{"id":815,"date":"2025-07-24T18:15:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T17:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/?page_id=815"},"modified":"2026-01-19T12:18:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T12:18:38","slug":"starting-p1-in-or-staying-in-nursery-in-august-26","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/ethos-life-of-the-school\/parents-and-carers\/enrolling-your-child\/starting-p1-in-or-staying-in-nursery-in-august-26\/","title":{"rendered":"STARTING P1 OR STAYING IN NURSERY IN AUGUST 26?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"130\" data-end=\"237\"><strong data-start=\"130\" data-end=\"183\">If your child turns 5 on or before 19 August 2026<\/strong>, they are eligible to start Primary 1 in August 2026.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"239\" data-end=\"358\">You\u2019ll need to enrol them online via Fife Council\u2019s online application form in January 2026. The application form is now live &#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fife.gov.uk\/services\/form-pages\/enrol-a-child-into-primary-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> access it here<\/a><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"359\" data-end=\"585\">\n<li data-start=\"359\" data-end=\"453\">\n<p data-start=\"361\" data-end=\"453\">If you live in Dairsie\u2019s catchment area, you can apply directly to Dairsie Primary School.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"454\" data-end=\"585\">\n<p data-start=\"456\" data-end=\"585\">If you live in another catchment area, you must apply to your catchment school but can also make a placing request for Dairsie.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"587\" data-end=\"793\">Once all catchment pupils have been placed, any remaining spaces will be offered to those who made a placing request in line with Fife Council\u2019s policy. You will receive a decision by the end of April 2026.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"795\" data-end=\"1236\">Some families may feel that their child would benefit from an additional year in nursery, even if they are old enough to start school. If you are considering deferring your child\u2019s start to P1, please speak to your child\u2019s key worker and Mrs Donald as early as possible. Requests for an extra nursery year for eligible children are not automatic and must be discussed and agreed in advance. Decisions must be made by the end of January 2026.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"1238\" data-end=\"1241\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"1243\" data-end=\"1432\"><strong data-start=\"1243\" data-end=\"1312\">If your child turns 5 between 20 August 2026 and 28 February 2027<\/strong>, you can choose whether they start school in August 2026 or wait until August 2027 and have an extra year in nursery.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1434\" data-end=\"1702\">There are benefits and challenges to both options, so please speak to your child\u2019s key worker and Mrs Donald before making a final decision. If your child attends a different nursery, speak to staff there first. Final decisions must be made by the end of January 2026.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1709\" data-end=\"1860\"><strong data-start=\"1709\" data-end=\"1759\">If your child turns 5 on or after 1 March 2027<\/strong>, they are not old enough to start school in August 2026 and will stay in nursery for another year.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1862\" data-end=\"2156\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">If you\u2019re happy with their current nursery place, you don\u2019t need to do anything.<br data-start=\"1942\" data-end=\"1945\" \/>If you want to change nursery or the days your child attends, you\u2019ll need to reapply in January 2026 using Fife Council\u2019s online application form for the 2026\u201327 session. This will be available in early January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If your child turns 5 on or before 19 August 2026, they are eligible to start Primary 1 in August 2026. You\u2019ll need to enrol them online via Fife Council\u2019s online application form in January 2026. The application form is now live &#8211; access it here If you live in Dairsie\u2019s catchment area, you can &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/ethos-life-of-the-school\/parents-and-carers\/enrolling-your-child\/starting-p1-in-or-staying-in-nursery-in-august-26\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">STARTING P1 OR STAYING IN NURSERY IN AUGUST 26?<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20871,"featured_media":0,"parent":804,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-815","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20871"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1386,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815\/revisions\/1386"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/dairsieps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}