I believe that every kid is different, and at this age 6 months makes a huge difference. By the way, if he was born 10 days later he'll be waiting that 1 year, so there should be plenty of kids that are 5 (- a few days) when they start.
Where I live, Kindergarten is compulsory . But okay, I hope someone from VD understands your distinctions.
Did you see that I edited my previous post, about the child's best interests?
I guess what is called school here is called a kindergarten in ZH. The main distinction (in my mind) is what is compulsory and what is not. I guess everywhere in Switzerland compulsory education starts around 4 y.o.
My main goal here was to find someone who has tried and succeeded (or failed, why not) to delay this start.
My point was that you cannot just decide, at parental discretion, to do something against the rules. The legal basis for the entire schooling system's being obligatory is very strong.
This is, in part, historical: there was a great deal of discussion, way back when, about school attendance becoming compulsory. It was a hard-won battle. Once attending school was finally law, it became fully, seriously compulsory. That is why it is generally not permitted (and in some schools even heavily fined) to keep a child out of school without a proper reason (of which only very, very few are deemed legitimate), even for a day.
That's why I wrote that the success or failure of your application will depend on which demonstrable factors you can bring forward that will show why, exactly, keeping this specific child back a year will be the best thing for him .
The article at the top of this thread suggested this is a possibility (with statistics that 10% of parents in Bern and Solothurn delayed this start). Here's the link again. This is the main reason I commented on this thread, trying to find someone who went through this process.
My experience was that I was far happier, more confident and towards the front of the class in my correct year where I was one the oldest. If you have the opportunity for them to be older rather than younger in the class I'd take it.
The normal procedure is that in January/February, you will receive a letter from your local school authority indicating which school your child will be going to. They normally organize an information session around then as well. At this point, you would contact the head of the schools to discuss the wish to delay starting school. In the past, they were more open for kids to start later, but now they are more strict, but I don't know where exactly they draw the line. There are kids in my child's class with July birthdays (and I agree it makes a difference, but the line has to be put somewhere and it depends on the child - some are ready, some are not...and I believe they are open to discussion to delay when child is close to the cut-off).
If I understand, you plan however, to keep your child in a private school for the first two years (1P and 2P) so the procedure in this case might be different. There will probably be information on the letter about who to contact if your child will not be starting school in your commune, but I would also contact the school that you plan to send your child to so that they are in agreement with the plan. The kindergarten/daycare cannot advise on this, but if I understand they have agreed to keep your child next year if he delays starting school - really important that you have that confirmed, as public creche won't allow them to stay once they reach school age (regardless of whether they start or not).
I know someone who was able to delay starting with an early July child without any medical issues, and possibly with the same set up as you (1P and 2P in private school), but this was before Vaud became more strict or changed the cut-off age for starting. My suggestion would be to first discuss with the school you plan to send your child to, to be sure they have place and agree to delay the start...in this way, you will be able to inform the head of the school of your commune of your situation and plan in the new year.
There also doesn't seem to be the stigma here of repeating a year that you find in other countries.
But the poster seems to be asking about a child entering private school one year later. Are the rules different then?