Transitioning to primary school...this is not enough?

[OnToTheNextOneOntoTheNextOne]

If you have a child starting primary school in September this year, what are the transitional arrangements to ensure your child settles in to the new school?

My child is starting at a school where the majority of children will be coming from the school nursery and there is not much in the way of transition...

We have a 2 hour transition event coming up, when DC visit the school and meet their teacher and peers (without parents). The plan after that is that DC start full time in September.

I thought it was normal for a phased start in September and for teachers to visit children in their preschools?

I suspect schools can’t win whatever they do tbh as don’t think there is an approach that suits all. We have staggered starts and faffing for 2 weeks and I think it it is a pain tbh and in buggered for annual leave as this is my second child starting and have already needed to use a chunk for school holidays. For my daughter I suspect it is too gentle a start and the on/off nature will likely be more disruptive. For the first week she is barely in school. I wouldn’t mind them doing alternate days if they were there all day but for week 1 she’s not in longer than 2 hours at a time- gah.

We have exactly the same as you are getting OP. But there’s no school nursery so everyone is new to it.

full time start from day one works fine. Honestly. Eldest DS did it when he started and it wasn’t an issue at all.

It really varies. From the recent thread, some schools were like yours and started full time right away and some didn't start full time until after half term!

I'd see how she goes, she might surprise you. If she does struggle then I'd request a more staggered start.

In ours, over half of the DC come from the preschool.
The reception teacher does a visit to all the nurseries to talk to the staff and meet the DC. There is an hour long session for the DC to go after school one day and meet the staff and look around the classroom with their parents. And there is a transition morning for the DC who already go to the preschool where each class moves up and this applies to preschool too. Dc in the preschool also know the reception staff well as TAs are shared across the EYFS unit and the teachers are familiar to the DC.
In September, the DC do mornings until before lunch for the first week, mornings plus lunch for the second week and then full time from the 3rd week. There is a little leeway in this where DC can go back into preschool for the afternoon for parents that have absolutely no other child care arrangements.

This is standard where I am and from experience works fine - it’s also far more transition than the children in the years above got when starting school during covid times! Very much a just turn up on day 1 having never set foot there before or having met any teacher

It's good enough, the staggered starts and home visits are over the top. Kids adapt really quickly. All my DC started in similar fashion. if they have attended nursery (any nursery) then they will be fine.

Also in Scotland - find the idea of teachers visiting your home really weird.

My son has the following introductory sessions:

• mid June - stay and play session for 45 mins after school.
• End of June- 45 mins with the current reception class
• End of June - attend open evening to look around the whole school
• End of June - induction morning. 2 hours with parents in a meeting for 2 hours.

Start of July - 1 hour stay and play session (we are not attending this one) Mid July- dress up with current reception class 1 hour. My parents are having to take him to this one.

In September:

• Two days for 2 and a half hours. (Class split into two halves and attending different times of the day)
• Two days as above but also having lunch there.
• Then in full time on day 5.

For me all of this is too much! I'm a solo parent and a secondary teacher so am not allowed time off unless my headteacher is generous. My son is the oldest in the year and is sooo ready for school. He would choose to start tomorrow if he could. He has been in full time child care since 8 months (with exception of first covid lockdown). He also doesn't cope well with changes in routine. He would be better attending full time from day one. He would probably need a week to adjust and will then be fine. However the staggered start with different routines on different days will be a nightmare for me and him. Then on the first full time day in school he will also be attending breakfast and after school club. So a massive change from the previous days.

Mine started in 2020. We had one outdoor session which was very little interaction with the teachers, and a short session in their classroom to meet teacher. Then just 2 half days and full time.

My dd was one of a bulge year in reception. So 90 children starting. Head teacher, who was highly capable said. " You know your children best. They are welcome full time from the first day of term, that is what we prepare for. Some will have just turned 4, some nearly 5. Some come from full time childcare, some have not gone to Nursery. If you want your children to go home at lunch, just tell us. If you child is worn out by Friday then fine. Just tell us. Up to the half term just do what you think is right! "

Fwiw my son isn't great with transitions. We only had a week of settling in, and it was a disaster. Half a morning here, lunchtime there, a bit of afternoon - it was a whole series of unpredictable transitions and he coped really badly. (Recalls the Kitchen Chair Throwing Incident of 2021). He was much much happier when he knew he was there 9 til 3.15, lunch at 11.30, every day. So you may find the consistency is a blessing.

If it’s a school nursery your child will likely know the reception teachers through passing anyway and will be more familiar than other ‘new’ starters. It often also means the reception teachers will know the nursery children better as teachers talk, so throughout the last year they will probably have got to learn things about your child as well as then having a really detailed end of year handover from nursery teacher.

In our school the nursery children start immediately full time, and then outside children join a week later. It wouldn’t make sense to reduce hours for us, as the nursery children attend full time anyway, some even do longer the school hours with breakfast club and wraparound care, so are well used to a full day. We also had a lot of complaints when we previously did the ‘half day’ system due to childcare issues. I know it’s such a nervous time for parents, but your little one is in good hands with adults who have settled 100s of children before, and surrounded by new little friends who are all eager to play and meet each other.

DS just started full time on day 1. We weren’t even allowed in the school gates, just shoved him in and had to leave.

We expected a total nightmare (he was awful with transitions at nursery, drop offs involved him clinging onto my leg sobbing while his key worker peeled him off). But, bizarrely, he trotted in perfectly happily and had a lovely time. No problems whatsoever.

My eldest started 5 years ago. No prior visits at home or at school. No phasing.
My youngest is starting this year and attends the feeder nursery and we have an hour to see the classrooms and meet teachers in a couple of weeks, that s all. Also no phased start. I work so a phased start would be extremely difficult for me to accommodate anyway

If you think your child will need it then ask for it? Better that way than forcing a load of kids who don’t need it to have a drawn out transition period.

Hes going to school. Not moving away to uni. Why the fuss?

My DD went straight to a school where she didn't know anyone without a staggered start.

I'm really grateful for it tbh. I don't see the need for staggered starts at all. And they completely fuck over people who work.

DD is going to a school without any of her nursery friends, so although she's used to childcare it's a completely new start.

We've got a one hour visit with parents next week (which we'll miss), then a one hour visit for her alone in a couple of weeks.

Then in September they have a half day Weds with pick up before lunch, then half days Thursday and Friday with pick up after lunch. Then full time the following week.

I'm really pleased (well, would have preferred not to miss the first visit of course!). Feels like a nice balance of giving the kids a chance to settle but not too much for working parents. Three weeks of half days would drive me nuts!

What a wonderful caring school/head!

Scotland here

We have

Look round classroom, late may.

Then nursery starts taking them along twice a week, but mine are not there every day so juggle this. Start an hour, build.

A two hour meeting this week with staff, school. Me.

Two mornings this week, including break.

Two mornings next week, including lunch.

A full day the following week.

After summer start full time, but flexible if tired. We half day a Friday anyone so no issues if that gets dropped initially

I'm more concerned that I still don't actually know what the plans are for ours, we were told the week before half term that they'd be in touch with more info but so far nothing.

DD is in the preschool so will be going into the classroom next door with a lot of her friends from her current group, so from my point of view the transition stuff can be minimal but I know neighbours of ours with a child going up are quite worried at the lack of info. I have raised this as a general issue before now but they are just very inconsiderate of working parents and those caring for other siblings, it seems, as everything seems to be last minute.

I start a new teaching job in Sept so I can't get involved in weeks of transition (no WFH or flexitime or annual leave or whatever for me) so DP will have to use his annual leave, possibly unpaid leave if it goes on for weeks. They don't start their wraparound until week two and they don't do it in the week up to Christmas either, it turns out!

Ours is:

Currently doing weekly stay-and-play sessions, half an hour for four weeks. Last one is longer and includes lunch. Then one storytime drop-off where I assume 60 parents will head to the local supermarket to wander round for half an hour.

Teacher visit first week of Sept (no school)

Second week is two mornings, then morning plus lunch, then full day on the Friday. After that full time.

It is very difficult to manage with working parents, and that's with us mainly working at home. No idea how we would have managed it pre-Covid, I guess unpaid leave.

The thing I don’t understand is why schools don’t do it the same. Surely there must be some research or general view from the education sector on what the best approach actually is?

I wouldn’t mind so much if the schools could say- actually we know this is a pain in the arse but we have x evidence to show y benefit to x amount of pupils therefore benefit outweighs the inconvenience. My fear is that this is done because it’s always been done rather than it being an actual evidence-based thing.

We had 1 hr with parents in July.

Then sept in on their own for 3 hrs for a week then FT

@LockIn thanks, I'll have a look

Our school have done full time straight away as long as I have had a child there (10 years), but they have always been flexible that if a child needs a more gradual start they can do some half days. They normally do 2 or 3 short sessions in the summer term plus a full day on the transition day when all children go up to their new class for the day.

My youngest started school in 2020 so had no real transition, they just split the class in half and did a morning and afternoon each at the start of term in September, and all the children still seemed to manage ok.