Secretary, said he accepted Sir Jim's recommendation that children should ideally start school in the September immediately following their fourth birthday, “possibly on a part-time basis for some children, but with parents having freedom to choose”.

Mr Balls said Sir Jim had taken account of the “compelling evidence” on the benefits to summer-born children from starting school at the same time as their peers, and that most local authorities in England already had a single point of primary school entry in September.

He added, “Young disabled children and children with SEN in particular will benefit from starting school as soon as possible so that the right interventions are put in place to ensure that these children also make progress alongside their fellow pupils.

“I am mindful however, that compulsory school age does not start until the term after a child turns five and that some parents have a strong preference for their child's early years experience to take place outside a school setting.

“I therefore intend to make funding available across the maintained, private and voluntary sectors to enable all children to receive full time provision in education and childcare from the September after their fourth birthday.

“Alongside making that provision available, we will ensure that parents have clear information about the benefits of beginning reception in September and we will work to help schools and early years settings to smooth the transition for any children who move into reception after September.”

But it remains to be seen whether parents who would prefer their four-year-old children to spend more time in nursery rather than reception will get the chance to do so, or whether they will be told that their child may not have a place at the school when they turn five unless they put them in school earlier.

The Government had also asked Sir Jim to review two early learning goals for writing set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage due to concerns that they were too demanding for most young children.

But in his review, he said both goals should be retained as “a significant number” of children were able to reach them. “There are a number of other early learning goals in the EYFS that are attained by similar numbers of children, which are not in dispute,” the report added.

Sir Jim said, “Large numbers of children are already achieving these early writing goals so I fail to see why we would want to put a ceiling on them and stop children in their tracks. There are other areas of learning, such as problem solving and creativity, where similar proportions of children are already achieving them, but we have not seen a call for these to be scrapped. The goals are aspirations that teachers encourage children to move towards in a supportive way, they are not hoops to jump through.”