People with DCs starting school in Sep - do you actually know when they are starting?

[kickassangel]

Cos dd's school haven't decided their intake order yet! Can't even tell me roughly what order they are planning to take the children, or which week they will start!
also, have yet to inform us when the open evening is - but I know from friends who work at the school that it's booked!
So, is the school badly organised (all other schools in the area have posted their dates up at nursery), or am I being a fussy first timer with a PFB? Would just like to know before I insist on talking to the head & gettinf 'firm'.
Incidentally, I need to oraganise my childcare around this, and unpaid parental leave. childcare has to be booked before mid June!

anyone elase? i'd just like to know if it's normal not to know at this stage - particularly as they only answer the phone between 9 7 4, haven't put me through to anyone & haven't replied to a message.
this is one of the best schools in county but right now I'm very close to insisting on speaking to the head & being a tad stroppy, which could be a little embarrassing as this is a small village & I know variuos staff.

No, we don't know yet, and probably won't for a few weeks. But I think if it was imperative I knew they would be able to give me a rough idea.

I haven't heard anything from the school yet but there are still a few more days left before the deadline for people to accept their offers of a school place. I know which date term starts because ds1 is already there, but don't know yet whether ds2 will be starting in the mornings or afternoons. I haven't heard anything about an open day or open evening yet either.

It's possible that they don't yet know what staff they will have - teachers have to give in notice half a term in advance, so if someone has just given notice at your school they will have to appoint someone who may then not be able to come until half term (october)

Or they could just be disorganised......

I had letter today with dates for parent/child days in july, school unifirm list but no date

Parents Evening is 27th June for us.
They will all start together, but not until the second week and only part time until halfterm.

Also, we have a Learning through Play session for parents only the first week back after halfterm, followed by a play session for the children the next week. Also, two story sessions for children in July and an Open Day at the school where they can join the whole school for a picnic at lunchtime.

rusty, it's nothing to do with staffing ( i have friends working there) another mum asked, for the same reason, and they said they haven't decided yet, they're thinking of changing their policy from previous years & are talking it over.
so i waited 2 weeks & phoned. they couldn't tell me, no-one got back to me. they want me to phone during office hour ( 9 to 3.30 they said) but i'm a teacher so that just isn't possible!
jsut wanted a broad perspective. don't want to fall out with the school, but they know parents are asking & haven't made up their minds!

I'd be surprised if the school even knew themselves!

We aren't even at summer half term - it's unlikely they would already be planning that kind of detail for September.

My own children - we knew starting dates for nursery after the main school had returned in the September and for Reception I think it was July.

so how do i plan some childcare? can't really leave dd pathetically wondering the streets looking for somewhere to go
quite a range of differences, it's just that EVERY other school in our area has issued dates & publicied them, so I was a bit surprised that the school haven't done this. particularly as her teachers are being paid ft for an empty classroom in ssp!

our school started this stupid business of delaying the reception start for the first time last year. They gave the excuse of them being so young they wanted to ease them in gently DS was therefore 5 before he started ffs if he had been a couple of days older he would have been there the year before anyway.

They didn't tell us until the visit in early July and had already arranged for him to leave nursery mid august so we could have holiday then a couple of days before DC's returned to school,

we were lucky in that nursery could take him for a few sessions as I only work part time although when school asked for donations for school fund the envelope went back with "sorry have spent it on child care for first week in september"

We thought DS1 would be starting in Jan but he is in fact starting in Sept. Monday and Thursday afternoons for the first two weeks in September ( nightmare for childcare!!) then every afternoon until Christmas.

Am a little as have been working full time for two terms and thought that I would have one last term at home with him.

We have already got the dates for the LOs' taster sessions after half-term, plus our new parents' orientation meeting. Our school has three intakes, one per term, with everyone starting on the first day of term for half-days, going full-time in their second term.

I'm on the governors committee that organises staffing and we have only just (tuesay) had our meeting to bash out who's doing what next year - complicated by various personnel issues - so they may genuinely not know who what where.

We do know about open day and afternoon in class tho. Just not who DS2's teacher will be.

Can you ask nicely, making a point about childcare etc?

We've already had the timetable for staggered starts for about a month (depends on whether your child is Sept-Feb or Mar-Aug birthday).

We've also since attended the new starters' parents evening and got all the details we need for uniform/spare pants/lunches/friends of the school pleas for time/money etc.

We had school visit this week, bought various bits of uniform and were given starting date, which is third week of september, two weeks after the rest of the school go back. But we will not find out which class or which teacher until the day they start school.