Staged/part time starting of school is unfair?

[FurierTransform]

My DD has just started reception.
The school she's attending have this system where the children don't all start on the Monday full time, but have 4 x 2-3 hour sessions, spread across 2 weeks, to 'ease into it' before attending full hours.

AIBU to think this is totally ridiculous?

I'm sure many people have had to take 2 weeks holiday from their work to bridge this gap between their children finishing nursery, and actually starting school full time, so potentially now will have to forgo a summer holiday, or work over Christmas etc!
Luckily we have flexible jobs so have just about coped.

Seems so ill thought out and inconsiderate to families with 2 working parents.

That seems a good way to do it

@Batatahara - but if all the parents protested, they’d have to change their process. You’re simply enabling a broken and divisive system at the moment. Not everyone can afford to take leave. We’re over a decade on since the SAC ruling came into being. Personally, I wouldn’t want to send my DC to an old fashioned school that felt it knew better. There is zero benefit to staggered starts for the children.

That's great and all but the government should force companies to give paid parental leave for that week then

My son’s school did 2 x 1 hour “days” in his first week, until 12 the second week, until 1 the third week and then finally on the fourth week started full time… he had been to nursery 2-3 days a week from 13 months!
I felt it actually made him more confused and worried on what was going on as he was so ready for school.

I really understand that other children may not be ready (I work in SEN) but I definitely think these staggered starts should be optional. Parents know what their kids need and can discuss this with the school.

One thing to add though is that our previous nursery could accommodate children up to the age of 5 for the odd days they had available which was helpful.

I am self employed so I lost literally half my wages that month. How is that good for a child’s well being when their parents are stressed financially at home? Not everyone is getting a teachers salary. Also would the teachers be able to accommodate this type of start for their children?! Would the head let them have extra annual leave?…

The examples here of the pain this causes and the effects of passing the kids from grandparent to friend to any nursery that will still take them shows how unworkable it is. But of course people have no choice - I was the same.

In particular @Amrythings post on the vastly different approaches taken by neighbouring schools and why nurseries can’t fill the gap is a textbook example.

That's true but it's difficult to coordinate a protest with parents you haven't met yet!

All of the schools around here do some kind of process like this, there isn't a way to choose a non "old fashioned" school.

My son’s reception class did this. I was lucky and had scheduled a month off during that time. But it was such a painful experience. Plus they did it by surname and phased the kids in very weirdly. So if you were earlier in the alphabet you got to start and keep going. My son basically didn’t go at all for the first week. It was probably because it was 4 class entry and they were trying to manage the numbers. I do get why, but it is a complete nightmare for two working parents

@fairyfluf - that’s actually not the worst idea. If the staggered start weeks meant parents could claim paid leave from work, there’d soon be a government crackdown on the deviant schools that insist on staggered starts for their own benefit!

@Batatahara - which LEA are you in, if you don’t mind me asking? Ours actually advertises the need for schools to take children full time from day one and the early years team will fight your corner with any school that tries to flout this. If it really is the case that all schools are like this, you need to escalate to the head of children’s services or equivalent at your council, as well as with your MP.

I don't really want to say but a London borough.

I will pursue it with the council and MP, I already have written to the headteacher. I would like to see it changed for sure but I am not willing to have my son miserable for a principle

Those people saying arrange childcare and get used to it, I assume probably have lots of family on hand. Its term time so there are no holiday clubs on hand. Many children have also been in term time only pre schools so cannot just do extra days there.

And before the school isn't childcare lot jump on, let's be real here, it is is certainly not the primary function but it does end up serving that purpose too.

I'm a teacher myself, sorting out childcare for mine when they started this phased start was a nightmare....I cannot just take leave. And my children just wanted to get on and start.

Yes I think that would be fair. The government seems quite keen for parents to work. So they should smooth things with the employer. I mean there's a chance the employer will have whole teams of people off at the same time so the government will have to pay them too.

The staggered start confused the hell out of DS1; didn’t know if he was coming or going. Add in some sick days, non uniform for his birthday and then half term….

Agreed, a pain in the arse. Even worse when you have an older DC who is doing normal school hours and after juggling like mad (and using up all your annual leave) to cover the 6 weeks holiday just before. It's very difficult for working parents.

It’s done this way to support child mental health and processing not all children can cope with chuck them in at the deep end and let them sink or swim

My elder 2dd were born abroad and dd1 started school just before her 6th birthday. She was one of the youngest in the class and school was 0800 to 1230 with another couple of hours homework a day. There was no transition.
Dd2 started school in UK the term after she was 5 having been in a nursery half days abroad. She went straight to full time.
Ds had mornings one week, then mornings and lunch ( I joined him for lunch first day) for a week then full time the next week. It wasn't a problem for me as I wasn't working ( I had dd3 just after he started in reception) but it was a bit of a pain. I can't imagine doing that for 2 terms!
I can't remember the arrangements for dd3!! I think it was a few days mornings then full time which seemed reasonable.

I'm not overly keen on how our new starters first term going either. He's gone from 4 days a week 8 till 6 at nursery to not starting full stop till the 18th. His little sister is still at nursery, those in his class have been starting since day "one" (autumn born first week, then autumn and winter second week, then those 2 and spring the third week and fiblt as of the 18th it be the full year.) and all he wants to do is get there to see his friends who have already been going to school for a fortnight or so whilst he's getting out of the habit of being somewhere daily with school/nursery like routine and other kids.

I would be really interested in hearing how on earth the school justify a system that is so clearly disadvantageous to summer-born children - a group that they're supposed to target for support as they statistically underperform anyway!

But it's kind of atrocious for his processing and the entire family's mental health to be having three carer changes in two hours. And they didn't tell us what the plan was until the end of June. Some schools didn't give schedules until August. Do you know when childcare places open up? January. At the latest, March. Which is before you even get the school place, with no guarantee that you'll get the school you asked for (we got one we were not expecting get at all)

I have absolutely lucked into places for my kids at my work crèche, given the current childcare crisis, and I have the advantage of a workplace that is extremely flexible and is letting me do four days across five to do these mad lunchtimes, but it's so unnecessary.

Again, every single bit of Early Years research says being consistent and letting kids get a routine is 100% better for them chopping and changing. It's totally within the schools' power to do this in a way that is FUNCTIONAL and they don't.

Set aside childcare issues - it's surely about what's best for the children? 99% of the schools in my area do staggered starts, different methods, my DS school doesn't. I was shocked but they explained they had done staggered starts for a number of years and found it took the children longer to settle in.
The kids don't know what's happening one day to the next, sometimes am, sometimes pm, sometimes going to grandmas after, sometimes finishing at 1 with a short lunch break, then having to get used to the school day as a whole. I don't understand it.
My son has ASD and if they'd believed a staggered start or part time timetable was needed I'd fully support. But he thrives on routine and now knows what to expect, he would have been thrown if hed done morning one day and afternoon the next. we know our kids more than anyone, staggered starts should be optional.

It is def worse for the child which is why most schools don't do it anymore.
Legally you are entitled to ask to go ft from the start and they should not refuse. It says this in the admissions booklet.

You aren't unreasonable but almost every school does this and has done for years to help ease them in, children may have done full time nursery/preschool but this is a new environment so they like to ease them in but some schools don't over a few days and others seem to do it over a few weeks! Just the way it goes unfortunately

School’s job is not to facilitate the working lives of parents though. They operate on what works well for the children.

One of our local schools does this, it's an absolute pain in the arse!
A week of mornings...then a week of afternoons...then in all day BUT home for lunch!! They've always done it, there's always complaints but they still keep doing it!

If there is evidence that a particular setting in approach is best for children, all schools should adopt the same procedure in a way which is consistent across the country or at least the county / borough so that parents and employers all know that there will be a 1 week / 2 week/ 4 week / term setting in process for which people will need to be able to take parental leave or there is a market for wrap around childcare.