Staggered start is illegal exclusion

[HapptobeTHATparent]

DD turns 5 on 2nd September. Just received her school starter paperwork and it's a staggered start, so won't actually start full time until 16th September. No home visits so no need for staggered start. 26 children already attend the school nursery full time.

AIBU to accuse the school of illegal exclusion by not allowing DD and the 25 others already attending school (nursery) full time (plus any new starters who wish to start full time straight away), to return to school on the 1st September like the rest of the school.

State maintained school (not academy).

Slightly tounge in cheek, but also hoping for some links to documents I can quote at the school.

I’ve been a headteacher of three primary schools. I always admit all children on day 1. One, because that is what the Admissions Code states and two, because staggered starts are nonsense - they are a backward step and massively prolong the settling in stage of starting school. They can be very confusing for children and difficult to manage for parents. The offer of part time is there for parents who feel their child needs it but very few parents ever request this.

Having said that, I would not advise contacting the school with the ‘illegal exclusion’ line - just get in touch and ask for a conversation - that would be the reasonable thing to do.

I'm a Reception teacher and we do run a staggered start, though it is significantly shorter than some I've seen here. In the first week (Weds - Fri due to inset days) children attend half days on the weds and Thurs in two groups of 15, then on the Friday everyone is in together and stays for lunch. It has been rare that any child needs more than this, however it does give us chance to very quickly learn everyone's names, teach them some basic routines in smaller groups (eg how to line up, signals for tidy up time, more recently a lot more work has been needed on sharing/kind hands/manners etc). Our ratios are quite different to nursery/preschool and it's important to get off to a good start and ensure that every child feels welcome and 'seen' by their teacher. I'm sure not everyone would agree but it really is surprisingly tricky to do this with 30 4 year olds all with a range of needs and setting experiences.

Having said that, if it was a real struggle for the three days, we would take a child full time. If every parent requested it we would need to temporarily increase staffing to ensure children receive the school start they deserve, which at the moment would genuinely be impossible as we don't have enough TAs to cover our 1:1s throughout the school and support other children with SEND (who also deserve a smooth transition to their new classes). Tough balancing act, but I like to think parents work with us in the best interests of their children.

Definitely think about approaching the school/EYFS lead reasonably, no one will turn your request down but successful home school partnerships do work both ways.

If every parent requested it we would need to temporarily increase staffing to ensure children receive the school start they deserve

In no way trying to be difficult but if every parent requested it, wouldn’t just cracking on and getting on with a ‘normal’ week be better? The irony is it’s mostly going to be teachers who simply wouldn’t be able to do this for their own children!

Lots of local schools did this till, I believe, one lost a Local Government Ombudsman case. Since then they've followed the law. Which is:

2.17 Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. The authority must make it clear in their arrangements that where they have offered a child a place at a school:

1. a) that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday;
2. b) the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made; and
3. c) where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.

Parents have the right to implement part-time attendance, or deferred entry, till the term after their child turns five. But schools don't have that right, no.

It's not an unlawful exclusion, however, far less illegal. It's a breach of the admissions code and the remedy would be Local Government Ombudsman, who would expect to see an initial attempt to discuss it reasonably with the school, followed by using the school's own complaint policy, first. I get the feeling that is your planned path, though, and you just wanted to know where the land lay?

Our school never does staggered starts and has them in full time from day 1. I personally think staggered starts are more unsettling especially given the proportion of children who have already experienced full time nursery

In the nicest possible way, It's just tough.

Most schools do this . Apparently it's for the child's benefit

YABU. You're being an entitled dickhead to even think you should have a say in this as a parent. Know your place, do what the school says and accept they're in charge, NOT any parents! 🙄

It's not about who does the pick ups and drop offs. Loads of men do - we all see them.

It's about whose responsibility It's seen to be. That's the structural issue.

Anyway, I will let that bee out of my bonnet as it'll get the thread off point.

@mnqq can you put the admissions code info regarding school start somewhere prominent on the site so we don't have to keep discussing this over and over and over again every summer?

@mnhq!

Yes it would, I've never needed to do it and I'm sure it would work out fine, though it would probably take longer to establish routines and really 'get going'. We take children from 8 or 9 settings but it's probably much easier in a school which has its own nursery as half the work is already done and children are already familiar with rules, routine and structure.

But the children with specific needs can still take part time, or deferred starts. I did that with one of mine, in fact. Surely the best thing to do is to let all parents know that this is a right they have, and that if they feel a gentler, staggered start would support their child then they are entitled to seek that, and to work with the school, rather than a blanket policy? You'd be very likely to find a lot of parents would want it, as most don't even know they are entitled to that slow start if they feel it would support their child.

I'm a SAHP and it wasn't any sort of a problem for me when my eldest had staggered starts. I chose to defer my second starting altogether. But I knew working parents for whom this was a nightmare and almost completely undoable - and it's not lawful, either.

There will be some parents paid by the hour. The insistence that their kids start part-time could either mean they lose desperately needed wages, or that they have to pay for (probably piecemeal and less than optimal) childcare. How would those sorts of chopping and changing arrangements benefit those children's adaptation to school life? It's an assumption that relies on the affected parents all being able to afford time off work, or to be at home anyway, in order to implement this. Most, these days, are in full time work by the time their children are school age.

You say, "trust that we know what we're doing." How about trusting parents, and asking them if they feel their child might benefit from using that right to part-time, or delayed entry, instead? You'd probably find quite a few would do so voluntarily, especially those of us with vulnerable starters.

Well it isn’t tough . Is it there is an admission.code schools are expected to follow . So she can have a grown up conversation

Leave the school alone! You’re the kind of parent who’s making the job harder and harder!
it’s not ‘exclusion’ and is done in the best interests of the kids - school is NOT a child minding service for working parents.

Marking your child as having ‘that’ parent, isn’t going to help your child at school.

I filled in the forms for school this week and made a point of putting DH as first contact as he WFH. Whether this is ignored like nursery occasionally did, remains to be seen!

Anyway, re staggered starts - I understand the logic but it's the inconsistency. We have 1st Sept teacher training, 4th and 5th no school at all due to home visits (no idea which day yet so can't book the leave), then a mix of 12pm and 1pm finishes until the 14th. DH can cover the 12pm ones but honestly that's not long enough for anyone without a partner/family help to do a half day work and then get back for pickup. And nobody gets lunch for the first week which I don't think is right when they get free school meals.

And no, it's not like half term. There's no local holiday club in September.

"Youngest child aged between 5 and 12 years of age

• you will be expected to work a maximum of 25 hours a week (or spend 25 hours a week looking for work)
• the type of work you look for and the amount of time spent looking for work can fit around your child's normal school hours, including the time it takes to take your child to and from school"

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/your-dependent-childs-age-universal-credit

Haven't rtft as I got here late but a family member is in the same situation. School has two hour morning and afternoon blocks moving to something like 9:30 until 1pm and 11am to 2:30pm. What would happen with children attending full time in that situation, is there likely to be a few so they can play and have lunch together or join the rest of the school for lunch or is the answer usually just no?

@mnqq can you put the admissions code info regarding school start somewhere prominent on the site so we don't have to keep discussing this over and over and over again every summer?
Yes to this!
Every thread on this ends up full of misinformation and confusion about compulsory school age Vs entitlement to full time education from the start of reception.

Leave the school alone! You’re the kind of parent who’s making the job harder and harder!
it’s not ‘exclusion’ and is done in the best interests of the kids - school is NOT a child minding service for working parents
The school is making things harder by choosing to try to impose part time education on children who are entitled to a full time education.

The school could do what many other schools do by having a couple of days as half days (whilst making it clear full time from day 1 is available), and then change their environment so that the transition is managed smoothly inside the school.

What's calm and settling for children to have a part time education for weeks with an inconsistent mix up of childcare arrangements?

It seems like for many children they will end up being cared for by a few different family members so completely out of any kind of routine, I don't see that as helpful.

What's calm and settling for children to have a part time education for weeks with an inconsistent mix up of childcare arrangements?
Exactly!

I suppose my viewpoint comes from working in schools very different to yours, and those of most MN parents.

Over a quarter of our reception intake last year had never been to a childcare setting. Others had only attended for a few hours each week, or ad hoc hours. We do have a school nursery, but there's lots of movement in and out, and with 30 hours there are now fewer spaces in nursery so only one quarter have been in that nursery.

We have TAs in every class, but every class had at least one child who was dangerous without 1:1 support, so the TAs were not available.

On the first day of term, we had so many tears from children who'd never left their parents before. We had to carry children to their classroom (with parental permission of course) on every one of the staggered transition mornings, and several of these were still hugely emotional at separation the next week when all children were in for mornings until Wednesday and all day from then on. We do 5 days of staggered starts and no more, because we know how hard it is for parents. But it makes it manageable for our staff and it allows us a little time to plan for the children once we have met them, and have meetings about the most urgent support needs (some were evident from summer home visits and transition days, but extra time shows the exact needs). If parents need it, we usually have space in nursery for the children to stay all day, or we set up one classroom for those staying all day from the start.

If you're in a school where almost everyone has been in 30 hours nursery, it's probably hard to imagine how challenging it can be in a school like ours.

No need to be a drama Queen. Just write and ask if dc can start straight away. You are allowed and entitled to that. They aren't allowed to deny you that rite.

Jwhb
I can totally imagine what your school is like. I've got friends who work in similar schools. It highlights how big the gap is between children's experiences before they get to school and shines a light on how appallingly funded provision is for those who need it most.

What matters is that school are transparent with parents about the offer and the legal entitlement.

I've got no issues with part time transitions if they're right for the children and the parents agree. I also don't mind if schools outline their default arrangements with reasons, and state that if parents wish for their child to attend full time to contact the school.

My issue is when schools inform parents that there's weeks of part time education, don't make it clear that full time is available, and rely on parental ignorance of their children's entitlement.

On the first day of term, we had so many tears from children who'd never left their parents before.

This is a genuine question, not a snarky one, but did you do any settling sessions the term before? I only ask because my DD is starting school in September and all the children in her nursery (going to a variety of different schools) have done some mornings at their new school already. DD has had two, one where parents could stay (but didn't have to) and one where parents couldn't.
Is that not the norm? I'm not criticising, just asking because obviously it's hard to know whether what happens with your child and their school is standard or not.

@liveforsummer - more like thanks to the law! If you can’t cope, you shouldn’t be in the classroom (if you even are) 🙄