September birthday, starting reception, full class birthday?

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DD starts reception in September and turns 5 shortly after. We don't know anyone who is going to be in her class.

I like the idea of inviting everyone in her class (30 kids). We could hire a hall and bouncy castle cheaply. We'd also invite another 15 or so other friends. I don't expect the whole class to accept the invitation. We'd plan it for late September so people from school would have a couple of weeks notice.

Dp thinks it's madness to invite people we don't know. I think it will be a nice way to get to know people, especially as dd will be at afterschool club 5 days a week so we won't have the opportunity to chat at the school gates. It's also a huge 3 form entry school so will be harder to get to know people than a small school.

I'd appreciate opinions and experiences.

We did it - it was nice. If you do I'd suggest making sure you've got lots of help, ideally you can use it to get to know people rather than spending all your time handing out juice etc.

I think it’s a great idea. One of the girls in my DD class did exactly this - handed out invites on the first day of term for a whole class party a few weeks later. It went really well x

Stop many children, keep it small so it does not become chaotic, inviting 30 children you do not know is madness.

I think it’s a good idea. Also people are usually very keen for their children to go to parties when school first starts, but it soon wears off! I expect you would get a good attendance and people would appreciate being invited.

I wouldn't want to do a party with 45 kids. You won't get a chance to get to know parents with that many there anyway. I would just do a party with the 15 friends your already know.

I think the majority would accept and that’s about 40 kids including the non school ones!
I think great but make sure you ask if some parents (not all as that could be a huge number) could help, or have paid babysitters to help out. I had about 25 kids over and hired an entertainer, that felt like plenty!

Definitely whole class parties will be a thing in reception so either everyone or just the 15 friends from outside school - good luck!

DS was 5 the weekend after he started reception. We took him and his best friend out for the day on his birthday, and he had a big party for his friends the following year. By his fifth birthday, he hadn’t even met all his classmates, as half started on morning only and half started on afternoons only.

I did this, except it was in October. Invited 25, and 23 came! Obviously all the mums or dads stayed as most of the children were 4, and it was a good way for parents to get to know a few names and faces.

My DS's birthday is in September and I started off by just inviting the boys as I think that all 30 is too many if you're hoping to get to know people. Good luck - get some trusty helpers and a bottle of wine for when it's all over!

My friend's baby is an early September birthday and they did this. Worked out well for Reception and Year 1 (class make up changes each year) then she focused more on existing friends.

We also did this. Asked for the class names in advance and sent invites out the first week (2 weeks notice). Worked really well and most of the class turned up. I think it broke the ice and was really nice to get to know the class and their parents.

One of the families in my son's reception class did this. I was very grateful as my son had not been to the attached nursery (about half of his class had) so he didn't know any of the other children. It was a great way for him (and me) to get to know the rest of his class and some of the other parents. I think it really helped stop the children who had come into the school from other nurseries/preschools feeling like they didn't fit in.

If I were doing this and hell would freeze over first I'd have stickers ready to do name labels on all the children. Will help with crown control and for learning names.

I'd make it 90 minutes maximum (less is more).

Have a load of party games lined up, eg Corners, Doing the right action games, musical bumps. With prizes (eg lollipops) for getting knocked out (to stop the tears).

I am doing precisely this. DS turns 5 a few weeks after starting Reception. I've booked a hall and a bouncy castle and will invite his entire class plus godchildren and a couple of preschool friends who are going to different schools.

It is absolutely my idea of hell, but I'd rather not leave anyone out and cause unnecessary hassle; I'd hate the thought of him talking about his birthday party to kids who haven't been invited! Seems very mean at this age.

We did something like this. My twins are the eldest in their class. We teamed up with the other September birthday child (who we knew through nursery) and invited the whole class to the park for the afternoon. Perhaps partly because it was at the park, all the parents and quite a lot of siblings came too and it was a nice way to get to know people. (We enjoyed it so much we had a re-run a few years later and everyone came again.)

As you've probably realised, I'm in the 'do it, it'll be a good way to get to know people' camp!

We did it. Joint whole class party and invited two classes when we joined a new school. Two dc with birthdays the week they started, invited yr R and Y1. It was great. Met all the parents and saw their classmates and got them on the list for reciprocal invitations.

I've done two big class parties and they're fun if exhausting! It sounds like a good idea given your circs and I bet those parents who are anxious about their children starting school would be delighted to receive a party invite so soon!

If you're game to take on the expense then go for it! I'd go for an entertainer instead of a bouncy castle as they can't all go on at once and otherwise once they've had a bounce they just mill about or run and shriek which can be chaotic. Get a speaker and play some fun pop at the beginning or end. Lots of balloons to kick about.

Islands is a good game, use newspaper as islands on the floor then when the music stops you have to find a bit to stand on. Each round you take a piece away. Musical statues is great.

If you get a helium cask and fill plain balloons to the back of each chair the children can take them home afterwards. You can get multipack Sets of books from the Works which can make fun party bag stash. Get a separate cake for the party bags and have that already wrapped and put in the bags.

Decide in advance if parents are staying or if they can leave their kids and make it clear before hand and if you ask people to RSVP by text you'll have an instant contact list for the whole class which is brilliant when you can't remember if it's PE or you loose the class spellings or whatever. My phone is still full of "XXX's Mum" six+ years on!