Preps repeating first school year in Victoria, concerns they’re starting too early

EXCLUSIVE: HUNDREDS of preps are repeating the first year of school amid concerns parents are starting children too early or can’t get them in to kinder.

Hundreds of preps are repeating the first year of school. Picture: Thinkstock

• Parents dilemma: Should your four-year-old start prep?

HUNDREDS of preps are repeating the first year of school amid concerns parents are starting children too early or can’t get them in to kinder.

Some preps lack even basic communication skills and are unprepared for learning, with kindergarten shortages and the high cost of childcare exacerbating the problem.

Exclusive government figures reveal 2191 children repeated prep in the past three years, including 679 this year, excluding language and special schools.

Children turning five before April 30 are eligible but not required to start prep — they may enrol the following year.

Education Department data shows the trend for parents to hold their children back a year before enrolling them is in decline.

The number of children aged six and over on April 30 in the year they start slid from 21 per cent in 2008 to 16 per cent this year.

Data shows the trend for parents to hold their children back a year before enrolling them is in decline. Picture: Thinkstock

PARENT’S DILEMMA: SHOULD YOUR FOUR-YEAR-OLD START PREP?

Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy said finances were a big factor for parents when making the difficult decision of when their child should start.

“For some families they want to enrol earlier due to the high cost of childcare and pressure on the family budget,” she said. “Others feel strongly about holding their children back to be of a more mature age through their adolescent years of schooling.”

Mill Park Heights principal Deborah Patterson said children were being sent to school when they weren’t ready for a variety of reasons.

“In some fast-growing areas there’s just not enough kindergartens and children more and more coming to school with very low oral skills,” she said.

The school trialled an early years readiness program to cater for those who weren’t prepared for formal schooling, but despite good results there was no government approval to continue it, she said.

The Early Learning Association Australia said childcare and kindergarten shortages were particularly stark in the Yarra Ranges, Wyndham and Hume council areas.

“Evidence has shown kids who don’t have exposure to early learning often end up struggling,” said CEO Shane Lucas.

Education department spokesman Alex Munro said students should repeat only in exceptional circumstances, taking into account their “social, welfare and academic circumstances”.

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PARENT’S DILEMMA: SHOULD YOUR FOUR-YEAR-OLD START PREP?