Genealogy Chat

Would like to know if possible, the times of year & age of a child entering Infant's School for the first time early 1950's?? I was born early January 11th 1949 Surrey England. I may have started late 1953? I recall perhaps before my 5th B/Day?...I heard, that this was changed in the 1960's. Info is required to help pinpoint time frame & identifying former classmates in a group photo of that time. Thank you ;-)

K/Regards,
AnotherCanuck

Have you tried googling education in UK??

I was born very early January 1940, and I believe I started school in the September 1944 before I turned 5.

I certainly remember being left alone in the classroom in the Infants to make paper chains for Christmas decorations, and allowing a "friend" to cut my hair with the very blunt scissors :-0 . One side only was cut.

My poor mother burst into tears when she removed my bonnet! I was whipped straight up to the hairdresser for her to try to make improvements!

Mum was home then ....... one year later and she would probably have been out at work, and my grandmother would have been the one to discover the hairdressing!

We certainly did not start at age 3.

Thanks Sylvia for your reply & yes I did check out via google. Pretty sure I have
got it somewhat sorted lol....

K/Regards,
AnotherCanuck.

I certainly started before I was 5.

Starting day was often at the beginning of the term in which the child had their 5th birthday., so being born January 1949 would probably give a starting date of beginning of the term after Christmas 1953.

Some schools were flexible as to starting age.

Sister born November started in September, and then only spent a year in Reception (Years Reception and 1 combined class) and moved up to Year 2, so a year under age from then on. The rest of her classmates of similar age did not, so always wondered if quite a few of them only started when they were 5 not 4.

Brother (August birth) started after Easter, me, May birth started after Christmas (not after Easter) so rather like SylviainCanada.

Depending when Easter was, children with the same birth date but not birth year and in the 1980's could start at either January or April - this was then standardised - or it was in Derbyshire.

My Mother (1920's) always said she started when she was 3 and thought a lot of difference was between rural and urban schools.

Born September 1953, started school September 1958 just before reaching 5. All of class joined at same time, so there were kids who were only just 4. This in a village on the outskirts of Nottingham, but don't know if all schools were under the same system.

Primary school photos (legs don't reach the floor from the chairs the front row were sat on) seem to be a combination of a couple of classes though, as looking back at them, there are certainly people who didn't go through school in the same year.

Remember staying with the same teacher for year 3 and 4 and then again 6 and 7.

and then came "big school". Here there was certainly an age difference within the same class, all starting September.

I started in September 1942, aged just 5. My sister, born in April, started at the beginning of the summer term and my brother, born January, started in the Spring term. My sister and I were in Wolverhampton and my brother in South Wales.

As far as I remember, all children started the term after their 5th birthday. As they all moved from the Infants to the Juniors at 7, this gave some children a huge advantage over others, with an extra two terms in the Infants.

Thanks to everyone for your replies, greatly appreciated :-)

K/Regards,
AnotherCanuck.

I definitely started in the September before my January birthday, as I was in what we called Infants 1 when my hair was cut.

I was 5 in March 42 and started at the spring term


Mind you I had gone to school for a week in 1939 aged 2 years 6 months so I could be evacuated with the school which my brother aged 5 and sister aged 8

I'm sure there would be variations between the local education authorities.
I was born mid-March 1943 and started at the beginning of the spring term just after Easter. This was in Middx.
I do know the MEA's policy on going from primary to secondary as it affected my younger brother. Normally, you would transit if you were 11 on August 31st. However, your parents could write to ask if that transition could be delayed or accelerated by a school year, and their request would be considered.

I was born in Mar 1953 so probably started school in 1958. I didn't start in the Sept of the previous year as the class was already established when I started, so it was either Christmas or Easter 1958. This was Lancashire.

I went to school in Liverpool in the mid '50's. Policy then was to start in the term your fifth birthday occurred. So born Feb, you started Jan term straight after Christmas.

Lancashire again - I was born December and started in the September before I was 5, moving on to a sort of intermediate class when the next intake arrived after Christmas. (we were rather a large year intake being about the 1st of the baby boomers). My sister a few years later started after Christmas as her birthday was March. OH birthday July started in summer term