3 weeks of half days for reception children.

[Tohaveandtohold]

So my child is starting reception in sept and we got an email on Friday of their plans for
their transition and the new term. My main issue is they expect them to do 3 weeks of half day so half of the class will do 9-12 the first 2 weeks and then at week 3 they’ll be there for lunch so 9-12:45. The other half of the class will do half day in the afternoon.
I just feel this is out of touch. My child currently goes to nursery 4 days a week doing 8-6 though she’s picked up around 5 anyway and has never been clingy, so I can’t see how 3 weeks of half day will benefit her. Also we both work, luckily I’ll only go to the office 2 days a week so dh will pick up those days and we’re not using up all our annual leave unnecessarily. Can I request she only does half day for a week and that they have to provide her with full time education.
Like I don’t want to be ‘that’ parent at the beginning of her school journey but I feel 3 weeks is just ridiculous and out of touch

Utterly ridiculous! We had this when my son started reception after covid, but in this case weren’t in full time 5 days a week until October half term!!!!! so not only had we suffered through home schooling the older two whilst working, I then had to pick my son up at lunchtime and take him somewhere else or entertain him for the afternoon. He was more than ready - I didn’t need school to be the judge of that for me! My husband and I both work full time, it was beyond infuriating. This was the final thing that drove us to move them all to private school. Something I would never in a million years have thought we’d do 5yrs ago.

It's not 'designed' in any meaningful way, it's applied in an inconsistent, haphazard way based on the whim and gut feeling of individual teachers.

Posts like these show that parents aren't being informed that they can send their children full time from day one. There's no need to take annual leave, and there is a way round it. If you think your child will be fine without a staggered start (and many children are), then inform the school that your child will be attending full time, as is their right.

It clearly isn't, since there isn't a one size fits all solution. Staggered starts will be good for some, detrimental for others. Which is why they need to be an option, not imposed by the school
Agree with this.
When most children have had experience of childcare and/or a school nursery, lengthy staggered starts seem to be from an age where families have a parent at home who can nip back and forth to school several times a day.

It wouldn't take much for schools to say something like:
Children starting reception are entitled to full time provision from the start of term. We believe that to make the transition smooth, a staggered start is a good idea so over the first week we do... then all children attend full time. If you feel you child would be better full time from the first day or would require an extended transition, please contact the school

The other option would be to have pupils in full time as the norm, but adapt the days to be a slow transition. e.g. have days/half days that look more like nursery as part of the reception things.

Many talked about the problem but no one requested change in our setting. So none of us knew

I really hope threads like this help parents realise that they have a choice. It's obvious many schools don't inform parents about their child's entitlement to full time education from day one. There's no reasonable justification for imposing staggered starts for all children.

I wonder if MNHQ would run a campaign on this issue, as it's clear from this thread and posts like this that many parents would choose to send their child/ren from the start if they knew they had the choice to do so.

Teachers have to have everything agreed with the whole team and by senior management. It’s funny how many parents think the individual teacher has control over everything.

i do know of several schools where this is planned by an individual teacher, on a rotation basis. Depending on which teacher is in charge it’s totally different. E.g. one school my friend is a early years teacher. last year reception had 3 weeks of half days (reception teacher A planning), this year 3 days of shorter, staggered sessions days then all in full time (reception teacher B planning). Both plans ‘approved’ by SLT but the teachers definitely had the control, their decisions were approved even though both inconsistent with prior years.

They can agree what they want, but they still have to provide full time from day 1 if that is what the parents want. Parents know what is right for their child.

The early years leader is pretty much always in charge. If something didn’t work well the previous year, a new early years leader would change it. They are usually a teacher too, but in management.

I’m not disputing that at all. All I’m trying to say is that schools base this policy on trying to make the transition from child care to Primary smooth for the children in their care. Full time from day one is every child’s right, and many children will be fine with it. But it’s rare that this is BEST for a child.

And your basis for insisting staggered starts are best for children is?

Why would it be rare? Some children thrive on routine and a slow transition could be more unsettling for them, especially if it involves real examples used here such as going every other day or not going fully right up until half term.

It can also be more unsettling if they have inconsistent care during the afternoons as their parents need to work.

Yes, children pretty much always feel more secure with a routine, school is a change in their routine. Hence slower transition. I’m certainly not advocating for three weeks of mornings for all children, schools should consider the childcare implications of this, but I think full time from day one is not best for most children.

My point is there is no evidence base that they are relying on, there is no consistency in approach even between schools in the same area let alone more broadly.

Head teachers are still teachers. SLT are still teachers. And often these decisions are made because one of them has an entrenched view that is not necessarily rooted in any actual evidence on impact on students.

I know for a fact that to change the system at our school, the EY staff had to overcome the views of the head teacher who was absolutely concrete in her opinion and had very little basis for it.

What about a class full of children who attend a school nursery full time and are moving to the Reception class at the same school which has the same timings for the school day, many shared staff, shared spaces and shared playground? How is it remotely of benefit to them to change the routine they’re used to and then change it back to the old one again after a few weeks? It’s not rare at all for children (particularly autumn born ones who’ve been in full time nursery) to be more than ready for full time schooling in the September they start and the disruption to be counterproductive. I went through this with my DD last September, thankfully the staggered start was only a week but even that was disruptive enough.

If little summer-born Jonny who has never been away from his mum for more than 10 minutes needs more time to ease into it then of course he should have a staggered start as long as needed. But many don’t need that and it shouldn’t be forced on them, which is why - thankfully - more schools are ditching it.

I agree, you need to take into account the entire situation regarding staggered starts / half days, and the potential chaos it creates for the child/ren.

In theory a gradual start to school sounds great, as it provides a chance for children to explore their classroom and experience the school day without being overwhelmed. Smaller groups also sounds lovely as it allows the teacher / staff to get to know their new pupils and spend more 1-1 time with them, without the worry of assisting 29 other children

However that's not the entire story.

Staggered starts also means

Children doing random half days, missing days, and being in a routine that isn't realistic or reflective of a normal school day.

Some children being collected by mum, then dad, then a day at home, then a day in nursery, or with a different person each day.

Some children start school only to then find themselves back at nursery, whcih can be confusing, especially as nurseries do quite a lot of transition work with a focus on being school ready.

Some parents take annual leave which means the child spends more time at home with a parent. They then get used to this routine for a few weeks, only to then have to learn to adapt to another routine when the half days / staggered starts finally ends, and this can make the transistion to school, and being away from that parent quite difficult.

Some parents who take annual leave for the start are then unable to take time off in the holidays. Meaning young children having to attend holiday care (often with much older children) or have a random ad-hoc arrangement with multiple carers

Children spending time with a small group of children and enjoying the nurturing 1-1 attention, only to then become overwhelmed by a noisy and busy classroom.

Mine’s at sixth form now but her and her peers were used to full nursery days.
Mine finished nursery Fri and started school Monday (ft from day 1 fwiw) The only child in class who struggled was one who hadn’t been to nursery. I can remember her mum saying she wished it was half days and everyone else was wtf.
I know it was very unsettling for her friends at other schools who were in all sorts of weird and wonderful settling in environments. It’s confusing to stay for lunch one day, afternoons some days, mornings the rest. One had until half term with this messing around. This was exacerbated by the ad hoc childcare arrangements - dad stressed to high heaven driving from work each lunch time and leaving you at old nursery you have left is one example I remember (the mum worked hour away in a city) This was a child who had been in ft 8-6 nursery since a baby.
Children work best with certainty and routine.
Obviously if your child hasn’t been in nursery or has additional needs then individual arrangements can be reached.
As I said earlier I’ve yet to hear of a private school who does it.

Yes DD’s school EYFS was a shared space with 2 classrooms, shared toilets, communal outdoors area. I know village schools with just one eyfs classroom for nursery and reception.
I think ft day 1 should be default and school can make alternate arrangements if parents request or if child is struggling to settle.

I'd say the exact opposite. Getting children used to the new routine from day 1 is what is best for most children instead of them having to adjust potentially multiple times depending on how the staggered start is implemented.

There will always be exceptions but staggered starts can be arranged with those families.

It's all very well saying use annual leave to cover it but if you only get four weeks' annual leave and work is an hour away, you can't even work half a day if they're in school for 2-3 hours then need picking up again.

That means using up 3 weeks leave just to cover 3 weeks of 'settling in'. 3/4 of annual leave used up for a single parent, 3/8 used up for a couple.
You then have 13 weeks of school holidays, INSET days, sickness, random days when you need to take leave to join sports' day or the special assembly. All to cover with hardly any leave left.

Mine had one settling in session that lasted 90 minutes(!) so there wasn't much point me even going home. I ended up sitting in the car nearby.

We didn’t really have any other choice but to use annual leave. Both worked an hour away. Not much leave left for an actual holiday that years they started school.

You can take parental leave, unpaid
https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave

not sure whether you can have the parental leave in half days

or leave child in nursery until after the half days finish

Unpaid parental leave needs to be taken in blocks of a week and the company can say that it needs to be taken at a time other than that requested. So it might help some with the settling in, but not all.

Unpaid parental leave would probably be more useful taken in school holidays as it needs to be 1 week block and use annual leave for ad hoc settling in. But not everyone can afford unpaid leave.