Reception start

[Blueysmum2026]

Little one starts primary this year. They don’t start full days until 14th September!

This week of 7th consists of:
Monday - 10 minute meeting with teacher, Tuesday - only 2 hour session in the morning
wednesday - not in
Thursday - half day
Friday - half day

They also have 2 weeks for October half term. They don’t seem to make up these dates throughout the rest of the academic year? Can they get away with this? I thought they had a minimum number of days they had to be in school?

I have a relative who is in SLT at a different school and even she has said they are taking advantage and teachers are being a bit lazy!

There are issues with funding though if a child has a reception place and opts to stay in nursery during the staggered start, when they cannot attend school.

‘The 30-hour working parent entitlement and universal free hours stop as soon as a child officially starts in a school reception class’ (DfE)

Parents are have to pay for the nursery hours used and cannot claim for this.

I thought it was obvious that she meant she had used a private day nursery, and had kept the child's place there until the primary school had finished faffing around with the staggered start.

I haven't had anything yet and my son starts on Wednesday. He will be on a reduced timetable but nothing was confirmed or timetable sent. 🤷

Yes, I think the poster did say that?

What does it matter though - pay the nursery (without the subsidy) or pay a babysitter? Probably cheaper per hour than a babysitter.

That's unbelievably stressful! How will you be managing with work, or is that not relevant? Have you not asked the school?

We still have the home visit here!!
DS did his "meet the teacher" on Wednesday, he's known her since he was about 3 weeks old but still, she's lovely so we didn't mind having her (and the new reception TA who was actually his key worker in preschool last year) over for a cup of tea. The main issue appears to be him getting used to calling them Mrs xxxx rather than by their first names.

They aren't starting until the 9th but it is full time from day one thankfully, I think they stopped the phased entry after DD started 4 years ago. They've also said the reception kids can go into preschool for the day Monday/Tuesday if parents need it for work.

I was clarifying for another poster.

Of course it is fine if parents have family and friends they can rely on for help, or if they can pay for the nursery hours used. They often choose this to try and keep some consistency for their child.

It can be an issue when parents cannot afford to pay for the care that had been funded.

Children under the age of five do not have to be in school at all . You could keep them off one day every week and I don’t think the school can do anything about this . We found this out when DGD was in reception and we requested permission to take her out of school for a 2 week holiday and expected a fine .

That all sounds lovely. But (and you knew it was coming!) adult/child ratios are very strict for 2 and 3 year olds and I would not be keen on a whole load of reception children skewing the nursery ratios in my school.

Exactly.

When my DS was that age was only 12.5 hours funding term time anyway so irrelevant

Yeah… I love the idea of a Reception teachers getting an easy ride in the first week of school 😅

Also to add, the OP mentioned it’s an academy. I’ve never worked for an academy but have only heard horror stories about how much worse the workload is but a whole new layer of bureaucracy.

I can manage it. I was tempted to message to confirm that he is doing a morning session but might just turn up so as they can't be tempted to say "oh we think we need the other children to settle before he can start" blah blah blah and he is just doing what he did before mornings.

Yes this. I had to still work you know so he went to nursery. As stated he was there full time until Sept so wasn't likely to be a school nursery was it

I asked for a child to start full time rather than 2 weeks of random times, it wasn’t outrightly refused but was told there were no other reception children in school for the first 2 days when the teachers are doing parent meetings, it would need 2 members of staff to be present with them at all times so would stop them doing other tasks, I just decided not to do the transition weeks and keep them at nursery until the first full day.

Depends on the school of course but theirs is tiny so it won't be many kids. I think the plan is to use the reception TA, who as I say, worked in the preschool last year, to cover the reception kids while they are in preschool. DS isn't going anyway, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy my last 2 days of being able to take him to places in term time while it's quiet!

Well said.

Your child starts school once in their life.

Book some annual leave and enjoy it.

X

And not be able to pay bills because you won't be earning?? Yeah great idea

I’m amazed that so many people lack sympathy for those desperately trying to work for a living to feed and house their children whilst also looking after their own children!

Do you really not recognise that full time adult working hours and limited annual leave provisions make it very difficult for working parents to take any time off to fit in settling days lasting a whole week?

Consider, god forbid, single mothers like me who not only have to make sure they keep their jobs so their children aren’t destitute but are also chastised online for not looking after their own children because they rely on school provided wraparound care and can’t just take week after week off work to do late drop offs and early pick ups.

People like you need to recognise the reality of working family life in the 21st Century because it’s mind blowing how unsympathetic you are to people whose schedules simply can’t accommodate everything or who don’t have family to just step in and fill the void!!

It was one of the reasons my kids didn’t go to the village school. They had been in nursery for full days 4 days a week since six months old. They were used to doing worksheets, listening to stories etc.
The village school spent the whole of the first half term with ridiculous settling in procedures ( because that was how the reception teacher had always done it!) - some half days, mornings only, afternoons only, mornings plus lunch on an apparently random child by child basis.
The information about this was not available before applying, I only found out by chance and went to speak to them about it.
As a secondary teacher myself there was no way i would have been allowed more than one afternoon off for the process ( prior to parental leave existing) and my DHs job also could not allow the huge amount of time off that would have been required.
Their nursery would not have been able pick them up or drop them off.
No grandparents within a 5h drive, i was honestly a bit stunned that this was considered good for the kids.
Anyway i sent them elsewhere where they started full time ( with no issues) from day 1, and was a bit shunned by certain people in the village when they discovered my kids weren’t at the local school, which was a shame.