Staggered start and end times for primary is a fucking ball ache

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Staggered by year group, just been confirmed for my dc school. Worst gap is if you have a Y1 and a Y5. It's an hour between starts and another hour between ends. Two hours stood round in the school yard or outside the gates waiting. Or walk there, walk home, sit for 30mins, walk there walk home.

My employer is being very understanding about me nipping to do the school run each day, but I have a 30 min gap between dc start times and again, 30 min cap at pick up. Too short a period to go home (15min walk) but long enough that it's a massive chunk out of my working (wfh) hours.

Anyone else school doing staggered start and end times?

Ours does, but siblings get collected with the oldest sibling (stay with teacher and TA in classroom and get walked out separate from the higher year group to the parents)

That would be so much easier. Apparently they are "working within Govt guidelines" ahead of reopen in September.

That does seem rediclously staggered.

Our primary has two entry routes and is getting all pupils in over 20 minutes which is fine. Over an hour is madness

I'd leave a Y5 alone in the house and do a 15 minute walk on their own. Not sure if you can in your situation.

Yanbu but I give it less than ten mins before you’re asked ‘why did you have kids if you didn’t want to look after them?’ Or told ‘school is not childcare!’

Sorry I was unclear- I used the Y5 as an example of the biggest gap. Mine is 30mins but Y1 and Y4. Neither are able to get themselves to/from school alone.

There’s no joined up thinking going into this at all.

We’re heading for chaos in September when employers are expecting parent employees to be relatively back to normal productivity and yet the school situation won’t allow for that at all.

It’s a nightmare.

EasynowPatrick

True

Even if they said school was part time, but they start and end together that's fine. I can wfh with the kids around. What I can't really do is take that whole hour out of the day to stand round in a school yard, in addition to the 30mins am and 30mins pm I'd be walking too and from school. It's doubling the time I'm away from my work.

Or told ‘school is not childcare!’

Oh that piece of dumbarsery will show it’s face within ten posts of this. Guaranteed.

@LaurieMarlow thats my fear too. Especially because schools can't give total ideas of how it's going to work so you can't actually put any sort of plan in place

Our school has alphabetised pick up by surname. DS's school you pick up and drop off at the time of the youngest sibling

Our school will be staggered but siblings go in with the earliest start for the family. So if you have an 8.50 and 9 for your two kids in different years, they both go in at 8.50.

Unfortunately, schools don't have much choice about the staggering start and finish times to prevent crowds of people gathering outside the school. I do get that it is inconvenient, we will face the same problem with my older two at secondary school, but it's not the school's fault.

By surname makes so much more sense.

And I'd have thought they want people there and away as quickly as possible to reduce risks. The yard is going to be teaming with people at this rate.

Our school will be staggered but siblings go in with the earliest start for the family.

There’s a sensible solution. What’s stopping other schools doing that?

The problem is unless they let the siblings go in together then it won’t stop the amount of people because there will be parents hanging around just outside the gates waiting for the other children to be able to go in.

Having sibling groups going in with the earliest From that family and coming out with the latest finish from the family would make much more sense

Norabird

That's understandable. I just think this way of doing it, that my school has implemented, is jot only the worst option for parents but will actually increase people hanging around.

And I'd have thought they want people there and away as quickly as possible to reduce risks. The yard is going to be teaming with people at this rate.

You’d think.

Ridiculous.

We have similar times but my DS school allows siblings to be dropped off picked up at earliest & latest time. The waiting sibling has to be on their classroom, until told to leave. I can only assume that the teacher or assistant is already there. As parents will have to notify the school if they are need to use this provision. The school operates a one way system so someone can notify the waiting siblings, when parents arrive.

It's all for review in October half term.

Does the eldest have a friend living close and they can walk in with them?, so you drop the year 4 of at friends house, take the youngest and then head home. Similar set up on the afternoon pick up?

But yes an hour between the kids drop of is an utter pain in the arse!

School is not childcare... Sorry! Couldn’t resist.

I work in a school and we will be having staggered starts and finishes. There is 10 minutes between the earliest start and the latest start and 20 minutes between the earliest finish and the latest finish. Siblings have been told to pick up/drop off at the earlier time and teachers will be ready to receive them/hold onto them.

Yeah, it's stupid. Policy made by people who either don't have kids or whose aupair sorts out that kind of thing.

Graciebobcat

Opposite end of the spectrum to Au Pairs...I suspect the school is banking on the fact that 60% minimum of the kids are in homes where at least one parent doesn't work, more often than not both. I live in a area of significant social depravation, and there is a smaller quantity of families where both parents work FT/use childminders for wraparound.

It is a fecking nightmare.

The preschools in my area have traditionally arranged their start and finish times to be a bit before or a bit after school start and finish times to allow parents to manage multiple school runs. I have no clue how parents are going to manage this in September.

We are allowing siblings to arrive at earliest and leave at latest time. It’s. Junior school with 4 different time slots across 45 mins. To be reviewed at the October half term.