To think primary transition days aren’t much help if you work?

[Transitiondays]

Arghh. Three primary transition days, two with pick ups at midday and one full day but obviously finishing around three. I’m guessing this is standard but very difficult to manage!

They aren't designed to suit parents, they're designed to suit the children. Shorter days are less overwhelming.

It's school. It's designed to suit the childrens needs, not yours

I’m sure, but if your child can’t do them then it’s still not massively helpful.

They’re awful and utterly pointless imo. My eldest was staggered over 3 weeks, she barely remembered the place each time she went back. My youngest starts this year, but has been at the school nursery for a year 9am-3pm- the staggering will make no sense.
It doesn’t help kids settle, they just need to get used to it. Stick them in full time.

Edited as I misread the OP and thought it was about secondary transition!!!

It's helpful for the children though and that's who they are for.

They aren’t compulsory but are very handy in helping your child prepare for a new settling so if you can manage to go to at least one then I would.

It’s not a Y6 child, as then I wouldn’t need to be managing work. It’s a child going into reception.

You’re not complaining your child can’t do them, your complaining about the practicalities of getting there and back.

Unfortunately school isn't childcare and it's very standard to suit the needs of the children who can get very overwhelmed with the new environment and expectations.

I presume they are to help the children

No, I am saying my child probably can’t do them. I will try, but it’s going to be very difficult to manage.

So what’s your answer then?

Presumably, you will be picking up at no later than 3:30 once school starts anyway. After that it's all the fun of planning how you will cover the hols. All part of the process

Sorry OP, I thought you were talking about secondary transition.

A school near us does like two weeks of half days for kids just starting school, which must be a nightmare for working parents.

Our nursery took the kids to, stayed with and then took back to nursery for transitional activities that happened on days they were in.

Transition days are vital for young children starting school. I was a Year R teacher for years and the benefits to your child will outweigh the difficulty to yourself. Could you reach out to a fellow parent to help? Hope it all goes well - such an exciting time!

It's a bit annoying if this is your first child going into school, however you'll soon get used to having to use annual leave to cover school holidays and will be shocked how stressed out you were about managing three days.

Do you have a partner who can split the days so you don't have to cover all three yourself?

Why won't they be able to do them? Are you saying your child won't be collected at the end of the school day when they start school? In which case I hope you've got concrete childcare in place as it's very likely there won't be space in after school care.

That post wasn’t an answer to the problem, it was a (perfectly polite, by the way, which yours wasn’t) response to another poster.

It is highly possible there is not an answer or rather a solution, and the outcome will just be my child does the days he can and doesn’t do the ones he can’t. He can do at least one but that is the full day one so I’m worried the other children may have bonded a bit on the other morning sessions they’ll have been in for and feel guilty.

I don’t know, most kids round here have been in nursery full time since a year old, so a 9-3 isn’t much to cope with.

OP yes it’s massively inconvenient to working parents and absolutely everyone I know has complained about it.

Yours sounds like it's only a few days so book annual leave

My daughters were 2 weeks of half days

School isn't childcare, and shouldn't be. Your child's care is still your responsibility. What are you going to do when your school rings you are 11am saying come pick up your child as they are ill? What are you planning to do for teacher training days ? What about snow days. You need to be planning for this. School is not childcare and stuns me that people think it is

Well as much as a they can be a pain in the arse you really need to make it happen for your child's benefit.
How you going to cope with the school day once they start?

It's better than your kid not settling and refusing to go in when term starts, it's not for long and it helps. Schools know what they're doing. I used annual leave.