No to raising school age

Linda Woon. Photo / File

Kiwi principals are rejecting overseas calls to stop children starting school until their 7th birthday.

If the schooling age was raised, some local parents would be "tearing their hair out", said Rotorua Principals Association president Linda Woon.

"Many of the children, developmentally, are ready to start school at age 4."

A 127-member educational lobby group in Britain is seeking to raise the compulsory formal schooling start age from 5 on the grounds early education is causing "profound damage" to children.

The group of academics, teachers, authors and charity leaders called for a fundamental reassessment of national policies on early education, claiming the present British system robs infants of the ability to play and puts too much emphasis on formal learning at a young age.

New Zealand Principals' Federation president Phil Harding said Kiwi children have the option to start school at 6, but most start at 5.

"I don't get the sense that there's a great appetite [to delay the school starting age] in New Zealand and the flexibility we've got means that if people want that pathway they can simply take it." Early childhood and primary schools here were increasingly focused on the developmental learning aspects of a child's life, he said.

Ms Woon said it was difficult to compare the European situation to New Zealand because their preschool system had more structure and academic focus, unlike New Zealand's developmental, play-based model.

"You're not really comparing apples with apples."

If children had access to a quality preschool and strong family involvement in their learning, they were usually ready to start school at 5.

She suggested introducing four set school start dates per year for new entrants, with a term-length transitional class for each group of newbies before they went into a Year 1 classroom.

It would be a lot less disruptive for teachers, especially in bigger schools, she said. However, putting the idea into action was a "complicated issue".

ChildForum early childhood care and education network president Dr Sarah Farquhar said New Zealand's primary school system recognised the importance of play-based learning but teachers faced "contradictory pressures" trying to bring new entrants up to national standards achievement levels.

"I don't hear anyone say 'let's increase the age to 7 or 8', but what people are saying is 'let's take the pressure off our teachers in those first few years and recognise and support teachers to work with children where they're at to bring out the best in each child'."

A lack of early play-based or developmental activities could lead to decreased cognitive understanding when children reached school age.APNZ