When should my child start school?

When should my child start school?

This can be one of the most vexing questions parents can face – is their child ready for school? They’ve probably read debates in the media and heard discussions in the child care carparks, leaving many mums and dads completely confused about when to start their littlie at school.

Australia’s school start dates vary from state to state – for example in NSW, you can start your child at school in January even if they don’t turn five until the end of July. What this can mean is that there are kids in the class who are four-and-a-half years old as well as ones who have turned six.

All the education experts and child psychologists seem to have a view on the topic, and quite a lot of research has been done in the area.

Here are some of the facts, figures and opinions on the values of starting school early versus waiting a bit longer. Beware, it’s an emotional minefield of contradiction and polarised views. In the end, it’s a decision parents, possibly with a preschool teacher or other education professional, need to make.

For a checklist to help parents assess if their child is “school ready” and for a list of school starting ages around the country click here.

Boys vs girls

There has been a view among many education experts in the past couple of decades that boys can benefit from a later start at school. Well-known parenting author Steve Biddulph, author of Raising Boys, is a big supporter of boys being held back until at least the age of six years.

He claims that boys on the whole are at least six to 12 months behind girls when it comes to fine motor skills and paying attention.

Holding kids back only good in the short-term

A large 2006 US study found that older kids had a slight academic advantage at the beginning but that this was whittled away over the first few years. The researchers concluded that older kids do better because they learn more before they started kindergarten, but not because they learnt more once they get to school.

A 2010 US study found that the age at school entry had no effect on wages, employment, homeownership, household income or marital status as an adult. In fact, younger kids were one percent more likely to graduate from high school than older kids.

It’s the journey not the destination

Kathy Walker, Melbourne education consultant and early childhood expert at the Early Life Foundations, has spent much time on this subject. She’s writing a book on it.

She’s a big supporter of a later rather than early start to schooling and cites the successes of European countries like Sweden where children start school at six or seven years old.

Here are some of her words of wisdom: “Starting school should not be like hopping onto a conveyor belt as soon as you can hop, and getting off as early as you can. Starting school, as part of being educated, is a journey that needs special preparation, care, and should be a wonderful time where one can make the most of the opportunities.”

She believes strongly that if there is a question mark over a child’s readiness for school, that parents are provided with the option of giving their child another high quality early childhood year before starting school.

Is it a trend?

In Australia in 2005, 14.5 percent of children who were eligible to start school were delayed, according to recent figures from the Australian Institute of Family Studies – the highest rates of delayed entry were in New South Wales where 31 percent of children were held back.

What’s happening elsewhere?

20 out of 34 European countries have a starting age of six years old, while a further eight wait until seven. In the US and the UK, children start between four and six.

From the mouth of a teacher:

“I’ve not seen any evidence in the classroom that delaying entry is a bad thing,” says Sydney kindergarten teacher Renata, who’s been teaching school starters for four years. “Children who are not ready to start school one year do seem to benefit having that extra year in some sort of early childhood program.”

“If they’re not able to open their lunch box, go to the toilet unaided and follow instructions, for example, it can be hard for parents to expect us to have them reading and writing by the end of the year.”

Join the chat

Find out what other mums have to say about starting school. Is it better to send kids to school early or hold them back a year? Join the chat at Kidspot Social.

This article was written by Fiona Baker for Kidspot, Australia's best resource for back to school. Sources include Early Life Foundations.

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