P-05-832 To Amend the School Admissions Code Relating to Summer-Born Children

Thank you for your correspondence in relation to school admissions, Correspondence – Vale of Glamorgan Council to Committee, 26.02.19

The Vale of Glamorgan Council admissions team rarely receives requests for a deferral of school admission directly. When received, they are dealt with on a case by case basis. Please find below the relevant extract form the Councils Admission Policy.

“The Council’s policy allows all children who have attained their fourth birthday on or before the 31st August to attend full time school that September. This, however, is not a legal requirement. Some parents may choose not to send their children to school until later in the year or when they reach five years old and are of statutory school age. This will be a matter for parental decision however when considering this, please ensure that you are aware of the significant implications of this decision. The School Access Team would be able to provide you with advice as will individual schools if you are considering this course of action. 

For information purposes, compulsory school age is defined as the start of the term following a child’s fifth birthday. If your child is five on or before:

•             1 September

•             1 January or

•             1 April

then they must be enrolled at school at the beginning of that term. For example, a child who became five on 31 August would be of compulsory school age for the September term; a child who became five on 1 September would not be of compulsory school age until the start of the January term.”

On average, one request per year is received for Reception or Secondary intakes. If requests are received, they are forwarded to the Achievement For All team rather than managed as part of the admissions process as they usually relate to the child’s additional learning needs. This allows for decisions on deferral  due to additional learning needs to be managed by the appropriate team. On occasion, parents request a delayed start to reception for reasons other than additional learning needs, including for “summer born” children. This is usually managed at a school level based on the parents and Headteachers judgement of the circumstances of the case.  In these circumstances, the place is allocated for the child via the admissions process and a delayed start date is agreed between the parent and the school. The place is kept available for the child (as required by the School Admissions Code 2013) until the beginning of the term after the child’s fifth birthday when the child becomes statutory school age. Specific advice based on the circumstances of the case is provided to parents in this event, in particular the need to reapply for a school place if the place is not taken up at all during the academic year the place was allocated for.

Please find below the additional data you requested. Please note that this does not include decisions made between schools and parents to delay the start date for children not yet of statutory school age as outlined above.

School Year	Number of requests for deferral received by admissions	Granted/ rejected	Number where date of birth (including “summer born”) given as reason	Granted/ rejected	Outcome.
2018/19	1	granted	0	0	child offset and will be admitted to Reception 2019 when chronologically a year above, child had additional learning needs
2017/18	1	granted			Additional Learning Needs
2016/17	0

I trust that this information is of use to you, please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information.

Lisa Lewis

Operational Manager, Strategy and Resources / Rheolydd Gweithredol, Strategaeth ac Adnoddau

Learning and Skills / Swyddfa’r Cyfarwyddwr – Dysgu a Sgiliau

Vale of Glamorgan Council / Cyngor Bro Morgannwg