Should I refuse reception settling in days if I can?

What a stupid thing to say about the teachers. They will have planned in advance. It’s for the children. You lot who have had your children in full time nursery will not be paying for that anymore so take annual leave or unpaid parental leave to support your child with the transition.

I didn’t bother as I didn’t want mine missing a paid nursery day. He was fine when he started school

A couple who I'm friends with insisted on full time from the start and the school allowed it. They are both secondary school teachers with no family nearby - they can't take annual leave or shift their hours, or wfh, they have to be in.
They didn't like doing it, because they know the school wasn't trying to be difficult on purpose, and they didn't want to be difficult parents. But there was no other option.

How does a mixed up routine help - a few hours in school and then some hours with whoever you can ask a favour from? Different routine on different days. Would be a nightmare.

In my experience it really doesn't. All it does is delay the children actually settling. How can they settle when the routine is not fixed and they aren't doing all the stuff they would be doing at school e.g having lunch, doing afternoons or being with all their classmates?

All it does is shift the actual settling in several days or weeks down the road.

I agree. Also, not all children go to nursery before they start school, and not all of those who do have full time nursery placements . My daughter didn't go to nursery and it was really helpful for her to have a two week settling in period.

Parents always use the argument that their children have been in a nursery from 8.30 - 6pm. They seem to forget this is a new environment for their children ,with new classmates, new adults, new rules and a totally different routine. It's similar to an adult starting a new job and we all know how overwhelming that can be. And these children are only 4.
A settling in period really does benefit most children.

There should be some flexibility for those children that find it harder @OrangeLemonLime24 but in reception, the vast majority of children will find it easier and much quicker to settle full time from day 1.

The real settling in period starts from the point that all (or most) children are in full time.

Op . I know lots of kids f/t from day one exhausted . My Ds was absolutely hyper - loved it . Each child bus different . This is when they just started one intake the year before would have started January as he is classed as summer born

What makes you think the child will be in a classroom alone. The likelihood is there will be multiple parents who wish to send their child full time from day one. The child won't be wondering why everyone goes home but them any more than they would be wondering why they are back at nursery with the babies when they are meant to be at big school.

The settling in process isn't helpful I don't think. For children who have been in pre school or nursery full time it's a backwards step.
My 2nd started reception this year, abd I have an older one in year 3. From March I started gradually 'nudging' the head of EYFS to a less drawn out settling period, and we got it down from 3.5 weeks for all to 3 days for older children and 1.5 weeks for younger children.
And yes I was fully aware of her entitlement to full time school from day 1. But I also wanted to maintain a really positive relationship with the school my child would attend for the next 7 years of their life, rather than going in with an entitled attitude.

Best to have a window of time to be able to iron out small issues before they become big ones.

How do you iron out problems like a child being overwhelmed by being in a busy class of 30 for a full day, if they've spent 3 weeks with just half the class and leaving at lunchtime?

A staggered start may work best for some children but wouldn’t for mine which is why they went full time from day one including breakfast and after school club. Very common when there are two full time working parents.

Because her kid is going to have to end up sat in a classroom on their own or with one other kid or in with the older kids. They'll wonder what's going on that means they don't get to go home when everyone else does

’Entitled’
’Right’
’Tell’
‘Inform’
’Demand’
’Challenge’

All words used in this thread to talk about sending children in full time from day one AND other threads about taking children out for term time holidays!

Schools (and teachers) are not the enemy! We are just trying to do the best for ALL children in our care. We even do staggered starts in Secondary with Y7/12 starting before other years. You only start school once and for some it can be a really big deal. Best to have a window of time to be able to iron out small issues before they become big ones.

I remember this post from last year and I am still so relieved DD's school had just a single half day setting session, the reception teacher thought this was the best idea. Others schools in the area were on half days until half term and a friend with a child at one of these schools asked for her child to go full time from day one.

Exactly. A classroom isn't just 10 children and 2 members of staff, and the school day doesn't end at lunchtime. So why do we think children settle any better by pretending that's what school is like for a week or longer? Children who start full time from day one understand this is what being at school is, and the vast majority cope with it. For those that struggle, staggered starts and half days are useful.

They don’t need settling in days. Our school stopped this and everyone was much happier with it. The more parents go against and insist they have them full time from the start the more likely the school is to get rid of this pointless practice.

My son was at the school nursery 2.5 days per week and he started full time from day one. Those who had done mornings or afternoons over 5 days at the nursery or came from private day care did a week of half days.

And yet that happens at schools all over the country. The kids cope fine because it's what they are anticipating.

The children I find most unsettled are those who don't know whether they are coming or going, or why they only stay for lunch some days and not others, why granny picked them up yesterday but today it's auntie Kathy or why they are suddenly back in nursery the day they start big school.

Why should the OP pay another month of nursery fees, when she could send her child to school full time from the start of term?

But part of the settling in is being in the new environment with fewer children - which isn't going to be the case if everyone sends their children in full-time.