Reception staggered starts are overkill?!

[SMLSML]

My little one starts school in September, we had our first meeting at the school tonight 😊 question... How on earth are you meant to cope with the staggered starts if you both work full time?! She won't officially start until 17th September, all other days before then are half days 🫠 she's been going to childcare since she's 1, she'll be so confused not going more than two hours a day for two weeks 😅 not to mention I have no idea how you make it work with childcare, chuck on top of that I'm meant to be away with work the first two weeks of Sept 🙃 how on earth are parents meant to work around it?! Just seems crazy to me she's not even properly in for half a month. I get all children are different but surely it should be optional?! All suggestions welcome 😅

If it’s so vital why don’t all schools do a staggered start. DT’s had no problem starting full time from day one together with breakfast and after school clubs later the same week.
Not everyone can create childcare - grandparents don’t live in the uk and have their own jobs, nursery places have been taken up and they don’t offer a shuttle service to and from school at random times, working parents don’t have enough annual leave for unnecessary additions like a staggered start.

I planned the transition for my school.

Small group meetings, small groups in classes, visits to and by day nurseries…all complete in July. All families offered full day, day 1 in September. The family could arrange something different with us if they felt this was more appropriate to their child.

@SMLSML Schools can be challenged on this as legally there is a right to a full time education. Schools should also be setting good patterns of attendance. For some children (those of compulsory school age) this would be a part time timetable with clear expectations around parental agreement. I would be challenging the board/trustees as to how they are meeting the government requirements in this document.

P25
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf

My son's primary has the P1s in 10 minutes late and leaving 10 minutes early the first two days to avoid the school gate crush, then it's normal hours after that. They used to do more extensive staggered starts but they found the children were more unsettled by the lack of routine. It's a 3 form entry school btw so hardly a small number of new starters.

Where is this if you don’t mind me asking?
It sounds so young to start school on a compulsory basis.
Also, what happens if a child has a developmental delay?

We had this years ago too. The first week my parents stayed with us and did the late morning pick ups. The second week, I changed my hours and worked mornings only. Third week in was normal school hours then wrap around care.
DCs weren’t at all bothered as they’d been in nursery 8-5:30 since 6 months old.

For all those who started their little one earlier and refused the staggered start, how did they cope being the only one, just worried about them being on their own at lunch and things like that?

I do get that some children struggle. Those children should of course work with school and be offered the staggered starts. However the majority of children are raring to go.

Our primary school used to do the staggered start. They then got my daughters year and turned out all but one child was in the pre school anyway all doing 9-3. They trialled them all doing full days in Reception and they've kept it since. They actively encourage anybody with a school place to use some of their hours to put them into pre school for at least a day in the last term if parents are able to. They do tons of transition activities, we are only in June and they are sitting in reception at story time or nipping in for the odd hour or so with a TA. I WFH during school hours but even I'd be miffed if they staggered the first few weeks of the new term.

Friends I know who've had to do the staggered times have either taken leave or WFH making the hours up on an evening. Obviously that can't work for all parents.

I couldn't agree more that it confuses children, my DD was scared the teacher didn’t like them as she sent them away after two hours. It went on for three weeks and we were all exhausted by the end of it. Filling in the rest of the time became putting DD in front of tv, never ending playdates etc. Absolute madness, very unsettling and crazy stressful.

They weren’t the only one - you’ll probably find many parents are opting for full time from day one.

“Savings for every possible eventuality…”

🤣

DS was fine. He began on day 1 when there were a few kids in, some of whom he knew.

Why would your DC will be the only one (sorry not read the thread so you may have covered this) as there will be other children there on the first day?

I agree it’s ridiculous. DD has a friend who has two secondary school teacher parents. They cannot accommodate this at all.
As teachers, they really are keen on supporting the school, they want to support the school. But on this issue they couldn’t, they had to insist she went full time from day 1.

Yes there’s a school near me with a long staggered start period. But most children attend the attached pre school, which is very very integrated into the school. They attend some assemblies, go to the same after school club, wear the uniform. For those children (which is most of the children who start reception) the move is not that significant that they need 3 weeks of a part time timetable.

I've put annual leave in for that week as DD will be starting school. I do agree it's silly. I think doing 1 or 2 half days is okay, then it should be full days. Not a whole week, or two in some schools.

In France. I don't know about children with developmental delays, I guess they must get some additional support.

You can insist on it from day 1. You can and must insist on it. I hate being 'that parent' but I had to, but fortunately a load of other parents in DS class did the same.

Our school stopped doing the staggered starts as they found it more confusing for the children, they now have a few transition days in the July, then in September the children who were completely new to the school start the day before the children who were already at the school nursery. They all have a ‘buddy’ assigned who is an older child in school to help them at lunch and playtime for the first few weeks.

I think that is often the case - gone are the days of there being a parent at home who could facilitate all the random days and hours at the start of term.

My DD did full days from the beginning. But I remember being asked if we were OK with it. Their reasoning was that most DC in the year group were already in FT childcare and a lot moved up to school with children they already knew.
I think if everything is new, (school teachers & other children) it can be a bit overwhelming for a lot of DC.

I do think it should be optional. The staggered starts were amazing for my son and I’m a SAHM but it is hard for working parents

and not everyone has a handy granny who can help.
In our case we have 2, but it just so happened that week MIL couldn't drive (and she lives too far to walk) after a minor operation and my mum was working. Husband is a teacher and while he is quite senior, asking for cover for his lessons in the first week would not have gone down well if it can be avoided. Impossible for me.
Kids survived. Tbh it was better for them.

The majority of parents there last night didn't seem bothered as I think one parent doesn't work, so the childcare isn't an issue. Was only me and another parent that would prefer them to start after the first week of staggered starts

Our school did this. It is a bloody nightmare.
I think I had to take annual leave with DC1.
DC2 was slightly easier as DH and I were both WFH by that point, but as we had 2 DC at school we were having to make multiple school runs each day. Bonkers.

That's madness! DC's school does 1 half day and one day when only children born January onwards are in, and then normal from then. Maximum of 2 days being disrupted. Multiple weeks is far too much.

Mine had this and I think the gentle start really helped. It's not really about the length of the day, nursery days were longer. It was more the more structured routine and being in a class of 30 strangers. With the staggered start ours was in a group of about 7 for the first few days, then a group of 15 for a while before upping it to the full 30.
We used annual leave and their nursery was happy to keep them on their books so we used that for the days when they were only in for a couple of hours.