To think primary transition days aren’t much help if you work?

Are you able to keep them in nursery? DS' nursery ended contract for anyone going to school in September, at the end of August so if he hadn't started until the second or third week of September that would've been a huge issue!

I always wondered how these were even legal. Kids have to be in school full time from the September after the turn 4. But the school then decides that for the first few days/weeks (dependent on the school) they are only in part time. And it’s for the benefit of the kids despite the fact that all schools do it differently. Right-o.

Sorry I edited because I missed that it was from summer term but for everyone else I said school have to legally provide full time education from September and so you can ask them to start full time rather than transition.

How many times?The OP works in a school - she can’t take annual leave, parental leave won’t be granted. Do you really think that hasn’t occurred to her !

You can’t take a few days annual leave? You have no one at all to help? I’m struggling to believe you can’t make it work unless you’re choosing not to. To ask the obvious if they aren’t there where will they be?

DS' school wasn't too bad he did a Monday morning with half the class in non uniform then Tuesday off (couldn't go to nursery his place there was gone), Wednesday afternoon with the whole class in uniform, then straight into full days. We had to book leave which I know is not possible for you.
A colleague had 3 weeks of a couple of hours, then half days it was ridiculous. Lots of children do full days at nursery these days. Those who don't, have the option to with the government funding. It's unusual to find a child who hasn't been in childcare provision by reception age.

I had to take annual leave when my first went to primary school as I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. I know not everyone can but I specifically saved a week for it that year as there was no way I'd could work and do 9am drop off and 12pm pick ups and my job wasn't a wfh job.

You will find that a decent amount of annual leave is now taken over by primary school stuff. I think DH and I both set aside 1 week, not always needed but precaution wise it was worth it.

DH and I split these transistion days, similar to splitting most of primary school events.

It's part of the way it works. DD was at full time nursery for 4 days/week but a new envrionment, lots of new children and adults is a lot for some children who aren't even 4 yet.

Correct - it’s the legal position and we used it to send DT’s full time from day one and avoided the staggered start.

Our schools don't do that any more. It's full days from day one.

I honestly don't see how they're helpful to anyone - parent or child. The child is just shocked when they have to do a full day! Most kids have also been to nursery with at least school hours, so the whole business is just confusing and stressful!

I thank my lucky stars our eminently sensible primary doesn't take this approach. Instead they have small intakes of children according to age order, throughout the first two weeks of September, so not everyone is starting at the same time, but they all start off on a FT basis. The older ones are in the routine and help and newbies. Seems to work very well.

We missed any sort of open day/parents day/transition days before the actual start of school. It didn’t make a difference.

I was going to come back and admit I committed the cardinal sin of posting before getting to the end of the thread. Although you may have received different responses if you put more of the key information up front.

Edited as I missed they were for summer term - just dont go. I don't think they will be adversely impacted as they'll likely forget everything from a few months before.

No worries, they said it was so everyone could focus on the transitioning children or something like that. Luckily DH was working from home so I could leave DD with him.

They don’t do them here.

My DC had a play at a choice of session times in the 2 weeks before kindergarten started. We then brought them to the first day (8:20am), and said goodbye at the door, returning at 2:30pm to pick them up.

For primary school, DC went to a play/visiting session the week before Prep classes started. School started the next week, and DC was dropped at the class room at 8:30am, picked up at 3pm, from the very first day.

I thought that was usual?

I thinknparents and some children suffer because their children have been in nursery full time and are then back to partial days which seems pretty stupid. For the individual child it probably is, but it's about large groups of children coming into a new space, learning routines etc and it allows the staff to get to know the children better.
At the school I worked in we allowed
10-2 first week,
9.30-2.30 2nd week and
full time third week,
HOWEVER they could come in full time from week 1 if they wanted, but we were a small school of 96 kids from R-y6 so had very small numbers.

DHs school has 60 per year and that's a lot to settle, lunchtime is a nightmare!

It is hard for parents BUT as pp say it is for the kids .

It was blindingly obvious the OP was a teacher a few posts in. So she’s someone well versed in putting the children first. Only teachers don’t get to put their own children first so much!

I honestly can’t remember if DD did any summer days before she started school. Didn’t really mater has half her nursery class went to that school anyway.

I understand the ‘school isn’t childcare’ argument, but unfortunately, the Universal Credit system very much thinks it is. So you are expected to work regardless your situation. If your husband dies, you live in a completely new area and don’t know a soul and if like me, you haven’t got a grandparent available.

It’s so hard. I’ve had a sick child at school and it took two hours to get back for them. Things like this could mean unpaid leave for weeks leaving people (usually mums) in food poverty.

You just can’t plan for life sometimes OP, I get it.

Read the OP?!?! She's a teacher. No annual leave. Doesn't matter how far ahead it is. Many schools simply won't allow time off for stuff like this.

This is a really impractical and un useful comment to be honest.
We live in a world now where two income households are needed and working days are usually 9-5/8-4. You can say it’s not childcare but ultimately that’s where children are while you are working, and if you don’t have them in school then you’d be berated for that.
the school system was created when there was one parent at home at all times which is now quite outdated

If one parent stayed home the whole day while child in school in case they were ill or for pick ups etc then how many is that out the workforce?

whilst I agree as parents we need to arrange the childcare for outwith these hours I don’t agree with comments like this to try make working mums feel even worse

They are a pain. For my oldest I was just at the end of maternity leave with my youngest so that was ok. When my youngest started he didn’t start at all until something like 15 Sep (he was already 5 by then!) and wasn’t in full time until about 26 Sep. I ended up taking some unpaid parental leave - it’s the only time I’ve ever done that but it felt like exactly what that leave is designed for.

The school got lots of feedback that year that it was really hard for working parents to cope with and the next year they scaled the transition right back and had them all in full time by the end of the first week!

If your child goes to a nursery that feeds to the school they may be able to help, especially if they’ll be doing any wrap around care for you.

I sympathise op and I am a teacher myself. Don't feel guilty. In the long run whether your ds has attended all of them or not will make little difference. There will be kids there who haven't had much experience of pre school or nursery who will perhaps need more settling in time. I would not worry at all about friendships in these sessions.