Are half day starts legal? Do they discriminate?

[esxgirl]

I have been told my 4yr old starting school in Sept will only be allowed to attend school for half days for the first 2 wks which is impossible to accommodate with full time work. How can they do this when they get full time funding? I think it indirectly discriminates against working families. He is used to much longer days at nursery, but despite appealing to the school, they will not budge. Any tips?

Pointydog- agree that 6 weeks of it is too long and the school do seem to have taken some comments on board as their induction will be 3.5 weeks this september I believe. too late for me with DD but more helpful for when DS goes in 2 years time!

Georgi- I did the same as you......one week of half days. Mind you I was over 5 when I started as schools back then did staggered intake. Arguments for and against that one though!

I was lucky in that my mum was around to help out - appreciate that others aren't so fortunate. Others use their CMs (possibly the ones who'll be doing before/after school care with their DCs anyway once fulltime school kicks in).

I really do see the benefits however. It means that the children are in groups of 15 rather than 30 to begin with; which helps both the teacher and the children enormously. Don't underestimate what a big deal it is for little children to start at school fulltime - and that includes those who've been in fulltime nursery before hand.

My own ds was old for his year and had spent far longer days in nursery than he did in school - but once he began full days in Reception he was exhausted.

I was four, I started school in the August (Scotland) and turned five in the following January.

the school i wanted to send DD to asked for first term as mornings only...and then second term also upon review!

maybe you ca n persuade them your DC will be ok with full days?

DD had 3 weeks of 9-12.15 finishes. its pretty much bogstandard throughout the uk.

DD starts school in September and goes in for full days right from the start.

She doesn't start until 14th Sept though, as they stagger the start date for reception class. I prefer this as DD can stay in her nursery until the 13th if need be. It's much easier for working parents.

DD's school is doing a whole term of 9-12 for the reception kids (all of them). So just thank your lucky stars it's only a couple of weeks!

My daughters' school has a daft system. The children enter nursery on a phased half day in, day off, half day in etc for a couple of weeks. I have no concerns with that as a)education isn't compulsory at that age and b) lots of children need breaking in gently like that.

What I objected to, was when they they phased the same children who had spent a year of half days every school day in to Reception by having a day in and then a day off. This alternating system lasted for 4 weeks.

I am a teacher, and I know that it can benefit the children and the adults in the class by getting to know them well straight away, but with the number of adults in foundation nowadays I think that 4 weeks before the whole class is there is excessive.

School had just declared that they wouldn't change their system as it works for the children. I maintain that the child is entitled to a full time education from Reception onwards and I know that the educational social workers linked to attendance in schools would have something to say if we only sent our children in every other day for 4 weeks.

However...if you complain and in effect make the school change their plans then you risk becoming an annoying parent from the offset which is not what I wanted to do, so I made no fuss.

We have children full time from day one because we don't have any of the issues Rosebud05 describes as most of the children know the reception staff well and the reception staff know them very well having worked with them for up to 5 terms.
Staggered entry certainly isn't for the teachers benefit. It is much easier for the teacher to have everyone in and "hit the ground running" rather than a long drawn out process.

You've got plenty of time to look for alternative childcare, if that's the issue. It shouldn't be a horrific surprise - this kind of thing is pretty commonplace. And I doubt very much that it's done to mess with or discriminate against working parents. They are trying to make things easier on the child.

Choose your battles... you've still got the whole school year to go. LOL Lots of other things that will ruffle feathers. It's only two weeks - many schools have an entire term of shortened hours. We had six weeks at our school.

Its very normal. Three years ago, dd1 started with a whole term of half-days and only went full time in January. This September, dd2 will start with half-days for three weeks, then 3 full 2 half till half-term, then 4 full and 1 half till Xmas.
Its definitely not for the school's benefit, its for the children - many of whom come from other pre-schools/nurseries or no experience at all of childcare/nursery settings. Its a huge change for them.

What do people mean by "it's for the school's benefit", anyway?

It might not be done with the purpose of discriminating against working parents, but it certainly has the effect of discriminating against working parents! What about single parents?! We either work or live on the bread-line! And it's rubbish to say it benefits the children - in so many schools the children all start same time, same day and just get on with it for the next 14 years and there aren't hoards of us roaming around having been emotionally damaged by it. Drop and run is always the best policy - it is always the kids with parents who linger who make the most fuss.

Fortunately for me when DS1 started, they got reception in 2 weeks after the rest of the school and then phased the class in over the course of a week with full days, so a couple of weeks extra childcare money but not so messy as the half days business! Frankly with all children now eligible for a full week of half days for at least a year before they start school, half-day phasing in is even more redundant than it ever was

It's not redundant for children who have been in a different setting - not all schools have nurseries.

At the school I teach in children start for full days but over a period of a couple of weeks. Children from the school nursery start first, followed by those with siblings at the school (but who weren't at our nursery) and then it's done by age. Three or four start each day but once they're in, they're in.

My dd's school has changed it round this year. They've been doing nursery children first (45 children), but are taking the new starters (15 kids across 2 classes) first this year. This makes more sense to me, I think.

DD starts reception in September. Week 1 consists of a 20 minute home visit
week 2 comprises a week of 11am to 1pm sessions
week 3 she finally starts school full time.
I agree, it is a total nightmare for working parents and can't see why the home visits have to be in the first week. Surely it would be better to do them in the summer term before they start?

I'm really glad that when ds started they were still doing a September and January intake, which makes a lot more sense to me. I think they started them over a week or two (it wasn't really an issue because we also had dd at home, and a nanny to look after them). When dd started they just did a staggered entry over a couple of weeks, so she stayed in nursery for a bit longer. They started with the nursery children there too, which really didn't make sense as those were the children who woudl have had no trouble at all settling in. Which is why I too wonder how well thought through this is - a huge amount of variation with (as far as I know) no reference to parental wishes or needs at all. I know starting school is hard, but I can't see how this is helped for the children who then have to have ad hoc childcare for a few weeks too. I would have thought that would be very unsettling.

I'm not sure that schools have really adapted to working parents.

Our school does half days up until just before christmas, the local nursery would pick the children up at lunch time (parents that work). Could a childminder or nursery pick your child up?

Exactly what Triggles said. The child isnt even there yet and there's talk of funding and discrimination

The phased starting at school was just right for my DD. In fact I requested an extension to the 2 weeks of half days she had and so she carried on until half term. Its about getting children used to the rigours of being at school all day and the new expectations placed on them.

Its a couple of weeks of disruption in 13 years of school life, done with the children's interests at heart. Thats all.

My DS starts this September but won't actually go full-time until week 4 of the term! Week 1 is a 20 minute home-visit, week 2 is mornings only and week 3 is one and a half hours a day!! Yes, that's one and a half hours a day! Lots of trecking up and down to the school AND very confusing for the children who will not understand what to expect when week 4 finally comes as it keeps chopping and changing!
I can see that a week of half days might be a nice intro to school life but going to school for an hour and half a day for a week seems totally ludicrous! Some of them will take the first half hour just to stop crying and settle down!

Jelly, that does sound a bit choppy

I had something to compare it to. dd1 started with half days and settled very quickly, no looking back. Happy, and saying 'my school', 'my class', 'my teacher' by the end of the first week. (She was not at the school's nursery, knew no one) She was ready for her full days in January, no problems.

Neighbour's child started at same time as dd, same age, same nursery - different school with different rules. Full days straight away. He came home and cried every single evening for the whole of the first term, and didn't like school (he did, but was exhausted).

Of course, his parents gritted their teeth and got him through it, and in time he stopped crying and 'got on with it' - but what a horrible start.

Not always like that, obviously, but just to illustrate why some schools think it matters to phase in slowly...