Little Jaxon is raring to put on his "big boy pants" and start school next year.
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Jaxon recently turned 5 and attends kindergarten and playgroup in Ballarat.
Under Victorian rules, he could start prep in 2021. But Jaxon's parents and kindergarten teachers have concluded there is no point keeping him back.
"He's a big boy, so physically he's always been ready for school," Jaxon's father Leigh Whitten said.
"Mentally he's grown quite a lot in the last 12 months and he interacts really well with the other kids.
"A few of his friends and cousins are at school now so Jaxon is ready to put on his big boy pants and move up into the big world."
In Victoria, children have until April 30 of their prep year to turn 5 and must be enrolled in the year they turn 6. However, early and late starts are possible.
The wide range in starting ages can create tough choices for parents - as well as interesting trends and research.
The number of older children starting prep in Victorian state schools has been rising for a decade, new Victorian Department of Education and Training figures show. This is not surprising given the state's population growth.
As a percentage, however, older kids have accounted for just over 16 per cent of enrolments in government schools for five years straight.
Last year, 16.8 per cent of the 56,766 kids who started prep at state schools were aged 6 as at April 30.
A decade prior, 20.7 per cent of preps in government schools were in that older bracket.
The percentage of delayed preps is much higher in NSW, with a recent study showing a quarter of the state's children were starting school a year later than they were eligible, and the delay was helping those children fare better in kindergarten.
In Victoria, a child aged 4 years and 6 months by April 30 might start school if they are considered by a childcare, kindergarten, allied health or other relevant professional to be at risk of long-term educational disadvantage if they do not.
Conversely, an early childhood educator and family might decide that a second year of kindergarten is appropriate for a child with delays in key areas of learning and development, for example.
A spokesman for the Victorian Department of Education and Training said any exemption was "considered on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with the child's best interests''.
"The flexibility in age range for starting school means that families, kindergarten teachers and school teachers can work together to ensure each child can achieve their best," he said.
Tina Martin, the acting chief executive of Early Learning Association Australia, which represents early learning centres, said parents weighing up whether to send their child to school needed to think beyond academic capacity.
"Ask yourself, is my child interested in school? Are my child's social and emotional skills going to enable him or her to enjoy school as well as cope with the learning program?" she said.
"Is your child curious, cooperative, persistent, flexible and open to being involved in processes such as problem-solving and investigating?
"Children who start school feeling happy and eager to be there, who feel comfortable in a school setting, who believe their teacher likes and is interested in them, and whose family also reflects a positive attitude have a good chance of succeeding at school."
Education expert Sue Walker said age cut-offs were a blunt tool, but in her view older was better.
"To say children are ready at 5 and that's it, that's just not realistic," said Professor Walker. "The whole situation is fraught. If I had my way I would just raise the school starting age to 6 or 7."
Children needed to be able to follow instructions, pay attention, stay on task, and regulate their behaviour and emotions before starting school, she said.
Children should also have two years of play-based learning under their belt, she said.
"Children who start kindy at 3 and have two years there, from 3 to 5, they are very well prepared," said Professor Walker, from Queensland University of Technology's School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education.
This was especially true for boys, she said, who tended to be more physical than girls and have less- well-developed fine motor skills.
- The Age
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