Please explain the schooling system here to me

[JoshandJamie]

I'm a South African and not really too clued up on the British schooling system. I need some help trying to figure it all out:

a) When do they start pre-school? And do they have to go to pre-school? And how many days a week do they have to go? M

y boys currently go to a private nursery 2 days a week (full day) so that I can work. Their nursery has a pre-school. Would it be ok for the elder one (who is currently 2 and a half) to keep doing only two days full time or should he start going daily to pre-school? And I often see pre-schools that say they run from 9.30 - 12.30 - but then how the heck are you supposed to work??

b) What age to they start proper school? Can someone outline what they call each year - i keep seeing nursery or reception years, then junior school, then senior juniors, years 1,2 etc

c) How long is the school day when they first start?

d) If i wanted to send my child to a government school for a few years and then send to a private school (if I can afford it), what's a good time to make the change?

e) why does everyone tell me that it's good that my son was born in Sept. What difference does that make??

Sorry about all the questions - I'm just feeling completely bewildered by the whole thing and need some help. Thanks in advance

Pre school is optinal - they do not have to start school until the term they are 5 - most/all start in the year they are 5 in September. September is the start of the year so he will be one of thew oldest in the class - developmental, espcially in the early years, seen as an advantage. Reception is the first year of school - pre-school is the optional bit before it, year 1 is when they have done 1 year at school already - confusing hey! SChool dya lengh depends on school - I would guess somewhere between 9-3 - I teach in a prep school and so we do 8.30-3.30.

(a) Preschool is not compulsary. It is usually half days, 5 days a week for the year before they start school, so from about 3 years.

My DD has remained in day nursery though, for 2,5 days instead, as easier for us t manage.

(b) Start school in recpetion year, aged 4-5 years. Many places now have one intake in September, so a child can be anywhere between those ages. Some schools have two intakes, with a second in January for the younger children int he year group.

However, school is not actually compulsory until the term after your child turns 5 years.

(c) Depends on school. FT school days at normnally starting somewhere between 8:30-9am. And then end of day is normally sometime between 3-3:30pm. Depends on school structure.

Sometimes school have a phased start to reception, with PT attendence for anything from a week or a term. PT may mean finishing before lunch around 12 noon, or after lunch around 1pm.

(d) If making the change later than age 4-5 years, then many people change over at secondary level - when children go to their next school. This is when the child is around 11 years. Others may do it just before the child starts their GCSE option years, at age 14.

(e) As the school year starts in September it will mean your child is oene of the eldest in the year group. his can generally, although not always, mean they are more ready to start school especially emotionally.

Hope this helps.

First question - are you in England or Scotland?

At my school we have a big intake at year 3 (1st year of key stage 2)

I'm in England

\link{http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/86B6F6D2-7D77-445C-96A5-D8052C5B4F5B/0/1661.pdf\this is from Bath LEA} but most of it is relevant throughout the UK.

It includes loads of useful/basic information about how the schools work, what the age-groups are, what subjects are studied, etc.

Any more specific questions, please ask away!

Just to point out that
"However, school is not actually compulsory until the term after your child turns 5 years."
is not quite true as school is not compulsory but education is. As long as your child is receiving an education when of school-age (which is the term after your child turns 5) then it doesn't matter whether it is at school or not.
Don't think me pointing this out actually helps you
JoshandJamie but feeling a bit picky :)

This site has lots of info about schools for parents
\link{http://www.parentscentre.gov.uk/\parents centre}

Our schools are
Primary school:

Nursery - part of early years dept. Half days.
ages 3/4

Infant dept. 8:55 - 3:15
Reception - part of early years. ages 4/5
Year 1 - ages 5/6
Year 2 - ages 6/7

Junior dept. 8:50 - 3:20
Year 3 - ages 7/8
Year 4 - ages 8/9
Year 5 - ages 9/10
Year 6 - ages 10/11

Secondary school: 8:30 - 3:00

Sorry juuule, you are right. Didn't think to link in info to Home Ed.

also unlike SA where the school year runs from Jan to Dec, the school year here runs from September to August (well school ends in July then the holidays) so reception is the school year (i.e. 1 September to 31 August) in which your child would turn 5 (so yours will be one of the eldest in the year).

What you do before reception is really up to you but some state (government) schools have a nursery class attached to them and your child would start in this the year before reception (however, these nursery classes are normally short, only say 9 to 11.30). They are completely free normally (a bonus!).

With other pre-schools you would normally pay but the term after your child turns 3, you can claim back a portion of the cost.

Best thing to do is call your council (they will have an education department or a children's information service) or look up your council on the web because all the info will be on their website.

Thanks for the replies. It's becoming a little clearer but it still seems bloody complicated. Do most people tend to send their kids to pre-school 5 days a week, half day? Will your child miss out if he only goes 2 full days a week?

Not everyone sends their children to a playgroup or a preschool. People do anything from 2 sessions (am or pm) to all week. They are not for working parents unless you have a childminder who can take them and pick them up which lots of people do. Most take them from 2.5yrs but some from 2.

If you live in London or a big city most state schools have a nursery class attached which is usually for 5 mornings or 5 afternoons a week and is free. They take children roughly from when they are 3 or the school year after they are 3, again depending on the school or how full they are. Prvate schools are different and you can do full or half days, usually at least 5 sessions a week.

The coucil will help pay for any playgroups of prechools from the school term after the child is 3. I suppose this applies to day nurseries too.

As mentioned before. I don't send DD to a preschool. I have left her in her day nursery for 2.5 days instead (two full days; one half). This is mainly because of my work commitments. I could not work if she was at preschool, or would have to have a childminder as well. Also I didn't want to move her away from her friends when there was no need. She is settled at nursery and has good friends there. Finally, her school doesn't have one attached anyway, so a local one would not benefit her as it is unlikely anyone from the preschool would then go onto her school.

been to her school now for visits (she starts September) and she doesn't seem to have any problems having not been to a preschool.

Don't forget to check with the council about enrolling your ds for school. This is usually in the year before they atart. There willbe a date by which you have to submit a form.

It can even be different in different schools in the same LEA!

About preschool / nursery- In our town the private day nurseries both provide preschool education so dd was in nursery from 8.30-6pm four days a week and had preschool as part of nursery for 2 ½ hours in the morning. The day nurseries, local preschool, and reception class all ran the same curriculum for 4 year olds. At the primary school they could start part time in reception in September if their 5th birthday lay between 1st September in the year they started and 31st August in the following year, but since everyone ran the same curriculum many children (10 of the 30) stayed at preschool or nursery until January. They went full time the term after they had turned five - some smaller schools in nearby
villages had the resources to take all children
full time in September.

At our school they use the terms Foundation stage / Key Stage 1 for what we used to call infants and Key Stage 2 for what we used to call juniors.

HTH

joshandjamie, to add to excellent info from others:
pre-school is of benefit to some children. We have sent (will send DS2) to a lovely fabby council-run nursery school (with proper early years educators - this is worth inquiring about at pre-schools) for 5 mornings x 2.5 hrs.
It works for us because our super childminder is really near so pick-ups no prob, but yes, it can be logistically tricky for working parents (hence Hula's solution of staying at daycare nursery, which will have a pre-school element).
I have chosen to do 5 mornings (full days were an option) as I personally felt that that was better for the children who are only 3, after all. A full day at pre-school is different IMO from a full day at daycare, where there will be a lot more down time. Nursery school can be quite full on. I remember DD in partic being really tired in her first term after just 2.5 hrs.
You need to make yr own decisions of course but HTH.

I send my dd to pre-school for 3 days a week, and that seems just fine. Several reasons for this -

1. I'm a selfish Mum and love having her home with me
2. We actually do things which she enjoys on the days that she is not a preschool
3. She is a late August baby, so will start full time school when she is barely 4, which I personally think is too much to early and I dont have any control over this and she has to go, so while its not compulsory I'll just send her in for a few days.