Why is the start of term always so complicated?

[Advicewouldbeappreciated]

Pandemic aside, really it's always like this. I hate it.
Why, after weeks off school, can the kids not just go back normally?
But they never can. It's half days and staggered start times for weeks, then a day off after a couple of weeks. Mornings-to get used to them. Then afternoons-to get used to them.
Its a nightmare. Literally a few weeks of complicated messing around here there and everywhere until after October half term when it starts properly.
Also, no need for teacher training days the first week of term surely? Just have a date they can go, properly all day, and stick to it.
Sat here waiting to do a second school run today for the sake of 2 hours at school before getting the other one. The others not back till next week.

AIBU?

Oh dear, actually do you know what I used to be a parent governor of a primary school and the facts are schools are LEGALLY obliged to coordinate and take parental views into account as well as their circumstances.. None of us are stupid enough to expect things to 'revolve around a child and child care needs' and that is not what the OP Is saying, however:

What has happened in the pandemic is that parents have been put last by the government and treated as unpaid skivvies (the OP has already said she has been a key worker) expected to maintain employment and drop it again at the drop of a hat. She is also a single parent.

It really is time, I believe that an educational reality dawned back in some people's minds...namely that parents are the 'primary educators' of children actually and that teachers are supposed ot work as a team with us, which in the best schools they do already.

And while I am on my soapbox the headlines today remind us yet again that women have borne the triple burden of childcare, paid and unpaid work and it has set us back in the workplace so somewhere near the 1950s.

No, parents and mums are not donkeys to be worked into the ground, have limited rest etc. Even coppers get 'rest days' and proper leave provision. OP has already posted she feels she hasn't had an hour to herself in six months. That is not a sustainable situation.

OP hope you get a chance to put your feet up soon. And when you do have a laugh and a glass of wine or cup of tea on me. Well done OP for all your work. Paid and unpaid. Be proud of yourself for your herculean efforts.

The local authority sets term dates, though, schools can choose to take their 5 INSET dates when it suits them, as the needs of the staff and school require. It won't be the same for every setting.
Schools provide education, not childcare.
Sorting childcare is your responsibility as a parent, this pandemic has just highlighted how reliant we working parents are on it.
Out of interest, why not take annual leave when your DCs go back to school, to cover the unusual hours and also get some time to yourself? Or could a CM cover this time? We had to cover all insets and a fair few holidays with our AL when they were little, it is just part of being a parent but gets easier as they get older and more independent.
DCs school has an INSET mid September and it is a great day for a family trip as everywhere is less busy than school holidays.
You are being a bit unreasonable, sorry, i know you are knackered and it has been an awful year!

OP is not asking the school to provide childcare rather than education or expecting schools to revolve her needs It's entirely reasonable to expect schools to apply a bit of common sense with start times.

DS starts Reception next week. He has been at the pre-school attached to the school for 18 months already and doesn't need staggered days and times to settle in. When I received the letter indicating he would be doing 2-3 hours over various days I pointed this out plus the inconvenience of going back and forth when his older Y3 sister is there FT. The school were happy to accommodate me and have him start FT on Monday. Thankfully they didn't feel I was trying to use them as a babysitter or being unreasonable at not wanting to do multiple drop-offs and pick-ups each day.

I took out all staggered starts in my school ( pre COVID and different needs this year) as I felt many children had already attended settings for longer than the school day. If any parents wanted to reduce the initial time their child attended school in the first couple of weeks I made it clear that this could be arranged on an individual basis to match the child's needs.

Training days and holidays are somewhat different though under teachers terms and conditions (employment laws) and can't be just changed to suit. This would involve the government agreeing to fund more working days for every member of every schools' staff.
Legally there is a new Safeguarding document which comes into force each Sept. 1st. Staff must legally be updated to ensure your children are safe; the first training day is safeguarding focussed.

You could of course feedback to the school, they should be asking for parents views. You could of course 'vote with your feet' and choose a school without the staggered starts.

There is actually a legality that prevents schools from 'staggered' starts though.

Of course you're allowed to moan. Staggered starts with multiple children must be so frustrating!

I don't get why it's a problem having inset days indicated in the school calendar? It's means staff can check and families that desperately need to make contact can do.

Do you know teachers aren't paid for the school holidays? They're paid for 195 days of the year and that is spread out over 365 days so they get monthly salary throughout the year. They do work during holidays but can't be obliged to work (and inset days are work). I'm saying 'they' but I'm obviously a teacher myself 😁

INSET came off staff holiday time and is basically a school week of their time lost with no change to pupils in terms of time. Start of year INSET is essential to be prepared and up to speed on policy, safeguarding and being ready for your class. Others are distributed through the year according to the school's needs. They are generally arranged around half terms or to give a long weekend in a long term for everyone's convenience ( well more so than a random Tuesday)

Normally secondaries have their Open Evening around late September. So the staff and students involved are prepared and relatively fresh to keep going until 8pm at night, that tends to be a half day. It's not something that can be prepared back in the summer (plus teachers need their own holiday time)

YANBU about staggered starts. I can see a stronger case this year where young children have had much more disrupted routines in the last 6 months, but normally the default should be full time with a part time option for those that would benefit.
DS1 went straight to F/T (plus wraparound care 8am to5.55pm). DS2 was also used to full time nursery and found it messed him around that school had gone to a week of P/T building up the days. He just wanted to do the full 6 hours with his brother and didn't know what to do with himself on his own and 2-3 hours between pick-ups made it awkward to do anything worthwhile.

You are not being unreasonable regarding staggered starts, I can see that must be a pain. I cant see why anyone other than reception would need them, plus secondaries might have just y7/12 back for a day (especially this year when y6 didnt get a transition day).

I’m sorry you find insets at the start of term inconvenient. Unfortunately there does need to be some training in September, especially this year. My school did safeguarding training (essential I’m sure you’d agree - if you have new staff they may never have had it and by waiting a few weeks there’s a small chance they might miss something and a child could come to harm as a result), going through arrangements for kids returning - one way systems etc (also essential) and gave teachers time to set up their classrooms (again it’s nice if the children can walk in to a room on the first day where the teacher has had time to sort displays, put up their work and so on, not ideal if the teachers are given time in October to do this instead!)

I understand it may be annoying that INset days vary between schools throughout the year. But often we have outside providers, for example training us on behaviour management, a maths scheme or PSHE. If every school had the same inset days, these providers would only be able to visit 5 schools per year! And the demand would be crazy. So schools choose when to have their insets which enables training providers to train year round. Teacher professional development is important, and will benefit your children. It’s not just a jolly. These dates are usually published on the schools website a year in advance - ignore the ‘start of term’ dates and factor these in too if it makes you feel better.

Well 'no exceptions' to the two and a half week long staggered start.
I wish they'd publicised this. I'd have picked another school.
I'm going to complain by email. It's ridiculous to take so long.

On the question of teacher training days, from a parental perspective only, the school that bunched them all together in one week and enabled lower cost breaks for families should be applauded. As long as all schools do not pick the same week.

I think you probably are being a bit unreasonable but I understand the frustration. Mine has just started and doesn’t need the half days really but i have to trust that it is done for the benefit of the children and 2 weeks while annoying isn’t the end of the world. It has been nice to have a smaller group to have a bit more attention. Even for those who have been used to nursery, they have probably never had a class of 30. Some schools do take it too far though. One of my friend’s children doesn’t have a full day until November. That really would be impossible for working parents.

You are allowed to find it hard.

When dd1 first started reception it was a nightmare. I got 2 buses to get there so didn't have time to go home had to get bus back into town and wander around aimlessly for a bit with a baby til it was time to pick her up.

Shed already done full days at pre school 2 days a week and mornings the rest so knew she would be fine going to school full time.

Staggering the bloody starts for 3 weeks was a nightmare. I work evenings so thankfully I could do it but i dread to think how parents managed having botched together childcare for 6 weeks holiday then expected to faff about with this nonsense fir however long schools decide to do it for.

One poster on MN has to do it til November. The council are having to get involved.

We never did this when we went to school. Straight into full days and we were fine.

The options of part time or deferring terms already exists for those who feel their kids need a more gentle start