The optimum age to start formal education: an international approach

In the UK children are required to be in full time education in the academic year of their fifth birthday.  For summer-born children, this means they are just four years old for most of their first year at school.  But what should such young children be learning in their first couple of years at school? 

The question `What is the best age to start formal schooling?’ is an old chestnut that has vexed parents and educators alike for many decades.  But recently, leading UK-based experts in the field of primary education, the authors of the Cambridge Review of Primary Education, have laid their cards firmly on the table and advised that formal teaching of the `Three Rs’ should not take place before six. Others, notably Education Minister Ed Balls,

advocate an earlier start.

ACS International Schools is a group of three international schools based around London.  The schools educate some 2,500 children between the ages of two and eighteen and their population is drawn from around seventy nationalities. Over the past few years, the schools have seen an increase in the number of British families who are attracted by the strong curriculum and international ethos of the schools.

Because of their international profile, the schools are experienced in taking a  flexible and sensitive approach with children joining the school who may have started `formal' education either at a very young age (age four, or even younger) or later (age 6 or 7) as in America and many Scandinavian countries, for example. 

Cindy Blanes, Lower School Principal at ACS Egham, says that the issue of when to start teaching a formal curriculum is often a cultural one:

“ Many nationalities worry about how they will fit back into their home education system if there is a marked difference in approach so they are quite keen to push for higher academic standards.  Other nationalities such as those from the Scandinavian countries are more relaxed and about their children not undertaking formal reading and writing before the age of seven because they have a different philosophy about the urgency to start formal education”

Anne Stewart, Assistant Principal of Early Childhood and Lower School at ACS Cobham, says:

“When children start school with us, we always recognise the strengths with which they join us and then assess their profile across all areas of learning. If a child is above expected levels in a particular area we celebrate and encourage that, while giving a range of opportunities to strengthen another at a lower level.

“If a child has been used to a formal or worksheet approach, we broaden their problem-solving experiences in different contexts. We encourage investigation and their confidence to hypothesise, skills which may not have been nurtured in a more formal setting. If a child has worked too closely at word level, with an emphasis on decoding, they may need support with comprehension and understanding texts.

“If a child joins the class from a less formal experience, they are supported in the move away from only child-initiated activities to a balanced agenda of child initiated and adult-led tasks”.

At ACS Hillingdon, Lower School Principal, Michelle Eriksen explains how the school aims to meet individual child’s needs, whatever their background or educational stage:

“Children enter school at various stages of social, emotional, physical, and academic development.  With so many nationalities at ACS, our students also arrive with a rich mixture of backgrounds, languages, experiences, and parental expectations. In addition, some children transfer from countries where the academic year does not match ours (e.g. southern hemisphere and Japan) or from countries where the birthday cut-off date for entry is different. Usually grade placement is straightforward, but some require careful consideration as to what is best for the child. As a result, students in any one grade level, encompass a range of ages which exceeds the cut-off date in both directions – some children may be a little older and some may be a little younger. 

“At all levels at ACS, our teachers strive to meet each child’s individual needs and learning styles. In the early years, we know that play is a powerful tool for learning.  Additionally, because of our individual approach and small class sizes, virtually all of our students are reading before the end of kindergarten even though formal teaching of reading does not start until grade one (age six).”

At ACS, as advocated in research from London’s Institute of Education, if children are in school earlier than age five, they are offered a developmentally appropriate, play-based curriculum delivered by highly-qualified staff.  Children under five follow a nursery school style programme and the very youngest, aged just two, are in school for half days only.

Anne Stewart says that sometimes parents can focus too much on quantifiable skills, such as reading and maths, to the neglect of equally important softer skills such as social interaction, sharing and investigating.

“Parents always want to do the very best for their children. Reading, writing and numeracy are visible and more measurable than other skills, giving rise to an over emphasis on these abilities sometimes. We work with parents to encourage them to appreciate other more qualitative skills and to understand how young children best learn. “

 Despite, or perhaps because of, the variety of educational journeys that the students at ACS International Schools make, with some commencing their formal academic education two or three years earlier than others, results on graduation from the schools at eighteen are impressive; evidence that teaching quality and an enabling supportive atmosphere make more of a difference in the long term to learning outcomes than a prescriptive starting age.