Starting School
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are looking forward to welcoming you and your child to Carlinghow Academy. We want this to be the beginning of a happy and successful time for your child and a supportive partnership with yourselves.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us either through contacting the school office or emailing office@carlinghowacademy.org.uk.
Please click here to view the Carlinghow Academy Early Years Tour.
Please see our Nursery , Reception and Little Explorers booklets for more information about your child starting school.
Deferring Entry to Reception
Currently, you can request that your child’s school starting date is delayed by a year if they were born between 1 April and 31 August, and you don’t think they’re ready to start school in the term after they turn four. ‘Different children develop at different rates, and although some summer born children are more than ready to start school soon after their fourth birthday, many others are not,’ explains Pauline Hull of the Summer Born Campaign.
If you make a request to delay your child’s school entry, the school has the right to decide whether they can start in Reception a year late, or whether they go straight into Year 1 with their normal age group, missing the whole Reception year.
If you want to delay your child’s starting date, you’ll need to apply for a school place for them to start at the normal time (i.e. the September after their fourth birthday), but should submit your request for deferred entry at the same time. The school should tell you how to make your request.
The law says that if you defer your child’s school starting date until the term after they turn five, the admission authority (the local authority or the school’s governing body, including the headteacher) must take account of the child’s individual needs and abilities in making a decision about whether they should be admitted to Reception or Year 1. The decision must be made in the child’s best interests.
It’s advisable that you submit any relevant information with your request for your child to start Reception a year late. This could simply be a statement that you write explaining your reasoning, but if you have reports from relevant professionals who are involved with your child, such as their health visitor or a speech and language therapist, you should enclose these as well.
The admission authority should tell you whether they’ll grant your request before primary school National Offer Day (mid-April).
If your request is granted, you’ll need to withdraw your application and re-apply the following year. Your application will be treated as a new application, and you’ll be subject to the same admissions criteria as every other child applying for a Reception place.
If your request is declined, you have the choice to carry on with your child’s application and accept a place in the their normal age group, or refuse the place they’ve been offered, skip the Reception year and make an application for them to start in Year 1 the following year.
There’s no right of appeal, but you can make a complaint to the admissions authority, which they have to process in line with their complaints procedure.