To think SOMEONE should be contactable in the school office over summer?

[Lmnop22]

I am moving house this week to a new area and local authority. my DS is due to start reception this September.

I was unable to apply for a reception place in the new area until I had a date to exchange contracts in order to prove I was in the very small catchment area for the school I wanted.

I didn’t exchange contracts until mid July when the summer holidays had already started. I immediately made the application for the Reception place and the council offered me the place a couple of weeks later. I accepted.

Then nothing. I have had no response to my email accepting the place. I have called the council and they say their part is over now and I’ll “hear from the school” but the school is closed over summer and there are no staff. When I told the council this, they said “oh yeah there won’t be anyone in until September now”.

So do I have the place? Do the school have my DS on the register for September? What uniform etc do I buy? How do I organise breakfast/after school club provisions?

Am I being unreasonable to think a member of staff ought to monitor emails and/or voicemails over the summer and communicate with parents in my position?

The school website should say whether they have an after school or breakfast club or not.

Sometimes they are run by the school and sometimes by an external provider so you may need to contact the external provider.

If the website is not clear you are better off posting on the local Facebook and asking g about it to be honest.

I worked in education for many years and this situation is common. Schools don't staff offices over the summer holiday but will have people back in two or theee days before term start.

It sounds like you have the place, sort out what you need to do for your little one. I don't think it's reasonable for them to be in over the summer, their time off is often restricted or in some cases not allowed during term time, they need that time for their breaks/family time.

i applied to work in a school and was told not to expect a response until after 31st August

Receptionists have term time only contracts? I don't think that is true though.

This. And even if they could, school jobs are hard to fill anyway and one of the few perks is getting the long holidays off. It's not realistic.

I work full time but I am on maternity leave until the week after he starts as I have a 6 month old DD who has settling in sessions the same week as DS starts reception.

So I might be able to delay my start with a bit of notice if I can’t get breakfast and after school sorted but I have always had DS in 51 weeks provisions 8-6 since he was 6 months old so I can work full time and my intention was to do this again. I do have some family who may be able to do bits and pieces for a short time whilst I get sorted though

Have you checked the school website? Details around clubs and welcome packs for reception are on my sons schools website

they do,
as do the cleaners, apart from an odd deep clean

Do you know for sure that the new school offers 8-6 wraparound care? Including for Reception?

Do you have a local community FB group? Perhaps ask there for information?

Just as another heads up ( and this is a few years ago) when mine started reception they did a staggered start over FOUR weeks with random criteria for who started when. One of mine ended up going in for 2 days in the last week of September. I’m not sure that’s still a thing these days or is only done in certain areas but worth bearing in mind.

It says they have breakfast and after school club and there’s an online form to apply for it which I’ve filled out but haven’t had any response because nobody is in. So I don’t know if I’ve been accepted for the slots I’ve chosen.

You’re right about posting on local FB page or similar, I’ll do that!

So what happens in reception as others have said, it's a staggered start and you'll possibly have a few weeks of your child only going in for a couple of hours a day. You are very unlikely to be able to organise breakfast and afterschools until the school feels the class is well settled in - I think it was after October half term afterschools was offered for my sons class.

It won't be the case that you just rock up on 2nd September. Staff will probably start back next Tuesday so you can get in touch then. Reception pupils sometimes start a bit earlier or later than the other years.

Look, there's no way you'll be dropping him off on the first day without any info first. As we've explained (and surely you know, really), they will not be on a typical school day pattern for a good few weeks anyway - all schools now have a settling in period for Reception (half days etc).

Most schools during this period don't accept Reception kids into breakfast club or after school club until at least after half term. I'm not sure why you moved so close to school starting, but I'm afraid to say you will need to have really flexible working and/or additional childcare in place for a good while yet. This would have been true at any state school.

its the afterschool club bit of the jigsaw I would be worried about. I hear you re. 8-6 childcare my DC were the same pre school, afterschool club is much cheaper but places were like gold dust for reception age when mine were going through it. I got places by being ludicrously early (as in I made the application before I knew for certain I had the school place in April), I think you might struggle, I’d start looking for a childminder instead at this point.

I can understand why you're a bit anxious about this, OP. It's not nice to feel out of the loop and unsure about September for your child, especially September of Reception. I don't think you can do much but accept the council's assurance that you have a place and then find out anything you can about start dates etc by trying to get in contact with other parents. I know it’s not ideal, but it's an unusual situation timing-wise due to your move, so the usual processes aren't set up for this. Pp are right - schools cannot afford to employ a member of staff all summer just in case there's a query.

The council have allocated you a place so you have a place.

There are usually 2 inset days so you will get a reply to any questions then.

Just go to the school website and look where to buy the uniform. Even easier post in local Facebook page and ask parents who have kids at the school.

It might say about BC and ASC on the website too but some schools have a waiting list for this service. Best to book a couple of days off at the start of term to sort things out.

yes can you delay your return
and suss out child minders?

I'd be more worried about your reliance on breakfast and after school clubs than anything else.

Many don't take reception age and book to months in advance.

This won’t happen! If you are unable to get hold of office staff from the school before they return, then if you go to the school on the first day it’s open, which is almost certain to be a staff training day, you should be able to speak to someone face to face. Do not expect your DC to start on the first day, or even the first week! Also, don’t pin your hopes on a place in breakfast or after school clubs. They may already be full.
Im actually amazed the LA said you’ve got a place if the school has such a small catchment area, because it would generally be oversubscribed with a waiting list in those circumstances. Be prepared that someone at the LA has given you duff info!
Regarding expecting someone to be at school in the holidays, admin staff generally get paid term time only plus 1 week during the holidays. Our office manager worked 4 days at the start of the holidays and will be in on the last Friday of the holidays to pick up all the emails and voicemails parents have sent. There may well be teachers in school but they will not deal with admissions - it’s not their job.

So what happens in reception as others have said, it's a staggered start and you'll possibly have a few weeks of your child only going in for a couple of hours a day

You don’t have to agree to staggered starts. Your child is entitled to full time education from the start of term. Staggered starts can be confusing for the children and a nightmare for working parents.

Been there with a change of secondary school during summer holidays. School started on a wednesday, couldn't get any information until the Friday the week before. It was a busy Monday and Tuesday that week 😁

Our Reception children do a staggered start over 3 weeks! You might want to think about delaying your return from mat leave for another couple of weeks.

It's quite likely someone will be checking emails periodically and you may get a response before the end of the holidays.

Schools can't afford to man offices in holiday times.

I check my emails daily but generally only respond to safeguarding issues - admissions would go to the admin email which I don't check as often.

I wish I’d known this years ago!

You're in a really rubbish situation and tbh I don't think all of the advice on this thread is helping! It's not true most ASCs don't take Reception children (although it is a possibility they are at capacity already) nor that all schools do staggered starts - I've never worked in a school where ASC doesn't include all classes and we have all Reception children in full time from day one. I'd feel exactly the same as you. Have you tried to contact the head or deputy if it's not an enormous school? Ours check their emails all holiday but office emails won't be checked until the first INSET back. You can try to just call the school sporadically but it's somewhat luck of the draw if anyone answers.

As to whether someone should be contactable, well no. It would be an insane waste of money to hire a receptionist over 12 weeks of school holidays when schools are, often, quite literally crumbling. The lack of funding really cannot be overstated. It is just so so far beyond what the priorities for sending are.