Reception?

[gscrym]

What is this? Is it only applicable to english schools? I'd never heard of it until I saw it on here and am now wondering if I should be trying to sign up for it. My DS is 2.5 so hopefully a bit off.

[cazzybabs]

It is the first compulsary year of school - ie the child starts in the year they will be 5. May also be known as foundation/early years.

Unless you are talking about the office in the school

[stuck]

Hi gscrym. Very simple - reception is name for the first year of compulsory education. (Except it's not exactly compulsory but that's another thread.) In the UK children start school (reception) usually in the September of the academic year they turn 5. You don't need to sign up until the March before they start and you'll probably get letters from your local education authority about it if you are registered anywhere at all. You may well want to check out local schools before then though to find the best for yr ds.

[gscrym]

Thanks, I'll hold off the hurry just now then.

[LIZS]

Not the same system in Scotland afaik. Also it is not compulsory for a child to attend school, or be in education, until the term after they turn 5 , so summer born children could theoretically start the September after but would go into Year 1, unless you can argue exceptional circumstances with school/LEA. That may also mean losing your right to choose schools as they won't usually guarantee a place deferred for a year.

[Prettybird]

gscrym - you're right, it is an English term. I got confused too about and did a thread on the same topic here last Septmeber

In Scotland we don't use the term and children go straight into Primary 1. In Glasgow (and I think it is the same across Scotland), children normally start school in the August for all children who are 5 any time between the beginning of March that year and the end of February the following year. There is only one intake - unlike many places in England which seem to do an intake a term - hence reception being a wee bit confusing.

Enrollment is normally in the last week of January at your local primary school. In Glasgow, if you want to do ao placing request, you still have to enroll at the "catchment" primary and put in a request for the school you want to go to.

In theory, if your child is not 5 by the August, you could hold them back until the following year. However, I ithink once you have started, you are "into" the compulsory schooling regime and could get "done" if you take your child out of school for wahtever reason, even if they are not yet 5.

If your son is 2.5, you do need to get him enrolled at a nursery school for your free 12.5 hours nursery (if he's not already at nursery). If his birthday is September/October-ish, then he's entitiled to his place from January.

I didn't get my act together, so by the time I rang the nursery I wanted ds to go to, he could only go in from the August - but that still meant he has had a year at an excellent nursery. (And as it happens, the Glasgow nurseries were on strike from January to May, so he wouldn't have been at nursery anyway - plus he just stayed at his excellent childminder)

Ds starts school in August. Time flies