School doesn’t zip kids coats

[Zok]

Hi has anyone noticed from pics that schools share of nursery and reception kids 3-4 year olds doing outdoor activities that staff don’t zip up the kids even in the freezing weather what is the point of the coats then and how to raise the issue with school
there are around 20 kids in nursery but winter is winter was -3 last week

Most 3 or 4 your old are capable of zipping their own coats are they not? Or buy a coat with velcro or fit velcro so they can do it themselves?

I can't see why you think this is worthy of a complaint unless your child has a disability that the staff are aware off that means they are unable to do up a coat of any description?

Really? My 3 year old would definitely not able to zip her own coat!

OP, age 3 at nursery I would expect them to be doing it, by going to school at age 4 a child should be able to do it themselves, maybe a lesson and some practice?

my son is in reception and they don’t zip the coats either. not something I could be bothered about tbh. 90% of kids can zip their own coats and they do practice zipping at school. Even in pre-school there were kids that could zip their own coat.

I imagine 3 and 4 year olds are running around when outside, children don't feel the cold the same as adults as they have a higher metabolism.

Ultimately when they have 30 children to one teacher, they don’t have time to zip kids coats up individually

I don't think that's true. Zips can be hard for little fingers to manage.
Nurseries don't have to stick to a timetable, like a school does, so there should be time for children to line up, get their coats zipped up and sent out to play.
You could try to teach your child, but a lot wouldn't be capable at just three.

In reception, there will be more than one teacher to thirty children. There will be a TA too. Thirty is a lot for a class, it's more likely to be 20-25.

My younger son is dyspraxic and on the 5th centile for gross and fine motor skills. He could still zip a coat or as a minimum use the velcro to shut it when he was old enough for nursery (age 3).

Most 3 year olds are capable most of the time if taught and practice.

They unzip them again. When they're lining up to go outside, we take ages (or that's how it feels) to make sure they all have their coats fastened but when they go out they unfasten them.

We zip them up but at least 50% of them unzip them within the first 10 minutes!

I used to teach reception classes of 30. One of the first things I did was practice zipping or buttoning their own coats. I gave them certificates when they succeeded. When I had nursery classes one or two would be able to manage by themselves but, if it was cold, I'd help them.

Parents need to send kids in clothes they can manage themselves.Not the school's job!

They zip them at our nursery but DS just unzips. He’s 2.5yo so will take note @CaptainMyCaptain to ensure he can zip up his own coat by school.

By reception age I would expect the majority of children to be able to do this. It’s definitely on all of the lists of school ready skills which are always being shared around over the summer.

We zip coats when asked. Some children like to run around and take their coats off and leave then laying in the floor. At home time they are sometimes quickly put on just to walk to the parent. There are so many scenarios that play out in pre-school and Reception that no I wouldn’t complain unless the child had an inability to dress themselves through a disability and was complaining that they were cold.

I didn't say he had to be able to do it before Reception I said it was one of the first things I taught.

Saw some pics of DD (3) on the app the other day and had the same thought. She was in the snow, no hat no gloves and coat wide open! If I sent her in to school like that they would (rightly!) say something, so making sure she’s warm when she goes out feels like it should happen. I hadn’t appreciated she may have unzipped it herself, however.

Not an issue that needs to be raised at all in my opinion. Some kids that age can zip up their own coats and others struggle.

Practise with your child at home. Can you honestly imagine trying to zip up 30 coats every break time or at the end of each day?

Dunno about nursery but in reception I would only zip them up if asked or if they complained about being cold. If looked particularly cold I'd probably offer. Usually they want to take them off rather than zip them up!

I work in early years, and we start them zipping coats and putting them on independently from Day 1. About half of 3 year olds and nearly all 4 year olds can do them independently in a few weeks of trying. I am the mean TA because after Christmas, 4yo pupils have to do it themselves or get help from a friend before they go out to play. You'd be surprised how quickly they can put on their own things, when they have to wait to go outside. Obviously, that does NOT include children who are not physically able. We help them for as long as they need it.

We do have a pretty big number of kids that will unzip them even when it is below freezing because they are dripping with sweat from exertion. I try, but if they are happy, I am not going to nag them to zip up constantly.

DD has been to 2 different nursery settings, one large and one tiny, coats always zipped there.
She is 4 and can sometimes manage herself but finds joining the zip initially hard.

I suppose it depends on the type of setting but the school we will be using has capacity to do such things, only about 8 in reception so there’s no 30 kids to one person issue.

I always dressed mine in clothing they could be independent in. For one of mine that meant duffel coats and Velcro shoes for a long long time

Tbh I used to find it bizarre how many parents sent their kids in with bottles they couldn’t open, boots they couldn’t tie, coats with zips adult staff struggled with, bags with clasps that required huge finger strength or packed lunch boxes that practically needed a screwdriver to pop open (let alone the sealed contents). I mean what is the thought process when choosing these items? They were always high fashion stuff for kids too, never well used.

I work in EYFS and we make our little ones do it themselves or get help from a friend before they go out into the garden. We will help them when they first start, then start the zip off for them (but they do the rest) and by their stage of being in nursery for a full term we would want them doing as much as they can independently. It takes a long time to get lots of small people into hats, gloves, coats and scarves. When they first start it can take 10 minutes to do 30 kids, and the same again to get it all off and on the right peg 🙈 They only end up with 20 minutes of play because of how long it takes when we have a 45 minute garden session

However within 3 minutes of being outside most kids will have lost a glove, stuffed the is hat in their pockets or unzipped their coats because they get warm from running around.

And we absolutely do have 30-32 in every single class, we’re at full capacity all the time.

Iv seen teacher have to insist on coats as kids do not want to wear them. Even if they are all zipped up most unzip them when they get outside