I think that whatever age is agreed as being the "right" age (and I agree standardisation across Australia is important), there will always be parents that have an issue with it. I would have had a big issue if DDs 1 and 2 were held back from starting school for effectively two years after they did start - their kindy year saw them learning the alphabet both verbally and written, counting to 50 etc and starting sight words. This was the year they turned 4 in May. They were well and truly ready and they have flourished. I have no doubt there are kids that weren't so ready and for those kids its been a struggle that hopefully they will be able to put behind them without it becoming a serious ongoing issue.

I think its perhaps more important that parents stop measuring their kids up against the next child. Really, who cares if little Jessie can already read up to the blue level but little Johnnie is only the base orange? At such an early stage of education, there should be less pressure on kids' achievements and more emphasis on it being an enjoyable experience, developing social skills etc