Primary school settling in for 3 weeks?!

[Smarshian]

My eldest is due to start school in September. We have just been sent a letter about her settling in. Reception will not be in the first week (1st-3rd September), they will then do mornings (9-11.30) for one week and afternoons (1.15-3.30) for one week, before starting full time from 20th September.
Is this normal?! What are working parents supposed to do for those weeks? She goes to nursery full time at the moment and I will obviously ask them if they can do any wrap around either side, but it just seems a ridiculous amount of settling in and we can’t work around 3 weeks of 2.5hrs or less of school.

@lavenderandwisteria

plum I tell you what, be on universal credit, and then tell the DWP that you can’t work when your youngest starts school because school isn’t childcare and see their response.

School actually is a form of childcare and it doesn’t denigrate the excellent work teachers do or deny that its main purpose is to educate. But this sort of thing makes life difficult / impossible for working parents.

To dismiss that with ‘well that isn’t the schools problem’ is naive at best and really rather unpleasant at worse. Best case scenario is that a child has grandparents or friends or relatives able and happy to help. But desperate parents will often end up relying on other, more shady, forms of childcare.

I've had multiple children go thro school. My kids are now young adults and teens. All has staggered starts in reception because that is what worked best for school. Do they assume I'm anew mum who dosent know the system.yes it's tough, there are lots of instances children are off school unexpectedly and it's the parents job to cover that. I'm saying g this as a mum who had no family support. Putting yourself out to support your child and school for tne first few weeks is just the start.

Putting yourself out to support your child and school for tne first few weeks is just the start.

It’s not ‘putting yourself out’ though, now is it?

Its disrupting a child that’s already going through change by cobbling together whatever the hell kind of childcare you can find, it’s screwing over work colleagues who have to cover your workload, it’s leaning heavily on grandparents who perhaps aren’t up to it. In some cases, it’s struggling to pay the bills as a direct result.

The constant minimising, like it’s just some mild ‘inconvenience’ to parents, is incredibly unhelpful.

I don't agree with minimising, but I think your own examples run the risk of catastrophising!

Okay plum so how did you manage for childcare in those weeks?

I don’t think it does really mistress

As I’ve said, the children most disadvantaged by this are the ones we really should be looking out for.

I don't agree with minimising, but I think your own examples run the risk of catastrophising!

They’re on the more extreme side, sure. But are you arguing these don’t happen as a result of extended settling in periods?

One of the problems is that many parents aren’t aware that you don’t have to do a staggered start and therefore cause themselves and their DC’s additional stress.

@lavenderandwisteria

Okay plum so how did you manage for childcare in those weeks?

Use annual leave

As difficult as all the examples given are they are not the schools responsibility.

Use annual leave

Most people couldn't take 3 weeks of annual leave off at a time. And then you're left with nothing to cover the actual scheduled holidays.

Plumbear2 then what would you use in the actual holidays? Not everyone can buy unlimited amounts of leave.

As difficult as all the examples given are they are not the schools responsibility.

When most sensible schools have made adjustments to fit with modern times, no one’s impressed with the ones who blithely wash their hands of the problems they are creating by clinging to out dated practice.

No way would i choose a school with this policy.

If you use three weeks annual leave in September (even if you could get your employer to agree), that would mean you would have less time to spend with your DC’s during the school holidays.
I’m so glad I sent mine full time from day one.

Most people’s leave is stretched plenty far enough to cover actual holiday periods without this as well.

How much leave do you think people have?

@Plumbear2

As difficult as all the examples given are they are not the schools responsibility.

If schools are going to have a policy that disrupts parents and children to such a significant degree at such a transitional and possibly stressful time, then they absolutely should publicise it in advance and be able to justify it with a better response than 'well, it works for us'. Its absolutely the school's responsibility.

As difficult as all the examples given are they are not the schools responsibility.

I disagree. I work in a school, we see ourselves as a community and firmly believe that as such we have a duty to consider the impact of our policies and procedures on families, not just children but families as a whole. We have no desire to make life more difficult for parents (many of them have enough challenges as it is), neither does my own DC's school fortunately which is why they don't go in for this extended settling in nonsense.
There are lots of things that aren't technically schools responsibility but that doesn't stop us from issuing food bank vouchers to families, funding school trips and equipment for kids who can't afford it, helping parents to access benefits/housing/support for their own Mental Health. It would be much easier to say those things aren't our problem but we wouldn't be much of a community if we did that.

I’m waiting for our school to confirm arrangements for this Sept for DS but when DD started 3 years ago they did half days for the Monday and Tuesday then full time from the Wednesday onwards.

There are very few children starting school these days that have not been in some kind of childcare (be it nursery, childminder or pre-school) before so they really don’t need more than a few days adjustment. If anything I think it drags it all out and makes it into a bigger deal than it should be, which makes some children more prone to getting upset/stressed.

I don't agree with minimising, but I think your own examples run the risk of catastrophising!

It is absolutely not "catastrophising" to say that three plus weeks of having to take days off, leave early, finish late and generally be unable to fulfill your contracted hours could put someone's job at risk. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a sympathetic employer and a job that allows flexibility.

My sons first school did this. Day 1 an hour, rest of the week until lunchtime and same the week after. He had been in nursery 8-5 for the full year before that so couldn't understand why he was in so little. I thought it was optional now?

Our school did this in one week. All that messing about is ridiculous

I think a reasonable amount of settling in, say a week, is fine. Anything after that should be on a child by child basis.

How many private schools do it? None in our area. Reception is also tricky time for holiday childcare a lot of the holiday clubs are age 5-11 so you need to save all the annual leave you can for the holidays.

Used to have this in my region in Scotland but they did away with it 2 years ago as so many kids were already used to full time child care.