Break between finishing pre school and starting reception?

[Sprockergirl]

Just after other people's experiences really. DD (almost 4) will start reception in September and as it stands at the moment still has her pre school place until the very end of August.

Her reception start will be phased so she doesn't have her first full day until mid September, but I'm just wondering whether she should have a week or two off in between? I do think she needs a rest, she loves pre school but the days are long and our weekends are usually quite busy. On the other hand I don't want her to get out of her routine and make starting reception more tricky!

What do other people tend to do?

If you don’t absolutely need her in then I would give her a break, she needs and deserves a break. Also you will never ever get this time back, soak up the last few weeks before she enters school and sod the ‘routine’. It’s about to all change anyway.

We stopped nursery a week before school started for my August born which meant she had 3 full days off, 2 half days then started full time the week after. She was doing 8.30-6 days at nursery.
My friends and their kids that took longer off were climbing the walls by the time they were in school full time!

I’d start prepping for school and have some fun days out. Assuming you are not working.

I would have to take time off work (tricky as going to need all my leave days to cover school holidays from now on!) but they wouldn't have an issue with it I don't think. Could also split the time with DH.

I was thinking if she finished pre school on Friday 22nd then she would have 11 full days off before her first morning (1nd and 2nd are INSET) Or is that too much?!

I'd personally try to give her a break. Even if it's just a week of pottering at home playing with toys, no need for exhausting days out it'll give her brain time in the background to just catch her breath. DS starts in September too however his pre school is attached to school so he knows it all very well anyway but now has the six week holiday to adjust. Honestly he only broke up on Friday but I've found he is tantruming less and when he does I can get him down before he escalates too much so he obviously needs the break. As much as its a PITA trying to sort childcare for him he absolutely needs a rest of having to conform all day long.

Are you aware that once DD starts reception you can apply for one week per year per child unpaid as parental leave? Not many people know this but if you are able to budget for it each month then it might make it easier on the annual leave for you. Edit: your DH can also do the same giving you two weeks of unpaid leave.

If she was in a school nursery class she would have 6 weeks summer holiday before starting Reception. It will do no harm at all to have a break.

Are you aware that once DD starts reception you can apply for one week per year per child unpaid as parental leave? Not many people know this but if you are able to budget for it each month then it might make it easier on the annual leave for you. Edit: your DH can also do the same giving you two weeks of unpaid leave.

I didn’t know that. Does it just apply to the year they’re in Reception or throughout Primary school?

I didn't know this but that will help loads so thank you!!

@Sprockergirl No. that’s just fine. It’s not too much. Why not visit parks, visit the library, go swimming, visit relatives etc.

I’d also get her to practice getting dressed and undressed. Make sure she can recognise her coat and belongings. Just little things to make starting easier and name everything!

We have decided to take our holiday at the end of Aug for this reason. So DD1 finishes nursery on 15th Aug. Two weeks holiday. Then DD2 goes back into nursery and DD1 has an extra few days at home with me, as her first day isn't until the Friday. In that week, we have the home visit from school, and we'll probably go and get a pre-reception haircut, and then have some long lie ins and days out just me and her I think! Just to give her lots of adjustment time. Although im probably more nervous about it than she is! 😬

Also don't forget you can save a bit of money if you get your notice in sharpish! We have to give a month's notice and my daughter's last day will be 21st August as we are going on a last minute holiday. So we miss out on paying the final week of August as a bonus.

FYI re parental leave, it's unpaid but makes life a lot easier if needing to ration AL and have the budget to do so.
https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave

I think we had a mini / UK break on that first week of September. Schools had re-started but reception year hadn’t. It was lovely

I had no spare holiday so ds2 who was in private nursery, we actually overlapped! So he did his stupid phasing in at Reception a.m. then I collected him and drove him to nursery for pm.

As a working mum I can’t do “ohhh let’s be all cosy and let him phase in for WEEKS with a random timetable we won’t tell you about until end of July when it is way too late to save holiday up.”

Ds was fine, kids who are used to nursery are often not phased starting school - a few wobbles getting used to it and often tire easily.

If holiday is tight I'd look at how well you will be able to spread it over the year. My daughter has needed me and the break more in the school holidays than she did in the run up to starting school.

There's also the school bugs and sickness to consider. My daughters classroom has a d and v bug that they couldn't fully shift from November until February. We were lucky to only get it once but one kid caught it 4 times!

Our school used to do phasing in. Thankfully when it got to my eldest they realised 25 out of 26 kids were doing full days at the pre school in the next classroom and most were 5 days a week. They scrapped it and its been great to just get them in full time straight away. I get some children need easing in but the majority are raring to go.

We are choosing for DD to stay at nursery until the end of Aug. Her last day will be a Thursday, then first day of school will be Thursday so she'll have a week 'off'

I'm then using annual leave in the first 1.5 weeks of school so we don't have rushed mornings and can be there for pick ups etc and help her settle in

My daughter's having a full month off before starting reception- but that's really because we're away the first two weeks of August and decided keep her at home afterwards to we'd save the money - I'm on mat leave though so haven't had to worry about annual leave!

We finished pre-school 2 weeks before school started.
There were absolutely no children here age left at pre-school though, they all finished in the July when the schools did, so in hindsight I’d have finished sooner as she was bored silly for those last 3 weeks.

I remember weighing this up with my two as well. There’s definitely no one-size-fits-all answer - some children really benefit from a bit of downtime before Reception, especially if they’ve had long days at preschool, while others do better keeping the routine going right up until the start.

My niece is starting this September and her school is easing them in with shorter days for the first week, which I think will really help her settle.

Starting Reception is part of what I’m exploring in my PhD research at the University of Essex, as part of a UK/European project called SWITCH. We’re looking at how to best support children’s mental health and wellbeing during this big step.

If anyone here has a child starting Reception in Sept 2025, I’m happy to share details of how to take part – it’s two questionnaires over two years, and some families may also be invited to the University of Essex for a unique opportunity to explore brain and behavioural development more closely.