The terminology used when referring to starting school practices was shown to vary due to different perspectives offered by parents. For example, many parents often referred to a delayed school entry using negative connotations. Phrases such as “held him back” (Heather, Mother) or “starting late” (Brett, Father) were frequently used. Such phrases may influence parents’ decision-making due to the implied harmful impact of a delayed school entry for the child.
On the other hand, some parents viewed a delayed entry positively. These parents referred to a delayed school entry as an opportunity for the child to have “another year of play” (Kaitlyn, Mother) or “be a child for longer” (Sandrine, Mother) prior to commencing formal schooling. Kaitlyn, who was struggling with the feeling she was holding her son back by delaying his school entry, recalled receiving the following advice from an acquaintance via a private message on Facebook: “If you choose not to send him, don’t use that term [held back]. Say, “I’ve decided to give him another year” … [or] “I’ve decided to give him another year of play” (Kaitlyn, Mother). This advice encouraged Kaitlyn to change her reference to a delayed school entry from a negative connotation to a positive one.
The terminology used by parents to describe children who commenced school at the earliest opportunity also varied. Many parents viewed starting at the earliest opportunity as “sending early” (Harshika, Mother) or starting “too early” (Yvonne, Mother). Harshika felt that the terminology used had shifted due to the increasing number of parents choosing to delay school entry, which had resulted in increased pressure to follow suit.
It seems like that the norm is to actually say school starts at six and sending early is the… [on-time] … but it seems like it’s the other way, so parents are viewing it the other way. On-time is six. And if you’re sending them at five, it’s early. (Harshika, Mother)
Harshika felt other parents viewed her decision to send her May-born daughter to school as “sending early”, due to the birth month being close to the cut-off date. The literature supported this, indicating children who were born in the three months prior to cutoff dates were more likely to be academically redshirted (Donath et al., 2010; Huang, 2015). Heath also believed that there had been a general shift towards delayed school entry. His use of the phrases “it’s more normal now” or “the odd one out” in the extract which follows suggested parents may feel influenced to conform, rather than have their child being different to their peers.
It’s almost like twisted round to [pause] it’s more normal now for the child to go a year later. And therefore, if you’re not doing that, you’re made to feel like you’re the odd one out and the pressure is on you to hold your kid back. (Heath, Father)
The suggestion of a general shift towards a delayed school entry mentioned by both Harshika and Heath was supported by research undertaken by Hanly et al. (2019) which indicated half of all children born between January and July in the 2009 and 2012 Foundation cohorts in NSW delayed school entry.