Is Reception part of EYFS and should therefore be open, even if rest of primary school is closed?

[Fr0thandBubble]

DD is in the Reception year of a London state primary, which is now closed because of COVID. At least one private school I know of in the same borough is opening for its Reception year, as it interprets that as being part of the Early Years stage. I am pissed off that once again private school children are getting an advantage here and I want my DD in school also.

Does anyone know what the official position is on this? Can primary schools in an area which mandates closure still open for Reception if they choose to do so?

Reception is Eyfs yes

It's not clear - govt talked about "Primary School (Years 1-6)".

That could be that they intended Reception to stay open - equally it could be that no one realised Reception is part of primary school

The private schools in my area sent out emails stating they were preparing for online/ home learning before the u turn happened. So I guess it would be at the schools discretion.

The govt advice said that it’s up to the discretion of the schools if they want to keep the (school) nurseries open. I assume this includes reception from what others have said. Most schools won’t do this though.

The guidance I read said (paraphrasing) 'school nursery classes can choose to open or not' because nurseries can open but schools can't (except for key workers etc). I assume that if it states nursery then it doesn't mean Reception too, and even if it did it would be optional.

I wondered about that when they announced it (I don’t have a yr R child though). I wouldn’t put it past the government not to have realised / remembered that yr R is part of EYFS.

They forgot about the channel so why not this?

Channel I mean

Well I will be petitioning my DD’s school bloody hard then. It’s a fucking disgrace how disadvantaged state school children have been in this whole debacle. In the last lockdown, all our friends’ children at private schools had full days’ Zoom learning (approx 7 hours per day). Ours had a few worksheets sent home.

And now DD’s peers in Reception at private schools will be taught as normal in class while mine is subject to “homeschooling” with a parent who already has a full time job and no childcare. How is this fair?

It isn’t fair, but then life isn’t fair. If you want your child to have the same advantages as children who go to private school then send them to private school.

In Scotland we don't have 'reception' followed by year 1,2,3,4,5,6 (then secondary), we just have Primary 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 then high school.

P1-3 is infant, P4-7 junior. Our P1 (your reception) is part of the school rather than nursery.

YR is part of primary school but follows the same EYFS curriculum as nursery school. So, I suppose it's down to interpretation. As a pp mentioned, YR is the same as P1 - it's the first year of primary school.

No offence but it’s a few weeks of reception your child will be fine. Painting /
Play dog and games it’s not rocket science at that age.

Maybe you should get saving for private school then OP

You can't really compare the two, even in more normal times.

There is a reason why people pay for a private education.

Reception is primary school but follows EYFS curriculum. So I guess it is up to the school or local council that controls it.

However, I do think you are being spectacularly selfish. Have you considered the implications for the staff who may be vulnerable? The kids of nhs and key workers who have no choice whereas you are at home so cam have your child there. Why should you get to put those kids and parents at risk?

I think you’re clutching at straws here. Yes it’s unfair but then no more so than me with a yr1 who never finished her reception year and has missed already 4weeks of yr 1 due to periods of isolation. She can’t even read or write yet!

DCs’ private primary originally said it was opening Reception, as DofE had said they could use their discretion for EYFS. However, they u turned and said they had now been informed (presumably by DofE) that they cannot ask Reception back. This was only yesterday. So perhaps your information about the local private school is out of date?

@Whattheactual20201

No offence but it’s a few weeks of reception your child will be fine. Painting / Play dog and games it’s not rocket science at that age.

May not be offensive to the OP but it’s pretty offensive to Reception class teachers who do a lot more than painting, playdoh and playing games

My two are in London state school. The school have emailed to say it's obviously closed BUT both Reception and Nursery are open as usual, although they understand some parents may keep their children at home. It's so weird. Apparently it's not safe for my year 3 DS to go in but totally fine for my 4 year old.

Anyway we're keeping the younger one at home while the older one is off

@GingerAndTheBiscuits I am saying at home there doesn’t need to be a 6 hours curriculum for a reception child.

My reception age child had a full timetable of morning and afternoon activities in lockdown 1! Not that we managed to do much of it...

@GingerAndTheBiscuits

My reception age child had a full timetable of morning and afternoon activities in lockdown 1! Not that we managed to do much of it...

I'm jealous. I got two worksheets to last three months.

If you want the service that private schools provide then you need to send your children to private school.

Private education isn't 'fair' just like buying private healthcare for your child or being able to pay for a private therapist rather than join an endless CAMHS waiting list isn't 'fair.'

By using the private option you are basically buying a better service than that offered for free.

Our prep school has confirmed that following advice from the D of E they cannot open reception. The tone of the email
Suggests they are disappointed. It’s a pretty hard age group to homeschool!