Sandra’s Story
I first met Sandra as a participant in one of my Focus Groups. Her family had recently immigrated to Australia from the United Kingdom (UK). At the time of the focus group interview, Sandra’s April-born daughter Natasha had commenced her first term of the Foundation year (first year of formal schooling) in NSW, at the earliest opportunity. Sandra had felt confident that Natasha was ready to commence formal schooling in Australia because she had previously started Reception (the first year of school) in the UK. However, it came to my attention via a social media post that Sandra had elected to repeat Natasha in Foundation the following year. I reached out to Sandra for a follow-up interview to hear her story, to which she agreed. This story explores the main reasons behind the decision to repeat Natasha in the Foundation year.
At the time of the focus group, Sandra had shared openly that whilst her daughter was enjoying the first term of school, there had been some issues. Her daughter Natasha understood there were children in the class who were older than her and they were able to do things that she could not. This had often resulted in feelings of frustration for her daughter. She described:
I wouldn’t say she feels a lack of confidence, but she’s frustrated. She’s a bit frustrated at times that she can’t do things but… she’s enjoying it so much that I know… from my perspective, it’s the right decision. And in England she’s already done a year already… So, we’ve come over and just carried on what’s normal for her… I feel she’s definitely ready for school. And she’s resilient. She’s a resilient child. So, if an older child… came along and said something… she’d give it back… verbally. (Sandra, Mother)
Sandra’s confidence in the decision to send Natasha to school at the earliest opportunity was largely influenced by the fact that Natasha had previously started Reception in the UK. However, as the 2018 school year progressed, it became apparent to Sandra that the first year of schooling in Australia was very different to the first year of schooling in the UK. As a result, Sandra believed Natasha’s young age in comparison to her peers was the predominant reason as to why she had struggled immensely during the Foundation year.
So, we moved out here last January… And she was already in Reception in the U.K., which was working out perfectly fine. But now I realise, having started her over here, that Kindy [Foundation] is different to Reception and no one made us aware of that. So, we put her into school last year thinking that it would just be a continuation of what she was already doing. And then probably within the first term, and we realised that she was just not being able to make friends, really struggling so socially, she was acting out a little bit, crying all the time. Just, just really wasn’t ready but we didn’t know whether that was just sort of teething from coming from the UK and all the things that had changed for her, like, you know, the house, the country, leaving the grandparents behind. So, the teacher was really supportive, and she said, let’s stick with it. You know, we’ll see if we can sort of help her out and help with the friendships and stuff. But it just… never really got going. And it was just a struggle for her that year. And she was a bit alienated from the other members of the class that were obviously a bit more mature than she was. (Sandra, Mother)
Natasha’s struggles became apparent during the first term and persisted throughout the year. Sandra met with the school on several occasions to discuss the situation and found the school to be extremely supportive in trying to help Natasha form friendships with her peers. However, towards the end of the school year, a decision was made to repeat Natasha in the Foundation year the following year.
Around October time, we decided, with the teacher as well and the headmistress, that it would be a good idea to repeat Kindy [Foundation] all over again and give her a chance to really you know, thrive socially, because academically she was absolutely fine. There was [sic] no issues whatsoever. And she’s sort of one of the kids that was probably more able with the reading and spelling and all that kind of stuff. But yeah socially – that was the problem, socially with, within the group. (Sandra, Mother)
Because there were no academic concerns, Sandra revealed there was a possibility that repeating the Foundation year could become boring for Natasha. However, Sandra was confident this would not be an issue because the private school Natasha attended modified the way the curriculum was taught each year.
No problems at all, because the school that she’s at, they change the curriculum slightly every year, so it doesn’t become boring. Like for example, this year they’ve decided to do more outside play. So, they go over to where they do the OOSH [Out of School Hours] club and they’ve been doing quite a lot of their Maths out, out in the open, you know, going to collect books and leaves and stuff like that rather than doing it at the desk. So, it feels like a different activity, even though it’s still numbers. It’s completely different. And they’ve made it sort of fun. So, they do that every year, they try and change it up a bit. So, she hasn’t once come home and said, “Oh I’ve done this before, I’m bored.” You know, like it’s all been different. (Sandra, Mother)
Sandra expressed concern that repeating a year in the same school has the potential to be problematic. She revealed feeling worried about the reaction from the Year One girls, when they realised her daughter Natasha was repeating Foundation.
The ones [girls] that are now in Year One… at the start they were saying, “why isn’t Natasha in my class?” … “Is it because she’s a baby?” And they started to… be a bit mean to her about it. And… I was sort of saying to the children, “No, no, it’s not Natasha’s fault. It is my fault. Actually, I put her in when she was too young. She’s…not six yet, so that’s why she can’t come to your class.” And they accepted that completely and forgot all about it. And it was just nipped in the bud. And that was fine… I was a bit worried about that at the beginning, like they were gonna [sic] think, there’s even more reason to alienate her and make her feel… rubbish (laughs). But actually, we got rid of that little problem at the beginning very easily. (Sandra, Mother)
Sandra’s revelation of “it is my fault” to the children in the extract above is an example which shows that the burden of the decision-making often falls heavily upon the mother. In Sandra’s case, she took sole responsibility for the decision-making and the consequences of the decision made. Reflecting on the decision, Sandra recalled Natasha’s behaviour at home as being extremely challenging at the time.
She was… fine at school… keeping it together. And then she’d come home and … just go nuts. You know, she’d start slamming doors, she’d throw things, she’d scream… like a tantrum that you’d expect a two or three-year old to have really. And I think it was just, it was just too much, too much stimulation, too tired. She wouldn’t, she didn’t want to know about after-school clubs or anything like that. I didn’t even put it on the table for her in the end. I just said, you know, you’re too tired. We’re just gonna [sic] come home and rest. And now she’s doing some things for at least three or four days after school, and she wants to be there and do that. So, it’s just been such a massive change in like what she wants to get involved in, from shutting down completely last year. (Sandra, Mother)
Sandra was pleased to report a positive change in Natasha’s behaviour at home during the repeated year. She felt Natasha was better able to deal with the demands of the Foundation year the second time round because she was older. Sandra was also confident Natasha was now ready to move into Year One.
She’s ready for Year One. You know, just at the beginning of this term, I’ve just seen her suddenly grow up and she’s ready for another challenge now. She’s seen like the little Kindy girls come in for their Orientation…And she’s like, all right, I’m a big girl now. I’m gonna [sic] go to Year One now. And she’s happy about it as well. (Sandra, Mother)
Upon reflection, Sandra now believed that repeating Natasha in the Foundation year had been an overall positive experience. She mentioned that the entire family have now settled into life in Australia, and that Natasha has fitted in better socially with her peers in the current cohort due to being closer in age.
So, she’s actually now with her right peer group… so, she’s made more friends. It’s just been much, much easier for her. And I think after the move as well, you know, we’ve settled here. We’ve had some really lovely family days out and stuff. So, she’s started to think of Australia as her home, rather than being homesick. So, it was kind of, I think, a lot of different things, but mainly she was too young (laughs) is what I now realise for her year, that’s, that’s what it was really over everything else. (Sandra, Mother)
When reflecting upon the whole experience, Sandra realised that sending Natasha to school at the earliest opportunity had been a mistake. Despite feeling at the time of the focus group interview that the decision to send was the right one, in hindsight this proved not to be the case. Sandra revealed: “I think I made the wrong decision… we just shouldn’t have put her in” (Sandra, Mother).
Sandra revealed that moving to Australia from the UK was another reason Natasha had struggled during the Foundation year. Sandra described feeling confused by the flexibility in choice offered to some parents in the education system here in Australia.
And yeah, I mean, that was so new for us when we first got here. And I was thinking at the time, why would people not just put their kids in school? … Why would they hold them back like this? It just doesn’t make sense to me. Because we didn’t have any choice in England… You just go when you go. And if you struggle through because you’re a June or July baby, which is gonna [sic] be the babies of the class… you just struggle through and that’s the end of it. (Sandra, Mother)
Sandra’s question regarding why parents would choose to “hold them back like this” by delaying school entry reiterated the view of many interview and focus group parents who also associated delayed school entry with holding a child back. However, it became apparent during this follow-up interview that Sandra’s feelings regarding starting school age had changed from her experience with Natasha.
Actually…now I’ve realised, and I’ve looked at this so much and experienced it myself. Why don’t, why don’t we do these things in England? This is ridiculous. They’re far too young to go to school. You know, so I’ve completely changed my perspective on everything really to do this. (Sandra, Mother)
With previous experience to now draw upon for future decision-making, Sandra was conscious not to repeat her mistake of sending Natasha to school at the earliest opportunity, with her second daughter. Despite previously believing that delaying school start was holding a child back, Sandra believed the experience with Natasha had opened her eyes to the realisation that most children are not ready to commence formal schooling at the earliest opportunity. She indicated that a lack of clarity regarding the impact of early entry underpinned her decision-making at the time.
I wouldn’t make the same mistake with my second daughter now… she will be…five and a half when she goes into Kindy [Foundation]… because I can’t send her at four and a half. But after Natasha, I wouldn’t anyway. I just wouldn’t do it. They’re just not ready, are they? Most, most kids anyway (laughs). From what I’ve seen, they’re just, they’re just not ready… it has been a bit of a ride (laughs). But it’s all good now (laughs). (Sandra, Mother)
This story has shared the two main reasons Sandra believed influenced her decision to repeat her daughter Natasha in the Foundation year. First, being born in April and starting school at the earliest opportunity in Australia resulted in Natasha being extremely young in comparison to her peers. This led to significant social issues due to differences in maturity levels. Second, the move to Australia from the UK resulted in Sandra not being fully aware of how the Australian schooling system worked. It had been assumed the Foundation year in Australia would be a continuation of the Reception year in the UK. This, however, was shown not to be the case. Based on her experience with Natasha starting school, Sandra indicated that she would be delaying school entry for her second-born daughter.