So this evening I got a lesson in another little corner of the ongoing implosion of pretty basic British administrative governance. Want to hear about it?
A few years back the government made it possible for summer born children to defer their start at primary school until the next January or even the following September.
Leaving aside the not inconsequential issue that this disproportionately benefits those who can afford an extra year of nursery fees, this is on balance A Good Thing...
The difference between an Aug born child who has just turned four and a Sept born child who is about to turn five is huge. Lots of studies show Aug born kids face bigger academic challenges google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg…
There's even intriguing stats there are disproportionately few August born Premiership footballers. Probably cos they spent their formative PE lessons getting kicked around by kids that were 20% bigger.
There is some counter evidence... google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.…
But it's pretty narrow research and the government accepts there's an issue here to address. So what's it done?
Well, it keeps saying its going to sort it google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tele…
But unless I've missed something - and more importantly unless the excellent nursery that just briefed parents on this is missing something - the whole thing is still basically on a voluntary basis.
So you can request a deferral for the Jan or next Sept for your Aug born child that is not ready for school. But the school can say no.
And, again as I understand it, the school only gets paid for the child when they are on the register, so there is an incentive to say no (in fairness most don't but some do).
And it gets even more messy, cos you apply to schools at the same time as you lodge your deferral, and if the school says yes you have to then apply again, risking losing your preferred choice.
And when the child leaves the school you apparently go through it all again, cos you have to apply for a deferral for their secondary school with no guarantee that will be accepted. Again it probably will be, but no guarantee.
General feeling was the government could have largely sorted this by putting it on a statutory footing, but it has just pushed difficult decisions on to the schools and raised prospect of something good for kids that may not happen, plus yet more admission anxiety for parents.
And it's been circling around this for over three years without resolving it in any way shape or form.
