Hunter, Jennifer;
(2022)
Summer-born children starting school after their 5th birthday: An exploration of parents’ views and experiences of waiting until Compulsory School Age (CSA).
Doctoral thesis (D.Ed.Psy), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
In England, parents legally have a right to wait until the term after their child’s fifth birthday before sending them to school; when the child is of Compulsory School Age (CSA). For summer-born children, this can result in them starting school a full year after they might have otherwise. There exists limited research in England on why parents choose to delay their summer-born child’s entry into school, and what their experience is of the process. This study contributes to a gap in the literature. A multimethod study was conducted, collecting qualitative data from survey participants (n = 153) and interviewees (n = 10), which was analysed using thematic analysis. The results indicate that parental reasons for delaying their child’s entry to school are complex and cannot be reduced to one reason. However, they include; individual child factors; the child within the family and school system; parental values, beliefs, and views of the English education system. Parents’ experiences of the process of delaying their child’s entry into school included; systematic barriers impacting on fair and equitable access, and the need for parental ability and capacity to engage with the process. The participants in this study were typically affluent and highly-educated, which aligns with other research on families delaying their child’s entry into school. Issues around equality of access are therefore discussed. This study proposes that future research is needed on understanding more about the families opting to delay, and the potential long-term implications of this. Implications for Educational Psychologists include having increasing awareness of the practice of delayed entry, working with families to understand their views, and working within school systems to support summer-born children.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Ed.Psy |
| Title: | Summer-born children starting school after their 5th birthday: An exploration of parents’ views and experiences of waiting until Compulsory School Age (CSA) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10152913 |
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