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Minimum age to start school

boardsuser1

Is 4 still the earliest you can send a child to primary school?

The wife is trying to convince me here that it is now law that a child must be 5.

Can anyone verify? Having looked around google I can only see that children must start no later than 6.

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Remouad

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Is 4 still the earliest you can send a child to primary school?

The wife is trying to convince me here that it is now law that a child must be 5.

Can anyone verify? Having looked around google I can only see that children must start no later than 6.

The idea of having a minimum age of 5 was mooted but hasn't been implemented.

Schools generally will not take under 4 and 5 is preferable.

Tom Mann Centuria

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Is 4 still the earliest you can send a child to primary school?

The wife is trying to convince me here that it is now law that a child must be 5.

Can anyone verify? Having looked around google I can only see that children must start no later than 6.

4

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/primary_and_post_primary_education/going_to_primary_school/primary_education_life_event.html

I didn't send my kids until they were 5.

boardsuser1

Remouad wrote: »

The idea of having a minimum age of 5 was mooted but hasn't been implemented.

Schools generally will not take under 4 and 5 is preferable.

Yeah I heard of it being mooted but no more than that.

My now 7 year old started school on her 4th birthday, a full 3 and a half weeks after the rest.

She’s the youngest in the class but it never presented any issues.

She’ll be just turning 17 getting her leaving cert results if I done the calculations right.

Cheers for the reply

boardsuser1

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

4

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/primary_and_post_primary_education/going_to_primary_school/primary_education_life_event.html

I didn't send my kids until they were 5.

Do you regret not starting them at 4?

I was 5 when I started and wasn’t best pleased, I always said if I could start my kids at 4 I would.

3 have started aged 4 so far.

Snotty

Maybe it's down to specific schools, but my local said a child needed to turn 4 by start of the April previous to start of school I'm September

GT_TDI_150

It isnt really age and age alone though.

The pre school staff tend to have a good idea whether a child is ready or not... not only intellectually but more importantly socially...

A child might know the alphabet, can count to 50, recite nursery rhyms, etc but to shy to join in play or talk to other kids...

Tom Mann Centuria

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Do you regret not starting them at 4?

I was 5 when I started and wasn’t best pleased, I always said if I could start my kids at 4 I would.

3 have started aged 4 so far.

No, I am very happy we left it until 5. They have had no problems concentrating, they will be that tiny bit more mature when it comes to exams way down the line, and maybe have a better idea of career/educational choices too.

Besides, they aren't children for long, so we enjoyed the extra year we had with them before they started school. (this was the main reason)

Remouad

I've never heard of people who regret waiting until 5 however I do know people who regret sending at 4.

With playschool now free for 2 years for children older than 3 it's going to be more common for children to start at 5.

Speedwell

When I was 4, the school in my area accepted kids if they were going to be 5 by September 30. My birthday was in mid-September, but I could already read so they let me in anyway.

Gatling

Seems to be a consensus the later the better

boardsuser1

I've set up a poll to gauge what people think may be best.

Some people looking in may have an opinion but might not wish to comment.

daheff

in my opinion they should be 5 before Patricks day of the first year in school.

my oldest started at 4 and was 5 in feb

youngest bday is may...started after in sept after 5th bday

what i do notice is a lot of eastern european kids start later...theres one in eldests class that is a full year older than the rest. Seems to be that back in their home countries kids start school at 1st class timeframes...and they may not have realised we start a little earlier. Some its because the children dont speak enough english to start school.

Conversely, a lot of the African kids seem to start just after going 4....and seem very young and lost the first year or so.

[Deleted User]

Some schools that will be full to capacity look for ways to trim the numbers. Some schools won't take under 5s. These schools seem to be in the minority

Mooooo

Sister is a primary teacher for 14 years now and is sure 5 is better. Started her own at 5 as well. Now some do fine at 4 but she reckons the extra 6 months to a year makes a massive difference

SusieBlue

It would depend on when the child is to turn 5. If the child will turn 5 between September and Christmas and seems ready, I would say its fair game to start at 4. Anything after Christmas would give me cause for concern.
In my own personal situation, I turned 4 in the August and started school that September. In hindsight, despite the fact that I was near top of the class academically, I struggled big time socially. For lack of better word, the older kids were far more street wise than me and I couldn't keep up with them. I was also worn out from the day, constantly exhausted.
There were a few kids in my class who turned 6 before the end of the school year, meaning I was aged 4 in a class amongst 6 year olds. I ended up staying back a year in first class and I thrived, never had an issue since, academically or socially. This would have been in the mid 90's so not too long ago.
The other side of it is that there were kids in my class in secondary school who didn't turn 18 before the end of the school year, and they couldn't join in with going to all the 18th birthdays/parties/nights out and a couple of them couldn't drink at their Debs because they still weren't old enough. I know its a loooong way off and may not even end up being relevant (kid may not end up interested in parties/drinking) but I know a lot of the kids in my class were frustrated and annoyed over being left out of things all their legal, 18 year old friends were doing.
I would say waiting till 5 is best, but it all depends on the child.

Rubberlegs

Our eldest was born in July and started Junior Infants the September after turning 4 after doing 2yrs in the playschool. She was one of the youngest in the class but got on great. I was told if I kept her back a year she would be bored as she was well able for the work. If she hadn't done Transition Year she would have been still 16 doing the Leaving Cert which in my opinion is too young. At 24 now, she says TY was a waste of time for her. If I could go back I would have kept her home another year. At the time she was an only child and very outgoing, we were new to the town and I was keen to get her socialising, so she went into playschool the November after turning 2 in July. It all turned out OK at the end of the day.
The middle girl will be doing her leaving next June without doing TY and is 18 at the end of the month, which I think is more like it.
The youngest started Junior Infants aged 4 , turning 5 the following January. I assumed she was one of the oldest in her class but most of them were already 5, almost 6 starting school. So she will be 17 doing the LC or 18 if she does TY.
It can be hard depending on the time of year a child is born deciding whether to leave them start school or keep them back longer so they are that bit older going in. I think it very much depends on the child themselves, though I do think when it comes to LC , 16 is too young.

Mink

I feel 5 is the best age to start.

I was 4 and 3 months starting and only ever was good friends with the other kids that had turned 4 the same summer. Academically we were all fine but socially was another question.

Where it really hit me hard was starting secondary. I was 12 for 90% of 1st year and that was hard going as the other girls were that bit older in terms of development and being street wise. I found the first 2 years of secondary very hard and I was way out of my depth with the other kids in terms of maturity, I don't like to think back to that time.

My sister started just as she was turning 4 and she was the same on both counts.

That's not to say that all kids starting before 4 and a half would have these issues at all, it was just our experience. My son was definitely not ready to start til he was 5.

Best bet is go off your gut feeling and the advice of preschool staff.

Yawns

School policy dictates atm but they usually provide quite a bit of leeway with how the birthday falls. 5 is preferred but not uncommon for a class to have a good mixture of 4 & 5 year olds.

bringupthebook

My gut feeling would be 5 - I left mine til 5. However, I am finding a few parents with older kids saying their kids reached a stage in 5th or 6th class where they were very bored and more than ready to make the move to secondary. Once there the fresh surroundings, change in structure etc invigorated them again but more than one feared they were loosing interest in the whole education system by end of primary. I guess my concern is that for some kids, being older moving to secondary might be a little late to keep them interested in school.

It's a hard one to weigh up but i agree the social side is the most important but more kids have the opportunity of preschool now which really helps ready them for school.

salmocab

bringupthebook wrote: »

I am finding a few parents with older kids saying their kids reached a stage in 5th or 6th class where they were very bored and more than ready to make the move to secondary.

To be fair lots of parents convince themselves that their children are geniuses or blame their bad behavior on them being bored in school because they're ahead of the other kids

boardsuser1

Seems to be an overwhelming majority so far in favour of waiting until a child is 5 years old.

byhookorbycrook

Children can't-and shouldn't-start before the age of 4 now.Legally , they don't have to be in formal education until they are 6. School is so much more than academics and social skills are absolutely paramount in infants. Remember that they will be leaving a "small group" setting and suddenly thrust into a class with 29 others. I work in learning support and often find children who appear to struggle are those who are closer to 4 than 5.

bringupthebook

salmocab wrote: »

To be fair lots of parents convince themselves that their children are geniuses or blame their bad behavior on them being bored in school because they're ahead of the other kids

To be fair I didnt mention anything about bad behaviour or that they think their kids are geniuses. The cases i am familiar with are those that are simply ready for the next stage of their schooling but are still in the primary system for another year or two. I dont see this as surprising for some kids the same as you will hear some parents say that one year is enough of preschool for their child.

Dravokivich

My son's birthday is in January, so mid way through the school year. If I held him back to 5, he'd be quiet a bit older than the other kids. So I'll be looking to have him start at 4.

boardsuser1

Dravokivich wrote: »

My son's birthday is in January, so mid way through the school year. If I held him back to 5, he'd be quiet a bit older than the other kids. So I'll be looking to have him start at 4.

My own daughter was 4 in February so was 4 years 6 months starting.

Similar to yourself we started her at 4 as waiting the extra year would have been too much when you look at the age of the rest of the class.

There is one child there who started at 5 and a half and the parents say they now regret it.

Lackey

Posted something similar previously:

Its not just about academics

If they start at 4/4.5 with kids 5/ 5.5/5,9 years old they will be in 5th year at 16 with 18 year old friends (ty adds the extra year)

You have a 16 year old getting invited to 18ths in niteclubs
Or a 12 year old on a sports team with kids still in primary school ...unable to play on the same team as their classmates

What age group do you want them hanging around with?

pwurple

Nice to have the luxury of choice.

For a lot of us, we simply cannot afford the annual 12k in Creche fees to keep them out of school another year or 2. Will hold onto that for college.

boardsuser1

Made a query to my former school where I hope to enroll my child.

They have told me they would prefer to wait until the following year as they feel he would be too young, in other words starting on his 4th birthday.

Can they legally do this or is it merely professional advice?

Yawns

A number of things would come into account such as school policy and class size / number of enrolled.

If they can still dictate who can come based on being Catholic or not then the starting age of 5 would be legal also if they wished.

If it's the school's policy to wait til 5, then they might insist on it unless there's space available.

boardsuser1

Yawns wrote: »

A number of things would come into account such as school policy and class size / number of enrolled.

If they can still dictate who can come based on being Catholic or not then the starting age of 5 would be legal also if they wished.

If it's the school's policy to wait til 5, then they might insist on it unless there's space available.

2020 is the proposed start date so i can't see why they would have an issue with numbers at this stage.

I might call in person and try it.