AIBU reception class start date

[Fortybingowings]

Our council website gives the start of term as Monday 4th September. DD starts reception this autumn having been in the school's nursery for afternoons since Sept 2016. Approx 3/4 of her reception year have also been in the nursery so they're familiar with the school.
We're told today that reception doesn't start until Wed 6th Sept, and even then, a third of the class start on Wed 6th, another third on Thurs 7th and the final third on Friday 8th. DD is one of the Friday starters. So now we need to sort child care for Monday- Thursday that week as both me and DH are working.
AIBU to be irritated (a lot) or is this sort of phased start the norm?

Bewareofdragons, I cross posted with you- agreed.

The norm should be full time from day one with staggered arrangements in place for those children who need it (and whose parents agree).

Talkin

Private schools absolutely do get kids arriving in nappies who have never been properly socialised and have never eaten a meal with a knife and fork, I've not seen pyjamas yet but if DD carries on taking her time in the mornings it may happen. Not all private schools are selective and having money doesn't make you better parents or your children any quicker to learn things. What private schools do have though is small classes and lots of staff.

Ours start full time on 3rd September as they do in all local schools (Wales). It's not in the children's interests. I gave dd a part time start even though she was the only one doing so.
They are exhausted by the start, whether they've been in nursery or not.

Our school does half days for reception for two weeks. That didn't work for us (full time). I spoke to the headmistress and she said it was fine to start full time straight away. He was used to being at nursery 7.30-6 so he coped fine. It's mainly learning through play at first.

BewareofDragons is right - schools cannot insist your child only attends part time, if they are 4 by 31st August then they are entitled to full time education from Sept 1st.

I work in a school and I think it was last year a letter came round from the Local Authority saying basically that if parents asked for full time they had to comply.

You know your own child best- if they are younger or immature and would benefit from a staggered start then all well and good, but if they are used to full time nursery education and ready for school, then they should be able to attend full time.

Some children may well benefit from a staggered start. My DD1, though, was never exhausted or even tired at the start and I will be stunned if my DD2 is particularly tired when she starts in September.

Umm my older ones go back on the 4th sept.
My younger new starter doesn't go in till the 13th! It's Normal here.
It's just their way of integrating the younger ones in and has been like the for all my last three .

But if only a few have pressed to do fulltime they're not really going to get a good typical afternoon but just babysitting for the couple of children who don't want to so the settling in schedule.

I don't think I'd insist on that. I'd rather a childminder picked them up and played with them or another mum if I really couldn't make the first few days!

That's quite good, When my son started last Sept, the first week back was home visits by the teacher, then a week of mornings only, then a week of afternoons only (except it was 13:00 - 15:20, so he didn't start school properly until the 26th or something like that...! Trying to sort that around work when you have no family nearby was quite tricky :-)

My ds will be starting on the 11th of September.
The first 3 days half day until lunch.
Thursday and Friday half day finishing after lunch.
Monday 18th full time.

My experience was that a primary school was more likely to leap straight into a full day for everyone, whereas an infant school was much more staggered, with special consideration for summer born, because they could focus much more on younger children.

That said, I don't miss the term when DD had only half days at infants, and DS had a full day at juniors. Two children, two schools, two minutes apart. A two mile round walk for me each drop off/pick up. Six bastard miles every day.

I work in a school and the admin behind this is a real pain in the ass. If it wasn't for the fact that the teachers truly believe that this is in the best interest of the children concerned they wouldn't do it. It would be a lot easier to start everyone at once.

Yes, sounds normal. My nephew had two weeks of various morning and afternoon half days at his school in reception! I think it is madness a lot of children will have attended nursery since they were babies and most will have attended the school nursery so no need for this long drawn out transition process! I think it makes it worse for children.

Normal. Our school used to bring reception class in over a month - royal pain in the butt. They have reduced it to a week now

Not normal here
In our city, all nursery places are full time and so we have one week of either morning/ afternoons in nursery but beyond that, everything is full time.
Reception start full time on the same day that all the classes above them do.
Couldn't be doing with all that fannybagging about

My son starts Monday 18th part time in the afternoons. I'm not really happy with it but there's not much I can do about it. I'm quite surprised that a lot are starting earlier than ours.

If every family had a SAHP I could understand that a staggered start might be a good idea but if you have working parents doesn't a long staggered start mean that children not only have to get used to the school environment but also probably new childcare arrangements too.

The schools that have long staggered starts i.e. more than a couple of weeks, doesn't it confuse children when they finally go full-time? A few half days are a good idea but then I think children should go full-time with an option for some children to go part-time if it is felt that a particular child wouldn't cope.

I'm in Australia, so clearly there are differences, but the norm in Victoria is to start with 1-2 half days and then for the first 4 Wednesdays to be off, with each child being allocated a 50minute 1-1 with teacher in classroom on one of the Wednesdays.
My child is turning 6 3 days after starting school, and many of his peers will also be 6 by the middle of the school year. He is at a full time kindergarten program in the same building, and already does music and sport lessons in the same rooms the school uses. About 35 of the 40 children starting school with him are at the same kinder.
Lots of parents are baffled and frustrated at having to find childcare for four extra Wednesdays and essentially having to work part time or not at all for the first couple of days, and some schools also start the intake year a day after the rest of the school. It definitely seems like overkill to ease into school given that less than 1% of children in the cities and probably not much more in the country, have attended at least 15 hours a week the previous year, and a good percentage were in full time programs.

Normal

Kids who have never been to nursery or in any child care (e.g. with SAHP), kids with special needs, adopted/fostered kids all need easing in with less children around. Then gradually increase the class as days go on.

I think a week or so is long enough, those going right through to October seems a bit much.

We start so early here. Our reception is starting at 4 (although some will be 5 within a day or two of starting.)
Sounds like Australia is a while year later!

While reception is play based they are learning to read and there isn't the option to do it for hours a week!

for 15 hours a week!

I love it when people tell me to get my emergency childcare in place. What is this emergency childcare. If you have relatives on hand then that's brilliant but if not I hsve never found any childminders who will take a randomn child for s day at short notice. Likewise nannies are not easy to find let alone pay for. I once tried to advertise for casual help and found precisely no one. Emergency childcare does not exist and this kind if arrangement if staggered starts is an utter PITA and can in fact cause a lit of financial and work difficulties for parents. It really pisses me off too OP.

I'm already dreading this and my son isn't even two! I teach in a secondary school so I can't 'just take annual leave' for the first two weeks of term (would be highly disruptive to my new classes). My son does full days in nursery now. My DH works shifts as a policeman taking the time off isn't always possible

We had half days up to Christmas for both mine with 3 full days just before they broke up for Christmas play, party etc. All the schools locally did it though I think it might have changed now.

cansu Finding emergency childcare means announcing loudly at drop off on the first half day that it would be lovely if you all go to the park after pick up for a picnic and then spending the afternoon getting numbers for all the SAHP in case you ever need 'favours'. (Lighthearted)