All I remember were my daughter’s bouncing, white-blonde piggy tails and piercing blue eyes staring straight up at me, her hands on her hips. “If I have to do one more finger painting I’m going to SCREAM!” It was just another day of pre-school, and boy, was she not happy about it.
I had already decided that, with her being born on July 24, she was not going to be one of those kids sent to school early. It was October, and Kindergarten enrolments had been and gone. None of my mothers’ group or my other friends were sending their kids early, none of the mummy bloggers either, and all advice from the pre-school teachers and experts on the matter pointed toward keeping her at pre-school for another year.
However, something was niggling at me. Perhaps it was the fact that I could see she was not enjoying the pre-school curriculum at all. She kept telling me she was so bored. She never wanted to sleep at nap time, and was prevented from doing anything else instead. She was regarded rebellious by the pre-school; a bit of a problem child. I realised she couldn’t sit still at home either. She couldn’t even watch TV for more than 10 minutes. She would get frustrated, always wanting to be out and about. With a toddler to deal with, too, that wasn’t so easy.
What your child’s teacher really thinks about them…
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I knew my child better than anyone, and I had a feeling she was extremely bored and needed a lot more stimulation. I talked to my husband and the next day I had her enrolled at the local primary school. After the testing process the assistant principal saw her exactly as I did, which was a huge relief and reassured me that age really had little to do with school readiness.
A few months later, her first day of school was one filled with excitement and confidence. She never latched onto my leg or cried. The only thing about kinder she didn’t like was the mollycoddling from the Year 6 kids!
After her first year we moved her to a Catholic school. As she didn’t meet the June 30 age cut-off, I thought they would want her to repeat. But given that her Kindergarten report was so good, the Principal was confident to let her continue to Year 1. Again she excelled.
Each parent-teacher interview since, I would always feel apprehensive as if I was waiting for a shaking of the teacher’s head and a damning ‘What on earth were you thinking sending her to school so young?’ (Or maybe that was the question I kept asking myself). Not only was she the youngest, she was also one of the littlest and last on the class roll.
Her last primary school year was her best yet. Her reports were outstanding, she was self-assured and so excited about starting high school and most importantly, she felt ready. She will be the first to tell you that.
Last week was my first high school parent-teacher interview experience. This time, instead of having one teacher who could potentially judge me for my decision, I had seven to contend with. But I had a very confident and happy daughter with me who was prepared for me to meet her teachers, because she is absolutely loving high school. She may only be eleven, but she can hold her own next to any 13-year-old in her year group.
I can say she’s positively thriving and her teachers had nothing but glowing reports on how well she has settled in, how well she is already grasping new learning areas and already showing signs toward having a positive high school experience. No mention of her being the youngest in her grade whatsoever (if they even noticed).
I have read so many assorted articles on the subject of school starting ages, most containing an overwhelming amount of recommendations for children to be held back, and for the majority that may be the right thing to do. But I’m going to say that unless the Government actually changes the cut-off date, that decision still rests with the parents. For those who have daughter like mine, where it actually would have been detrimental to hold her back, you need to do what feels right for you and your child.
Listen: The new best age to send a kid to school. Post continues after audio.
However, given this article was her idea, I asked her to share her thoughts:
"It doesn’t really make a difference. I think getting sent early is an advantage because you get to finish school earlier than people who are older than you. It’s also been an advantage for me because I get to learn new things to keep my brain active. I might be young, but I have the privilege of being smart. I love sports too like OzTag and touch footy but I still take time to do my homework, study and do assignments, and I don’t let my age get in the way of my education or anything.
"You might be thinking that sending your child later is a better decision, but they will still be able to learn and succeed. I was bored at pre-school and I wanted to learn, and being bored gets in the way of learning so not holding me back was the best thing for me."
- Lili – 11 years old. Youngest in the whole of Year 7.
Top Comments
I started high school at age 11. The first year was great but the following 3, not so much. Academically I kept up, or surpassed, my peers but I suffered severe bullying based upon the fact I was physically “behind” them. I didn’t go though puberty until year 9 when my peers had started several years earlier. Typically, the teenagers at my school picked on me because I was different. Flat chested, no curves, I was called Conrad straight. Swimming lessons were the worst because it was obvious I was underdeveloped compared to others and I was always reminded of it. I was 4’11” when most of my peers were well over 5’, I was bullied about that too until year 10 when I finally hit my growth spurt. I guess what made it worse was my parents also commented on my physical appearance, as a joke they said, but I had no respite at home. I hope high school has changed and this young girl doesn’t have to go through what I did. Unfortunately I know it had not when my kids were in high school 10 years ago.
I went to school at her age and it was never an issue socially or emotionally when youre young. But it does really begin to suck when you are 15 and all your friends can already drive, when you are 17 and everyone is having 18ths at clubs you cant get into, or going to schoolies. And for the first half of your first year at uni when you cant go to any of the social events that have alcohol. It sucks right up to the point when everyone else turns 21 in one year, then by the time its your party the next year they're all sick to death of them. I cant say its exactly been a huge issue in my life because I still have plenty of friends and was more than capable of organising non alcoholic hang outs when I need to, but others would have struggled.