Summer birthdays - part-time in reception year

[dollybird]

Both DS and DD have summer birthdays (dd is 31/8!) so both will start school part-time (I have heard it is six weeks of half days). Is this similar to other schools? How flexible are schools with this if children have been to nursery etc before? Not sure what we're going to do with regs to childcare as both working!

DS (5 in April) is starting in January, p/t for a couple of weeks then f/t (I think--they haven't written to us to let us know yet!)

What will you be using for child care when they go full time? Would that be possible to extend to cover when part time? If no say that they will not be starting until they are able to go full time - even if this means an extra few weeks at nursery, and you will still get the vouchers for the sessions at nursery. Do not have to start until term they turn five, or is the term after they turn five (some-one else will be able to advise you on that). I agree that school is not just child care, but stressed parents results in stressed child.

My DS is August. He went straight into Yr1 at beginning of September with no reception (but had been to nursery). They had a class of just summer babies & muddled them all up in Yr2.

you can keep your child at nursery until the term in which they are 5 - -the school HAS to keep the place for you if it's a state school.

FWIW ds1 s a summer birthday but started F/T at school in the sept as he had been F/T at day nursery. The school were flexible about his hours - they would have taken him part-time, but I felt it would be mor disruptive to be F/T at nursery then P/T for a term then F/T again.

iota , sorry to disagree. It is legally the term after they turn 5. For summer born children this could be the September of year 1, as Milliways describes, but a school does not have to hold a place over to the next academic year so the reality is that there is potentially less choice if schools are popular.

Lizs -- I don't disagree with the legal starting age - -what I'm saying is that if you choose to keep your child out of school till the summer term for instance, the school has to keep the place for you - -if you chose to skip the whole reception year, then no, the school does not have to keep the place.

guide line from Glos for example here

Oh sorry ,iota, see what you mean now and you are right. However our nephew moved from the school-attached Nursery to Reception at Easter as he is July b'day, so only did one term in Reception before moving onto year 1. MIL (ex Reception teacher) seems unconvinced that that was sufficent time in Reception and he joined an established group who had already covered a lot fo the groundwork which meant he was already lagging behind the majority. Not sure he has yet regained ground a year later.

Lizs totally agree with you and obviously not what I did with ds1, as I wrote earlier.

However, for working parents, it might be simpler to keep the child in nursery until he/she can go F/T at school. Indeed my LEA run nursery sent all the parents a letter reminding them of this option when the local schools moved to a single September intake - so one council dept was fighting with another over who had the children

In our area they won't hold the place for you at all, even if you defer by only a term, so you really have to go in the September.

My DS (end of June baby) started school at 4 in September as there were no staggered intake. Went straight to being full-time and had no problems with tiredness or independence but he had been at nursery four days a week since a young age and therefore was used to it. I could have done part-time because I was on maternity leave when he started school but no other children did it and as he coped - I don't see why there is a need to go part-time. He fitted in straight away and was never too tired. He had not had a daytime sleep from the age of about 2 and a half. In the reception all work is done through play and therefore follows the early years curriculum that they use in nurseries so it is not that different. This is being extended to cover Year 1 also. This programme is designed for the young ones in mind so it is much more beneficial.

At my little old litlle boud school, they start full time (8.30 - 3.45) from word go even IF they have an Augast birthday!

there was one augaust birthday chidl who really couldnt cope with all the hours etc, so he would sometimes have a day off and sometimes stay for the morning and they played it by ear etc.

Thanks for all your replies everyone - seems it varies hugely across the country!

I've just checked the booklet which came with the school application and it says you can defer their place till the beginning of the spring term, so that's a possibility.

When they are full-time at school we will be dropping off/picking up and not using any other childcare as dh is self-employed and currently looks after them on Monday so will re-arrange to do shorter days when I am working (three days).

One of the children at nursery started school this year but was still at nursery in the afternoon, so that could also be an option, although I don't know if we would have to pick them up from school and take them to nursery (their nursery is within the school grounds, but this particular girl went to another school) - will have to find out from nursery.

Anyway, sorry to ramble on, I'm sure I will find out more once we find out if he has a place at our chosen school etc.