Eich cyf / Your ref:		Gofynner am / Please ask for:	Mr. Gareth Morgans
Fy nghyf / My ref:		Llinell Uniongyrchol / Direct Line:	01267 246522
Dyddiad / Date:	24-12-18	E-bost Uniongyrchol / Direct E-mail:	EDGMorgans@sirgar.gov.uk EDGMorgans@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

David J Rowlands, AM,

National assembly for Wales,

Cardiff Bay,

Cardiff,

CF99 1NA

Petition P-05-832

To Amend the School Admissions Code Relating to Summer-Born Children

Thank you for your letter dated December 5^th in regard to the issues noted above.

As an Admissions Authority we have a clearly defined policy which is consulted upon annually. The current policy can be found via this link- Carmarthenshire County Council’s School Admissions Policy.

As an Admissions Authority we do not have a specific policy regarding deferral of starting school but we do have definitive Position Statements in regard to Holding Pupils Back a Year and Moving them Up a Year outside of their chronological school year group. These can be provided if you require them.

In the last three years we have only had one parental request to delay starting school entry and to enter a school year that is one year behind the chronological school year.

This was an exceptional case where the child was born extremely prematurely (14 weeks) with medical complications. The child should have been born in November if they had gone to term, but was born at the end of August. The Parents requested that the child be allowed to start in the school year that she should have been born into and presented supportive evidence from the neonatal consultant pediatrician and Bliss, a lobby group for prematurely born children, to be educated in the cohort based on their expected birth date. The Local Authority agreed to this as an exceptional case.

We consider each individual case and come to a decision based on the evidence provided.

Yours sincerely,

Gareth Morgans