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

Children have a legal right to attend school full time from the start of term.

This over-rides any other preferred plans the school may have.

I think 3 wks of this is too long. We had 2 days where they did 8.45-11.45, then a week of 8.45-1.45 when stayed for lunch then started full time

We had exactly as @Baba197 had. Still annoying for the half days as ours had also been in nursery full time so were perfectly okay with shorter school hours. My parents covered the really short days, I worked mornings only for the longer part days and then it was school & after school club.

At my DDs school they are all start full time from the first day... I think the first two days they went in half an hour after the rest of the school, so the gate (we drop off at the school gate and children take themselves into class) was a bit quieter. Honestly wasn't an issue for any of them!

U most likely hadn't been in full time nursery for the previous 3.5 years

That sounds ridiculous OP. And a nightmare for childcare.

My daughter would’ve been awful if her school did this! She had been at nursery 8-6 five days a week (as I worked there in another room, but left as she started school) so half days for 3 weeks would’ve just equalled an understimulated hyperactive child for me! I understand some kids might struggle with the change but I would say give parents the choice. If a child say hasn’t been in child care before then the staged transition might be beneficial but it won’t be a case of one size fits all.

It’s not an objection - it’s a right open to all parents. As two working parents we didn’t have a choice but to use the full time from day one option. DH is a GP - he can hardly nip in and out of surgery to do random collect and drop offs and I don’t work local to the school.

This is going back almost 20 years but when DD1 started if the childs Birthday was after Easter then they had to do half days all the way until Christmas - absolute madness that was!
I think by the time DD3 started 9 years later they all did 2 weeks of alternate days, I assume the smaller groups helped everyone bed in at the start.
Even though you might be able to request the school taking your child full time, that isn't going to be easy on anyone if they are the only one.

They all do it these days, it’s so frustrating.

This sounds awful but we actually changed my DS school as once we learnt that they had a three week staggered start there was absolutely no way we could make it work. To me it indicates that the school is not in touch with working parents at all. Changed to a different school where it was full time from day one, no problems whatsoever.

I remember this and it actually made it worse for my daughter in the end I said she needs to stay and they agreed and she coped really well x

Luckily our school start on full days with the option to collect at lunchtime if you think your child needs it. None did as far as I know. Stupid half days is a nightmare for working parents!

That's a really horrible thing to say.

If you can afford it you don't need to use annual leave, you could use unpaid parental leave

I don't know if this will make you feel any better but when I was myself a full time high school teacher, single parent household, the September starters in Reading where we lived did a WHOLE TERM of mornings only. My child had been full time at the nursery adjacent to my high school site, which was miles away from the primary school, up to this point. They agreed to let her do full days only to change their minds in the July!! I ended up having to get a teenage French au pair, via an agency, to come and live in my house and have her every afternoon!! It was literally the only thing I could do. (A loooong time ago and probably not even legal to use an au pair like that now!) I feel your pain. Its crazy. Also they are receiving the funding (capitation) so I don't know how they get away with it.

Or you could send them full time from the start of term.

Unlikely to be the only one if the school is transparent with the options available to parents. When DT’s started, more than half went full time from the beginning of term. No madness in class, no excessive tiredness and no disorganised childcare arrangements.

I’m surprised they still do this. I’d request they are full time from day 1.
It’s far more disruptive to be there half days and cobbled together childcare than start day 1.

Most schools do this. My DD starts in September. And ours is 4 weeks of short days. I’m fine with it. She only does 2 days at nursery so going full time would be a shock for her. Whilst yours are in nursery 8-6 everyday, they’ll be some that have never been.

When my now 18yr old started one nearby school did it until October half term. Her child was in nursery 8-6 and it was massively inconvenient. Our school did 3wks but by time my now 15yr old started it was only a few days

This was what it was when my 2 started school, I can see why they do it as school is different to nursery but it is a pain in the arse for a lot of parents. We were lucky that my eldest went to a childminder after school and my parents had retired by the time my youngest went so could take care of him. I think it changed a year or 2 after mine started school to them being in full days right away. Tbh I felt lucky with the 3 weeks, I know some areas do it half days until the October holidays.

3 weeks of shorter days seems a long time. My dd started school a couple of years ago and her school had I think 2 x 1 hour ‘stay and play’ sessions at the start of September then went to full time straight away, although they started later so that wasn’t until something like the 16th September even though the rest of the school started back on 2 September. I ended up putting her back into pre school for those couple of weeks to cover childcare. So she literally finished preschool one day and started school the next.

My sn does full days at preschool now with 16 other children that will be in his class of 30, it is ridiculous to think splitting them into different groups and shortening their days would help them at all. If individual children need a staggered start then they should get it, but it shouldn't be pushed on everybody.

Someone said the afternoons are for planning... what so they think teachers in other year groups do?!

It was always a choice at our school. Most chose full days straight away. Our kids had been at pre school since 2, holiday clubs etc and they ease them in gently anyway. Most parents work either full or part time by Reception and have to use Annual Leave to cover as much of the school holidays as possible, so its alot to ask parents to change work hours for 3 weeks. I would say it should either be optional or a week at most.