STS0016

 

Written evidence submitted by Mark Gibson

 

 

  1. I would like to submit the experience I had with my son starting school and the option of delaying that start due to his being born in August.

 

  1. As with many parents the start of school for a child is a stressful time. Our son being born in August meant that he was just four when due to start. At the time he was below average height for his age and had very poor eyesight. We asked the school to allow us to delay a year later as we knew he was not ready for starting school.

 

  1. We were informed that we could delay the start by a year but he would have to start in year one and that there was no other option. This is basically a Hobson’s choice and from our experience one of the worst rulings an Education Authority can make. Obviously there was no point in our delaying his start. As a consequence he suffered greatly from not being able to keep up with his peers as we predicted. His education suffered throughout his school time despite an excellent record for attendance and effort applied. His GCSE scores never got above a grade D.

 

  1. So because of a badly thought out policy and it’s interpretation and application by local education authorities (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) he is now at a disadvantage for the rest of his life in never being qualified enough to enable enrolment in useful apprenticeships or a university education.

 

  1. As parents we totally blame the Education Authorities for this situation, we used private tutors where possible to help him but his confidence in his own abilities was already shot.

 

  1. I am writing in the hope (but with expectations of nothing positive ever happening) that the committee will apply common sense and clarify the rulings so that some education authorities don’t demand psychological profiles and assessments to prove a child’s development capability (where an assessment appointment could take years to get due to cuts in services). Parents generally know whether their children are ready for the start of school, at least those that care about their children’s development and education. It is too late for my son as he is now 21, don’t make it too late other children.

 

 

 

February 2015