The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Should young ones start
At the age of four or five, children in Scotland take their first footsteps into the classroom, but there is debate about whether that should be delayed. We look at the arguments for and against raising the school start age.
The campaign to raise the primary school starting age in Scotland to seven has grown in momentum ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Both the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Greens call for the primary school age change, echoing successful Nordic kindergartens, particularly those in Finland.
Continued campaigning from groups such as Give Them Time and Upstart Scotland has kept the issue at the forefront of education policy discussions.
Campaigners argue that replacing our current primary one and two years with a kindergarten stage would allow children to “have a childhood”, in a world where outdoor play has been replaced by technology.
Sue Palmer, chairwoman at Upstart Scotland, said: “We need to let go of the idea of holding back and think of it as the bones of childhood, it’s such a short time in their life where they get to play.
“There is a biological necessity to play, learn through play, deepen yourself, build selfregulation skills, resilience and develop social skills.
“That part of childhood is precious and too many are not getting it because they’re stuck inside all the time behind screens or worksheets.”
Sue, and others who back the campaign, believe this informal learning environment to be more supportive of young children’s emotional needs and future mental health.
Sue says that, like in Finland, if a child showed an interest in reading then literacy materials would be available, but there would be no structured support until the age of seven.
Critics believe using this approach in Scotland would actually widen the attainment gap and restrict children from the poorest
communities from excelling in numeracy and literacy.
Anne Glennie, a literacy consultant who trains teachers in Scotland to deliver a phonics-based literacy education, and a former teacher herself, says the campaign is “flawed”.
Anne said: “The Upstart flavour of kindergarten is promoting that it’s only children who show an interest in reading who would be taught to read.
“It puts the onus on the child, which is extremely unfair. It would be the children who get bedtime stories and have books at home who show an interest in learning.
“But who would appear uninterested in reading? It would be the children who don’t have books at home.
“Or children who find reading difficult because of
issues such as dyslexia may not show an interest in reading because it’s difficult for them.”
Anne says that by the age of seven, many children would have already decided reading is “not for them” – most likely children from disadvantaged backgrounds – creating a gap which was “impossible to mend”, she says, particularly for those with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, who require early intervention.
Mum-of-five Catriona Stevens, 42, whose eldest is 16 and youngest is six, says there is now a ‘huge void’ between school and nursery, following the government’s creation of child-led nurseries.
Catriona, from St Andrews, said: “There’s no structure to nurseries now, but the school day does
have periods where they have to sit and listen and stay still – and some of them can’t do that because they’ve never learned it.”
She thinks there should be some form of “bridging gap” and therefore agrees with the campaign for a kindergarten instead of current primary one and two years.
Catriona said: “Two of my children, I deferred their entry into school – my eldest and my youngest.
“They were both shy and I wanted them to thrive, not just survive. My youngest, Mirren, is in P1 now and what a difference it made to her.
“Now she’s ready to learn, instead of fidgeting all the time and getting up to play.”
In her final nursery year – the year she was due to start school – Mirren
attended the Secret Garden outdoor nursery, in Letham.
Focusing on outdoor learning and play, this nursery puts many of Upstart Scotland’s beliefs into practice.
Sarah Latto, the nursery’s care manager and trustee of the campaign, said: “From what we see here at Secret Garden is for the children who do stay on another year, they’re very much still in their body learning.
“In terms of child development, you learn a lot through your body and you have to physically move and physically explore things before you can learn the fine motor skills to hold a pencil and to start to write.”
Catriona believes that a later school starting age would provide extra time
for children to mature, in preparation for a structured learning environment.
She said: “For Mirren, it made her more mature and able to see what she needed, rather than waiting to see what adults say.”
Jillian Guthrie, 40, is of the opposite opinion and thinks an early school starting age helps with children’s development.
The mum of four from Guardbridge said: “I don’t see any benefit in raising it from five to seven, I think that could lead to issues.
“I think the age they start at now is a good idea, all of mine started at five or thereabouts.
“My youngest was the one I was worried about most because he was very clingy but it really helped his development, especially his social side.”
Jillian supports