School Settling in Period

[LouieLou2013]

Is six bloody weeks. How the fuck am I supposed to manage that!.

I get that they need to settle in and was expecting two weeks, six.

What the actual fuck am I supposed to do. Work are very flexible and accommodating but this will tip them over the edge.

AIBUR to say six weeks is to long?

I honestly thought playing the long game would be best best and I've been promoted twice since going back off of maternity. Not totally sure that was the right decision now

For the parents that insist their child is full time from the start what do you think your children will do at school? We can't start teaching if we only have a handful on full time and handful on staggered starts. In the afternoons at school I'm at the teachers and tas are used in other year groups getting paid to teach. Although many child can cope with full time from the start there are children who need the settling in time as well. 6 weeks does seem excessive we have 1 week til lunch 1 week stay for lunch week 3 full time.

Mine started full time straightaway - they had been full time at nursery from being babies so didn't need setting in time. Infact it would have been more unsettling for them. They weren't the only ones who went full time from the beginning - a large portion of their nursery group did the same. Regardless of whether it was unsettling or not, neither DH or I have employers who would tolerate us missing for half a day for up to six weeks.

I said no to the settling in period and requested full time straight away. My DC had been full time at a pre school and I feel half days - apart from being difficult to arrange - were unnecessary. The headteacher wasn't thrilled but agreed and my DC was fine. I was not the only parent to do this :)

The majority of the children at my school come from the onsite nursery. We give parents the choice of whether their child starts full or part time. Occasionally we will suggest a child starts part time if we feel it is in their interest.

Tired, why would the reception teachers be teaching in other classes in the afternoons? They will have their own teachers. My school does staggered start for 3 days. The reception teacher spends those afternoons setting up the classroom.

It's hardly rocket science to occupy a handful of reception children for the 'extra' time in an environment bursting with resources for play-based learning.

Maybe keep him in his nursery for the first 6 weeks and he can join his class in week-7.

His nursery won't keep him after Sept as it will be too disrupt to their new starters

That is excessive!

My DC will do 2 shorter days, going home after lunch, then it's full time. He doesn't know anyone else as he is at a nursery miles away, but I'm sure he'll be just fine.

Crikey, that's a long time. My wee boy starts school in August and only has half day for the first 4 days.

6 weeks is ridiculous!!
My DCs all started full time from day one. The HT told me they used to offer p/t but no one ever takes them up on it l!
There are 30 children in the class and all the home visits are completed in 2 afternoons in July.

You can refer the school to the Admissions Code of Practice which states:

Admission of children below compulsory school age and deferred entry to school

2.16 Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. The authority must make it clear in their arrangements that, where they have offered a child a place at a school:

a) that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday;

b) the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made; and

c) where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

His nursery won't keep him after Sept as it will be too disrupt to their new starters

Someone else making up an excuse and talking bollocks! How will their new starters know he shouldn't be there?

Our kid's nursery would still have ours' until his 5th birthday, which meant the first few school holidays were taken care of.

For the parents that insist their child is full time from the start what do you think your children will do at school? We can't start teaching if we only have a handful on full time and handful on staggered starts.
At that age it is playing rather than teaching. Make something up, rather than coming up with excuses as to why you can't do something!

where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year

So it is up to the parents, not the school. OP - you need to let the school know who is in charge.

When we were told DS would have a 2 week settling in period and home visit, I simply e mailed, saying neither would be possible as DH and I both worked. They fussed about it a bit but ultimately conceded.

Thank you for everyone's help. It seems all is not lost.

I've researched what other local schools are doing and they are a maximum of two weeks. Our school told me it was usual practice. My confidence in the school is pretty low now as they are already bullshitting and he's not set foot in the door yet.

The school my two go to / will go to start them off at 8:45am on the first day of term. Off they go, straight in, everyone the same, full time from day 1.

The odd parents requests part time and there are options for this but we are told that it is fairly rare and that, on the whole, they find kids settle better if they start full time.

My son is just 4 and understands his life at the moment. (Some days he goes to nursery, some days he doesn't, some days he is picked up early, some days he isn't, it is all very carefully worked out.)

He will understand - "on Wednesday you start school, you go every day except the weekends, just like Dd and Mummy will pick you up on X days and daddy on Y days."

He's a bright lad but I think he'd struggle with "On Wednesday you start school. Here is the complex 6 week time table, sometimes you will start early and finish early, sometimes you will start late and finish late, it will,change each week, the kids you are with will change each week and we have set up a very complex system of different strangers picking you up each day as we don't have the holiday to do it ourselves and no childminder is willing to give a full time space to a child for just 6 weeks."

Add to that I really really think that my (limited) holiday is best used to give him a lovely peaceful half term at home with me, rather than him having to go to holiday club because I've run out of holiday.