Should I refuse reception settling in days if I can?

Surely it’s much nicer for the children to start in a quieter classroom with a better chance for the teacher to get to know them?
Usually half the class do the mornings and half do the afternoons.
A classroom is a very different environment than a nursery - 30 new children, many of whom will have behaviour issues/development issues/not toilet trained, with only 2 new adults to look after them, trying to settle them, stop them hurting each other, change pants/clothes/nappies, comfort those who are crying.
It’s a very stressful, noisy, hectic environment to be in for a 4 year old who won’t know where anything is, what to do and when, why they can’t do things they used to do at nursery, why they have to line up, sit down etc
Part time start makes so much sense. Schools are not like they used to be - there are so many more children with behaviour and development issues.

I’m sure you can insist that the school keep them all day. I wouldn’t myself. I think children want to be doing what everyone else is doing, and it would be a nice opportunity to spend the afternoon with them.

I think it would be a bit overwhelming and upsetting for children to be the only one staying for the afternoon, especially if put into the year 1 class.

Did you not realise that there would be such days when you booked all these holidays? I would be rethinking how I organised my leave for the year or looking at some unpaid parental leave.

The people banging on about how essential the phased transition is, are rather undermined by the fact that loads of schools don’t do it. None of my 4 kids have had a phased start. All went in full time from the first day, as per the school’s standard arrangement (3 different schools).

when I started school myself in 1989, we all went in full time from the first day…

At a whim? You’ve had four years (at least) notice to get this sorted. When you had your baby, did you not realise they would be starting school in September 2024? Staggered starts are not a new fangled thing. It’s part and parcel of your child starting school. Did you and your DH not give your employers / your colleagues / your clients / business partners etc notice in the last year or so that you may have to take annual leave in Sept 2024? That you may need flexibility, may need to catch up in the evenings, may need to nip out, may need to take unpaid leave, may need to swap shifts etc etc. I think this is on you to work around, not the school.

The school has had 11 years to get it sorted since the Adjudicator ruling making it clear they must provide full-time spaces from the start if that’s what the parent prefers.

Schools are obliged to provide children with the opportunity of a full time school space from the beginning.

The ruling that made this obligation clear is this one:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296261/ada2479_st_marks_primary_bournemouth_16aug13.pdf

But the school admissions code does also now say that children must be provided with a full-time space. (See section 2.17)

I'd be re thinking your leave and look fo summer schemes this summer for dc so you can save your annual leave for spetember

I started school in 1984 and remember doing mornings for the first week, afternoons for the second week. My DC is currently in reception and did 10am-12pm the first week, 9-12pm the second week, slightly longer the next two weeks.

UK schools have been doing this staggered approach for decades and decades!! Why did you use up all your annual leave? Did you not realise your child was starting school in September? It’s a few weeks of disruption. The children are really tired those first few weeks, it’s a big change. Schools aren’t childcare, they are doing shorter days initially to ensure a slow steady start. There’s been a thread running for the last few days on here about a 4 and half year old who has never poohed and weed in a toilet. Some of these children are still like babies. Stop trying to make out it’s for the good of the children to start full-time, it’s because it’s inconvenient to you to pick them up at midday.

Four years you’ve had to get this sorted.

It would be a no from our primary. We paid the daycare to do pick up and drop off until dc started full time then we used school wrap around service.

What are you going to do when it half days and early finishes and teacher training days etc?

Our school spends the first week doing at home visits so there isn’t a teacher in to watch them.
The second week was half days. Do either if you work from home? Take 2/3 days parental leave each?

Isn't it sad that education has become all about childcare.

I'm sure you realise this but school is going to be different to nursery so if you have no annual leave until November you are going to struggle. I loved nursery in comparison to school because the children went all day and there was no half-terms, inset days etc or really any expectations that parents were available to pop in for meet the teacher, Easter bonnet parades, etc. You need cover for a lot more holidays, illness (your child's not yours), INSET, half days at end of term etc than previously.

Lots of schools don’t do a settling in period and have all the reception children start fulltime from day one as the norm, certainly that’s the case in my local area. Settling in weeks are not necessary although I appreciate they suit some children. I teach reception, albeit in an SEN school and we let the parents pick the type of transition they want. Some choose full-time straight away, others want to build up slowly, it’s about what suits the child. I do admit I do appreciate it when a few of the kids are doing a slow transition rather than all of them starting fulltime as it makes it easier for me to get to know them and gives a less hectic start to the year but lots of children are fine with fulltime straight away. You know your child best and if they would cope fulltime from day one it’s completely reasonable to push for this from the school.

We did the opposite and refused full
time for the whole year for our summer born . They have to accommodate either way - full time education the term after a child’s fifth birthday

Sorry but if you were on benefits you couldn’t say that your not going to work because your children is in school and you need to be there just in case. The government have already made their position quite clear on that. school can be more than one thing.

School isn't childcare, but children have a school place 9ish-3ish, 195 days of the year. Schools are funded to provide that.
Working parents organise there lives around that, the Government organises it's expectations for parents working around that, so schools do need to provide that.

What’s the settling in looking like? Is it two days of half days or until half term?

At our local school, my kids went morning only for a couple of weeks and that allowed the teachers time to do all the home visits, so nothing about the teachers needing time to sort themselves out. As if; they sort their classrooms out on the TED days and over the holidays.

No school isn’t childcare. School is important and I expect them to be there during term time for the entire school day. Which is why I have organised childcare for the times/days my children are not in school. So, to randomly say my child cannot be in school when I expect them to be leaves me with a childcare hole.

This. How are you going to manage with no annual leave. Honestly teachers do have a good reasons for staggering starts (and no its not to organise the classroom and themselves !) Reception is a big change for all children.. its a really big event in their little lives can you not just use AL for that week between you both (or flexible working) and then week 2 request they are in full time. It cannot be that difficult to organise if you are already working flexibly enough that you won't need afterschools.

Some children don’t need a transition period. Most parents keep their annual leave to cover some of the school holidays and unpaid parental leave is at your employers discretion as to when you take it. DH is a GP - not very practical for him taking parental leave.

Do what you want OP. You're going to ask to go full time no matter what anyone here says

At the end of the day, school isn't childcare. As a working parent, you need plan A, plan B and Plan C as you just don't know what's going to happen. Random development days, DC being off sick, school closed due to no heating etc. using up all of your AL is not a good plan! Has your husband used all his too? Unfortunately parents usually havexto stagger their leave. Are there no other parents even that you know, so you can help eachother out? That's generally how I got by.