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?

I used to work in primary admissions. I did always check the email at least weekly over the summer, but that was purely by choice - I wasn't paid to do it. Most office staff are on term time contracts, though sometimes they're on term time plus a week.

I agree with many PP - the staff are guaranteed to be in at least the day before the start of term, and quite likely two days, so phone them then, and if no answer, turn up in person. (Do try phoning first though - they won't want to come out of staff training to see you ideally, and may prefer to give you an appointment time to pop in.) They'll probably actively want to see you, as there'll be forms for you to complete, eg medical.

Also agree with looking for FB groups - these are really useful. Re uniform, I'd put in an order, but it might take a while to arrive - they may have a second hand stock in school to tide you over.

I totally understand the stress (which is why I always checked my emails), but equally try to relax - they'll be very used to this.

The number of people stating Reception have a staggered start is really irritating - not in every school they don't! Our children start full time from day one. However, we do have training days in the first week, as do many other schools. I would expect someone to be able to answer your questions during those days.

FYI - I'm the EYFS lead so would be sending out the welcome pack. However, emails from LA admissions go to our admin before they come to me - it's not as straightforward as you might think.

You can't organise breakfast or after school clubs until term starts anyway, in my experience at least. And clubs aren't on for the first week or two.

Just FYI you are entitled to unpaid parental leave for this sort of thing - I know you said you were self-employed but you also said you were on maternity leave so just leaving this here in case it's helpful - www.gov.uk/parental-leave

Our son is starting reception this summer.

We ordered his school uniform on www.sud.co.uk

It took about five working days to arrive.

Put in an order now and then just turn up with your child on the first day of school xx

Our school is doing 2 hours daily in the first week.

My DD was supposed to be doing half days split into two groups in her first week in reception. However at the end of her first morning she refused to go home as she was having so much fun so she stayed the rest of the day and was full 5 days a week from then on.

Not all schools do staggered starts for reception children. The majority around me have stopped doing this because of the logistics for parents and the lack of benefit of it for the children - children either settle quickly or take longer and research has shown that the staggered starts don't change this so schools are moving away from it because a lot of children are already used to full days in pre school anyway.

After school clubs - not many go to 6pm, it's usually 5.30 max if it's a school provision - a lot of schools allow outside companies to hire rooms in school for the evening (brownies, rainbows etc, so need rooms clear in time for that and to allow the cleaners access before they finish too.

DS's was 8-5.30. I always found it random that I could drop off at 8 which would give a 9-5er an hour to get to work but have to pick up by 5.30 only allowing that 9-5er half an hour to get home again. Hopefully there's more flexibility for 9-5ers post covid but it's certainly difficult if you do have a commute to a 9-5 job.

After school clubs-not many go to 6pm, it's usually 5.30 max if it's a school provision

Yep-ours is 5.30. To be honest, it’s a nightmare to staff the after school club as it is. It’s minimum wage and staffed solely by TAs, all of whom have their own kids. None really want to do the after school hours as they’d rather be at home with their kids from 3.30-5.30!

I really feel for you, it’s so stressful. Hopefully you manage to get something sorted now you have your exchange date, don’t envy you having to move house after term starts, at very least I’ve managed to squeeze mine in just about before term starts but it’s so dependent on your buyers and chain.

Good luck with everything, I have realised through the responses on here that it will all work out, it just won’t be the advanced notice smooth pathway I hoped for so I had one less thing to worry about….!

I really thought that children were entitled to a full time education from when they reach compulsory school age which is the term after their 5th birthday???

I was under the impression schools not being able to insist on staggered starts was to do with funding. As in, no child is legally required to be in education for the first term of their receprtion year. But if a school is getting money from the state for educating that child, then education needs to be provided. I may have that wrong.

I really thought that children were entitled to a full time education from when they reach compulsory school age which is the term after their 5th birthday

But most if not all start reception before their 5th birthday. I guess even if your birthday is September 1st, the term after your 5th birthday would be from January, unless it counted from the actual term start date/first INSET day which might be 3rd or 4th September for example.

Council have given you a place so yes dc will be on roll. Breakfast./after school club is more tricky. Does the school have them? Is it a staggered start for reception? You will need to be ready to be flexible. May be worth looking into local child minders.

don’t envy you having to move house after term starts

Honestly when this happen to us - so many summer delays went from a week delay between selling our and buying next so we decoupled so as not lose sale and family took us in stuff in storage but went to 9 weeks to get house then another week being messed around by removal/storage firm - they were week and half into new school year when they started but settled immediately by end of first week was a forgotten they were late by all three kids.

Most school support staff, including Admin work either a 39 or 40 week contract therefore not available during holidays. Needless to say Im sure someone will be in next week. There should be new entrants info on their website.

The other thing I'd add is that there is SO much movement in this last couple of weeks before school, and even in the couple of weeks after school starting! There will be people suddenly going private, homeschooling, moving up the waiting list unexpectedly in a preferred school.... Even if you miss day 1 getting the admin shizz sorted it's not going to be the end of their school career/sabotage their settling in.

People can and do work remotely. Or can go in, especially at the beginning and end of the holidays.
My sister is the office manager at a junior/primary school, and she works at least two days a week, every week, through the holidays.
She's always answering emails.
I've no idea why you've not heard from them tbh.

Even if you turn up on day 1 with a pile of questions, everything can get sorted in day 1. Not many schools have office cover during holiday time (I work in a school), but we can all cope with instant new starters. Staff start back a couple days before the children, so they will have things in hand. Please don’t worry. Hope you’ve settled into your new home and your little one enjoys the new school.

Having worked in a school before, the office staff have to take their holidays during the school holidays, no exceptions, so that may explain why you're unable to speak to anyone specific.
That said, many secondary schools do have skeleton reception cover for deliveries, exam results, etc, but admission queries would have to be dealt with someone with specialist knowledge on the subject.

You are being massively unreasonable! The world does not revolve around you and your house move!!

School office staff do not eagerly sit by the phone in the hope you might call 🤣🤣

Hope everything works out for you and you DS, sounds like you have been felt with a pretty poor hand by you XP

Not all schools, my daughter started the same time as everyone else last year on full days from the start

I don’t expect the world to revolve around my house move or for anyone to sit by a phone waiting for my call - perhaps my heading was a little misleading.

I just meant that schools likely to be processing late applications might have someone who can log in to the email remotely once a week and monitor for urgent questions or listen to voicemails remotely and flag some for responses if they’re urgent (and everything else rightly ignored).

I have been kindly advised that there are inset days for these kinds of queries and the schools are usually very efficient at ironing things out on hardly any notice so happy to accept I’m probably being unreasonable as I am nervous for my firstborn starting reception and want all the answers now so I can set my mind at rest.

As others have said reception starts are usually staggered. My son doesn’t start reception until a week after the school returns, he will be in for half a day only the first week. So it means a week of juggling work and him. I guess would be the same for you anyway. This will also give you time to sort breakfast club etc.

It's worrying, totally understand. Most staff are back the week before school starts so hopefully you should get some info then

I work in a school office. Whilst I understand where you’re coming from, you are being a little bit unreasonable. Most school office staff don’t work or get paid for the holidays.

There are two of us in our primary school office. Whilst in reality we do check in with emails once every week or two, and will reply to anything urgent, we don’t have to and it shouldn’t be expected.

If you have been offered the place and have accepted it, then it will be fine. There are one, if not two, INSET days in the w/c 2nd September before term starts (for example in my school, staff are all in Tues 3rd / Wed 4th and the children come back Thursday 5th). The office staff will be in then, so you can contact them for precise details. In the meantime, the school website will have information re: the first day of term, what the uniform is etc. If your child doesn’t have correct uniform for the first week or two, no one is going to lose any sleep over it. You may fine the school stock the jumpers etc (we do - so parents can buy them and have them straight away) but it does vary, some schools you have to order and the uniform company will post to you. But this information may be on the school website if you look?

But in essence, don’t panic. You can sort it all out at the start of September.