Advice, should I send my child to primary school?

No way would they have been too old starting at 5. I started my oldest ( January birthday) age 4 and I regret that decision. She was the youngest in the class ( there is no advantage in that whatsover believe me), she wasnt able to play eg GAA or other activities in the same group as her schoolfriends as she was born in a different year which caused issues. Shes now in secondary and most girls are again way older than her which socially isnt great because shes forced to mature before her time. She wants to do TY as she feels being younger has done her no favours at all during her school years. I think its nonsense talk when parents say their kids couldnt do another year of playschool - I give a giggle at that because I think its quite niave ( I was that niave soldier).

I started my son ( also Jan) after he turned 5 and he has thrived from day 1 in school - hes 5th oldest in his class so fits in great. He has done great both from educational and social viewpoint because he is older.

There are no advantages to a kid starting school young - none whatsover!

why is 19 or 20 too old to be starting uni?

never occurred to me there was a maximum age. My uni was full of people aged 17 to 70.

I agree that traditional secondary school uniforms etc might be an irritant at 18+ but that depends on the kid really and who can predict what their 4 years 9ld will be like at 18.

And if they have to leave home to go to uni then being older is not a bad thing, better chance of maturity. No guarantees of course. They could be 30 and still immature

I turned 5 in the July before I started school, did TY & was 19 starting college. In some ways it was annoying that for all of 6th year I was a legal adult (could drink, vote etc) but I wasn't allowed to sign a sick note for myself. I get the reasoning but still.

There was benefits though in college. I wasn't that much older than most of the people there & I possibly had a bit more cop on so didn't do too crazy things. I think it's better than being 17 starting college which I know a few who did but then dropped out as they couldn't cope with it.

All that said, times have changed a lot with the introduction of ECCE. While I was always one of the oldest in the year at 5 in Junior Infants, that's more the norm now with those 2 years of ECCE. So a child who turns 6 during Junior Infants wouldn't be the odd one out anymore & they would actually be the average age in the class.

And yet the primary school teachers are saying that they're better to start later than earlier. Seems to be different views from the 2 ends of the scale. A child has to start school before they turn 6 so at most, even with TY, they'd be is 19 sitting their leaving. That's basing off my son's class where the oldest in the class turned 7 (senior infants) in the March.

It’s easier for primary teachers to have the older children, so I can understand why they say that. Less chance of accidents and crying etc etc.

My Wife also worked in primary at the start of her career. Those sitting leaving cert at 20 would be due to repeat years (usually illness/bereavement/psychological reasons), or foreign nationals moving into the class at an already older age to the rest of the students.

Statistics apparently back up that kids are more likely to finish school with a leaving cert if they are 16-18 as opposed to 18-20. I personally agree as someone who was scheduled for leaving cert late into my 18th year. Work was a big draw and I never completed my LC.

Now, I did return to education much later and got an Engineering degree, but had I started school sooner, the lure of cash for the weekend wouldn’t have been so prominent and I would likely have got through secondary in full.

If the child is mature enough to enter school, it should be the aim to get them started. There is no right time. It’s a stressful and emotional time for us all. I have a girl starting in September 🥹. You never get used to it.

In my experience, if you feel he's not 100% ready, and you don't have to send him, keep him a year longer. Studies in the UK about "summer babies" show they tend to do better when they start a year later:

https://schoolofeducation.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2023/05/24/should-your-summer-born-child-start-school-later-heres-what-the-research-says/

They start out bigger, more confident, able to do more things. That gives them confidence for years to come, often right through their schooling, so they actually do better because they don't get discouraged.

It's not just academic: even stuff like being better at games in the playground boosts their status among their classmates, which again helps their confidence.