Last year the UK government announced that children with birthdays between April and August would be allowed to start school at the age of five, rather than four, if their parents wished.
And following a review of the current Jersey school starting age by the Education Department, its director Justin Donovan on Monday told the Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel that there would be ‘financial and planning consequences’ if a similar change came into force in Jersey.
Earlier in the hearing, Keith Posner, the department’s director of policy and planning, said that for the next two years there were around 300 children with birthdays between April and August who could potentially be deferred a year and he said that class sizes could increase considerably if those children were allowed to start school a year later.
