Can schools still have a long, drawn-out induction to reception?

[pozzled]

Just starting to think about schools for my DD who will start next September. I will want her to go to the local school and should have no problem getting in. But I've just heard about their induction process:

Wk1: In for one day as a taster
Wks 2 and 3: Mornings only
Wks 4 and 5: Afternoons only
Wk6: Full time.

I thought I had read on here that schools should now offer full time starts for those that want it? Or was that just wishful thinking?

DD already does full days at nursery 3 days a week and will be more than ready to start full time next september.

Quite surprised by the wide variety of starting times etc. Is it really for the benefit of the children or just for teachers to get to know children in a large class? dd started full time a week okay and has settled beautifully. I think she would have been pretty cross to only do two hours a day or only some days for several weeks.

Can schools claim the full nursery grant for under 5s if they don't actually have the children in for that time? Surely that isn't right and then should only be able to claim for the 15 hours when thy actually do have the children in the class room! Until then parents should be allowed to chose to use it towards nursery costs imo.

Schools do not receive the nursery grant for any child in Reception. That isn't how the system works. Their budget for the financial year (April-March) is set according to the number of children they have on the roll on a given date in the January preceding the start of the financial year.

My daughter's school has six weeks of mornings for those born in spring and summer terms. I don't work so there is no practical problem with her doing this but I strongly felt it wouldn't be in her best interests. I understand it would be for some, in fact I know many parents that have pushed for part time for longer (up until January) but each child needs to be seen as an individual and a good school should IMO take parents legitimate concerns into account as the parent knows the child better than anyone.

In our case the head did agree to our request to put our daughter in full time straght away (although she doesn't even start until Thursday!)

That's interesting prh47bridge; this is what the nursery have told my friend.

Does the NEG continue if the child doesn't go to school then? My friend's dd will be 5 in June. I checked with her -she has definitely been told that the nursery grant has transferred.

The NEG is available for children in nursery classes at state primary schools but not for children in Reception. Their funding is part of the general school budget which comes via a different route. If the child does not start school the NEG will continue.

Thanks. Her nursery is at a children's centre. Before I get her hopes up, do you know if the grant is per term ie her dd will start school just before half-term , so she's only want to claim it up until then.

Our school starts them all full-time straight off, even the August birthdays. I suppose you could request part-time if you wanted but I don't think many parents have.
We used to have a quite nice system whereby it was a staggered start spread over just one week, so they did just mornings for 2 days, then morning plus lunch for 3 and then full days.
But... new Head, new regime. Unless it's now the rools!

DS2 started reception last week. Two days of finishing at 3pm instead of half past, then onto full days from this week. Brilliant! ALL children would cope with starting full time straightaway if only their mollie-coddling mothers would let them

Long drawn out here. Those with summer term birthdays do half days until Christmas.

Half days until Christmas!! Seems a bit extreme.

"ALL children would cope with starting full time straightaway....."

This 'one size fits all' approach to settling is one of the things that peeves parents (and teachers) off.

Children have different needs. It's a bit daft to say that they'd 'all cope' with any situation.

yellowsubmarine - The provider should be able to get the grant from the LA for as long as your friend's daughter is there.

Half days till Christmas here.

For all children, not just summer born.

I disagree that all children would cope with straight to full time. I can think of many reasons why they might not, including SN, EAL, children who haven't been to nursery. But I suspect that the majority of children who have attended a nursery previously and don't have additional needs would cope.

I think schools should be more flexible, maybe a gradual first week, then move to full time on the second week if both parents and teacher are happy that the child is settling. If either the parents or teacher have concerns, a more personalised induction plan should be made.

All 3 of our local schools have very different approaches.
My daughters class is 2 groups, mornings and afternoons.
1st week, Home visit + 2 mornings 9-12
Week 2 & 3 - 9am-1.30 Whole class meets for lunch
Week 4 Fulltime - whole class

Friends children are fannying about with mornings, then afternoons then mornings then god knows what until after half term. Its even confusing the children!

Can I just ask how on earth those of you who work manage when your children only attend half days till half term or Xmas?

Genuinely interested as I have never heard of such arrangements before, all the schools round my way have a 1 or 2 week settling in max.

This drives me round the bend. Schools seem to be designed for teachers and not parents or children. There must be about 1 child in a class of 20 who hasn't been to nursery or daycare before they start school so why do they need these protracted settling in periods? It would be more unsettling for a child to be somewhere for an hour and then be off home again. It's about time schools realised it's not the 1950s anymore.

The primary school where my cousin works was actually losing children because of the extended settling in period and they had to change it. Vote with your feet if you can, or write a stern letter so you won't have this problem with any future children!

I was lucky enough to be on maternity leave that term, so it was fine for me. I have no idea how others manage.

'ALL children would cope' is simply untrue. There is a vast range of abilities to cope at that age, depending on experience, temperament, background and, not least, experience of child care up until then.

Also untrue that 1/20 kids doesn't experience f/t nursery prior to starting school - that may be true in some areas, but around here it most definitely is not. Most of dd's friends did a maximum of mornings-only at pre-school, a very small minority did full days at a nursery.

To go from half days in a small group of kids with lots of adults caring for them (pre-school/nursery) to full days in a class of 30 with one teacher and one TA is a very big step - fine for the kids who are ready, who are used to all day care in a group setting, but not fine for many of the others.

Flexibility is clearly a need for the children, also clearly a need for parents - I know our school tries to accomodate that, but I also know its very hard for state funded schools to manage groups where the individuals don't all do the same thing at the same time.

That said, I still think there are solutions - albeit involving compromise. And the compromises need to be by the school and the parents too.

prh - thanks so much, I'll let her know.

OP - however many hours your dd does at nursery now, school is an entirely different kettle of fish. School is a big change from any nursery setting a child may have attended previously. Schools don't do this to annoy the parents - a gradual introduction is the best way for most children to settle into school.

And also from the reception teachers point of view - starting part-time/staggered entry probably makes their job easier too. Imagine 30 children all starting together and all doing full time to start! It would be a nightmare.

6 weeks is really nothing in the grand scheme of things and a v small part of your dd's school career. The school's aim is not to provide free childcare....but to give the best possible education for the children.

Dancergirl generations of children have started school full time from day one having never been to any sort of preschool. I was one of them, and so were my 4 older children. Why all of a sudden can children only cope with (less than) half days?