I went to a Open Day at a private school today. As DD should be starting Prep 2010 so we are starting to look around.

I was talking with the Prep teacher (or one of) and i asked her about the April cut off and how it will affect her as she turns 5 in March. She started with, "the trend these days is to hold the child back a year, keeping them at home for another year then starting them when they are 6"...

"the trend?" i cant get past that statement....

I went on to ask more question's, as DD's Kinder teacher and i think she will be well and truly ready, and the teacher at this school said they do evaluation's at the end of this year, as to whether she would be ready. Which is fine, but i just got to thinking.

DD started 4 YO kinder when she was 3, turned 4 during first term. Her kindy teacher's didnt even notice a difference between her and the older children, as she was the only one who was 3 going on 4, not 4 going on 5. And so i had just presumed if she was to continue developing at the rate she has, then there would be no question as to whether she starts prep in 2010.

But the way inwhich this prep teacher was talking was if, that it wouldnt matter if she appeared to be ready, they would most likely prefer to hold her back due to the "trend"!

Now i have never been one to follow trends, and i am not going to start now.

Why would i want to keep my daughter either, at home or at kinder again, where she will be bored and then possibly regress???!!! argh

Anyway, i just really wanted to know some more, either thought's experience etc etc from other's who have been here. Being she is my first, this is all new to me.

TIA
What state are you in? I haven't heard of anyone keeping their child back till 6 for prep in Qld. Prep in Qld is the year before grade one. The whole idea of the prep changes in Qld were that children would be 18 the year they finish school - they must turn 5 by the 1st July to go. Some children will turn 6 in their prep year because they missed the 1st July cut off the year before. But your child makes the cut off by a lot. I don't understand why they would want you to keep them back another whole year. That would mean they would be 19 when they finish year 12 and mid to late 20's if they do a uni degree. That's quite old.

The other thing to consider, as long as you pass the rules with ages, I don't think they can deny your child a spot.