An anomaly in education rules – which can result in summer-born children with additional needs missing a year of school – could be one step closer to being fixed, thanks to campaigning by a local mother and qualified solicitor (who wishes to remain anonymous), and Daisy Cooper MP.
Children born between 1 April and 31 August are known as ‘summer born children’.
Whilst most children start school in the September after they turn 4, summer born children do not need to start school until the September after their fifth birthday, a year after they could first have started school.
For most summer born children, there is government guidance that supports good decision making in the child’s best interest when a request is made for them to start school at the age of 5 instead of 4. Moreover, this guidance is very clear that once admitted to a later year group, wherever possible the child should remain registered in that year group throughout their education. It states: “The government believes it is rarely in a child’s best interest to miss a year of their education”.
However, this guidance does not apply to children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) which means some are unfairly missing out on a vital year of education.
As one local mother discovered, summer-born children with EHCPs are often required to change school years when moving schools, especially when moving to specialist provision.
She was alerted to the issue by another parent with a summer born child who had been forced to miss the whole of year 6 when moving schools.
When the Mum raised it with local MP Daisy Cooper MP two years ago, Daisy urged the previous Conservative government to introduce equivalent guidance for children with EHCPs.
After the Conservatives failed to act, Daisy raised it again – this time with the current government – and now there has been a breakthrough.
After Daisy tabled amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would require the government to produce this guidance, the government finally agreed to do so.
Daisy also asked for the number of children impacted to be collected and published, and the government has pledged to look into obtaining this data too. This meant that Daisy’s amendments weren’t put to a vote.
After almost two years of fighting for changes, Ministers have told Daisy that they will produce new guidance that “will be informed by many of the matters you [Daisy] highlighted in your amendments, including the issue over transition between schools.”
Daisy said:
“No child should lose a year of their education, least of all children with special education needs or disabilities.
“I was shocked to learn that this had happened locally and that it’s happening around the country elsewhere too.
“This situation should never have been left to continue for years as it did under the previous Conservative government.
“Here in Hertfordshire, children with SEND have been failed in so many ways. From the Conservative’s county SEND service getting the worst possible Ofsted rating, to the Conservative’s national funding formula short-changing the service too.
“Notwithstanding, I’m relieved that after two years of campaigning this government has finally seen sense on this issue, and committed to publishing some much-needed guidance to ensure every child in St Albans and across the county can access the education they need and to which they are entitled.
“Throughout this time, I’ve been really impressed with the passion and perseverance of the local mother who has brought this issue to my attention, mobilised other affected families to lobby their MPs too, and to campaign to bring about change for lots of children and their families.
“Our campaign is by no means over, and neither is my fight to improve SEND provision locally. But this is definite progress, and I’ll now be pushing the government to introduce this guidance without delay and to make sure it’s robust enough too.”
Since receiving confirmation that the government will produce new guidance, Daisy has written to Ministers to press them for a timeframe, a thorough consultation, and for yearly data on the number of children impacted by this issue to be collected and published.
Daisy meeting with Hertfordshire SEND campaigners in Parliament