Primary School Starting Dates - R they joking? How to change?

[Crouchendmumoftwo]

Hello,
Hello!
Im self employed and so is my husband and we have to work for our clients etc to pay the bills. I wrote to the school to ask if my son could be in the first wave of kids going in as we are working and we just have one granny who works.
Gobsmacked to see on the letter today his starting date is 17th September and then that is just till 12! He doesn't go full time till October the 4th!!
HA HA HA - knocks head against wall.

Blooming marvelous.
My husband says my letter probably annoyed them and that is why he is starting so late. My daughter starts in nursery too there - who knows when she starts - November - doing one hour a morning? They both attend full time nursery. My son will be nearly 5 (November) when he joins so not the youngest in the class.

Just wanted to find out if anyone is in a similar situation and is it worth going to the school to have an informal chat to see if they got the letter and if there was anychance of getting him in on the first wave! Probably not!

It all seems very odd - such a late start yet we have to work and earn money - what do people do?

Thanks!

No bright ideas to add, but I agree it is utter crap. I know schools don't exist to provide Childcare, but the reality is most parents have to work and it is their taxes which fund the schools, so that'd king things which are utterly inconvenient is just shit.

I thought the law had changed so schools couldn't insist on part days...

The whole richmond borough do part time til Christmas it's a nightmare for working parents as well as expensive childcare wise paying hours 12 to 3.15 then wraparound hours, plus possibly breakfast club too.

We still haven't been told start dates. No skin off my nose as I am a SAHM but there are lots of working parents & you would have thought it would help them to know.

Wow, interesting to read what others are going through too. My husband says we can work around things (now) but Ive been in this position before with him tearing his hair out screaming ive got to work (most days!). So Im eager to come up with a plan. He isnt interested in the details of the planning bless him! I realise this all will fade into insignificance soon and I feel a bit calmer about it and will try a few options. Nice to be able to speak to other mums and get their take on it aswell and hear from others who are in the same boat. It makes sense for the oldest to start later thinking about it aswell so maybe that is it.

Blimey! Haven't read the whole thread but have sympathy. We are lucky, our school is everybody (whole or YR) full time from 5th September. Oh, and nursery straight in with the sessions you've signed up for too (can sign up full time if you like).

Yep both DS1 and also DS2's schools start full time first week back. I really cannot see the need to start on these half days, IMO it does the children no good at all, if they start together they make friends and there is none of the issues where one friend is staying for the whole day and the other child has to go home.

Some of my friends work term time only so it causes major issues for them as they are not allowed to take term time off.

I know I will get flamed for this but I do not believe the schools do this for the good of the children, I think it makes their lives easier.

I don't know whether it's easier for the schools, but my sons new teacher swears the younger kids find the staggered start easier. I'm finding it encouraging that several posters say their kids were fine after a couple of days as am new to this and have a late summer born son so am worrying about him settling! Working out childcare for September afternoons and a week in october (he doesn't go full time till oct 8th!) has not been easy. I've carried my summer holiday over to September to help with it, so no time off for me this summer!

I, even as a teacher, really hate those age or other determined half days. DS's cohort all went full time (first day had 30 minute staggering) with the option to go only to lunch until Easter if the child needed that. No assumptions, but child centred provision made. It was one of the reasons I liked the school form the start.

So I do have sympathy but, since these arrangements could have been had at any time by asking, can I ask why you gave such early notice for nursery?

McNorton

DS was 26th August born. he went fulltime from the start. Two weeks in he tried to go on Saturday because he liked it so much!

We start all kids on the same day. think is two days after the rest of the kids go back I.e. the Thursday after the Tuesday start for years 1 -6. They do 9.30 to 12 on that thursday and Friday. Then full time from Monday. At least that's how they did it with dd and ds1. But in those days there were two distinct starts - sept and January depending on birth date.

Now there's the choice, but in reality only a very small number of parents choose to start in January. I think that now you get nearly 60 starters in September they've begun to stagger it so approx 30 start on the first Thursday and 30 start the following Thursday, so by the beginning of week 3 all are in full time.

Adelaofblois
With the nursery its a state run one and I assumed they would have to leave, we had to give them details of the school he is going to so I said his sister would be going too. Gawd. Might ask but they will probably say they have allocated all their places for September. Worth asking but I don't hold out much hope. I can understand it if was private though.

Don't be ridiculous. Start dates are determined by your child's age. Mine all did mornings only until January and then I had 3 weeks of staying until lunch and coming home.

Terrible, truly terrible. Now I am glad that I did not get my 1st choice - catholic school which I later found out only does half days for first term.

I must admit I didn't know about these half-days until recently, and used up most of my annual leave :(

My understanding was that the law had changed and schools had to offer full time places from the first day of term. Not sure about nursery, though.

Children do vary in their needs - some are find on full days from the start and others benefit from a more gradual entry. I'm not sure in what ways it makes the 'school's life easier' but not the children's to do a phased entry. My (shy and highly strung) dd started on half days along with the other children who hadn't been at the school. It worked very well for her and she would have been overwhelmed by full days with children and teachers she didn't know at all from the start.

It is a major inconvenience for us working parents who have been used to 48+ weeks a year of 8-6 childcare or whatever, but it's the reality of school. You'll have after-school, 13 weeks holiday and Inset days etc to plan for for many years to come.

The school is paid to educate your child from the start of term. I would write back declining the staggered start and saying your son will be attending full time from the first day of term.

There was another more recent thread on this, the staggered start is a problem many parents have to deal with, I'd be interested actually to know what percentage of UK schools start FT (no idea if stats are available but am guessing it's a minority).

The 'law change' was covered in that thread and as I recall basically there was a grey area around settling-in sessions so not sure there's any recourse there.

I will say that 8-til-6 nursery, year-round is a doddle compared to school and you don't realise til your child enters the school system how much more complicated the logistics will get. This despite hearing for years from friends and colleagues about school runs, school holidays, etc. A bit like having a child in the first place - you have no idea how it'll change your world.

All this said from someone who's only just had her DS1 start Reception this past September so I'm sure there's lots ahead yet to deal with and I'll probably look back on this time and how easy it all was . Keep telling myself everyone muddles through one way or another...

We also have start date of 17th for DD, also a November birthday.

I teach. My start date is 5th, as is DS's. So we'll both be off to school, and I can predict that she'll be mighty p'eed off that she'll have to wait!

I do have a childminder, who will (hopefully) be able to accommodate the extra hours for a couple of weeks, but I do begrudge paying the extra when she would be fine starting on day 1 and will be itching to start too!

In Scotland the new school year starts in August, the children go half days for the first two weeks then go full days after that.

I've always found it very confusing how the English system has delayed starting dates and two intakes and so many weeks of half days.
The children here all cope fine with starting at the same time.

I can't help but think that DD's nursery (private) were a bit devious about this. They sent out letters with reply slips demanding to know DD's last day at nursery a week before the school places were announced. Then as soon as they were announced they began chasing the replies.

Parents like me who were in the dark about the staggered/soft-start at some local schools put 31st August as the last day. The nursery leavers' party is mid-August.

After finding out about the soft-start at DD's school I phoned up the nursery to try to push out her last day by a week, and they only just managed to squeeze her in as they had already made plans to move a large group of children from the younger class up to the Pre-school class that week and were planning staffing accordingly.

I've been told that any further time at nursery won't now be possible. So I guess I'll be asking my parents to come and stay the following week to help. At least I have that option, I suppose (this is a problem for me and I don't even do paid work!!).

We're relocating over the summer and DS's original school started the youngest children a week before the oldest children, and his new school starts the oldest children a week before the youngest children! At least in both schools everyone starts full-time though. I really feel for working parents with the irregular settling in sessions.

DS will be starting with a week until lunchtime, then a week till after lunchtime play, then full time. This is much improved to past years when it was a great deal of faffing until half term. I can accomodate that but I am still pissed off with the system.

I have an older child at school (who as we moved and were allocated a place late, started with a couple of half days then full days) it is far more tiring for poor ds to have to do a morning at school, walk home, no time to do anything really then have to walk back and collect dd, walk home . I think that it is easier for children to get used to a routine asap, not to have it continually changing.

The letter states if the child hasnt settled then they will allow part time for longer, perhaps it would be better if this was the case for children who need it from the beginning.

I remember the stress of this when dd started school. You don't sound entitled at all op.

We managed to find a child kinder who even though she advertised as only for before and after school, agreed to look after dd in the afternoons for that first month.

OP I wonder if your DC will be coming to my school?! Chances are pretty slim but the staggered intake as you describe is just how we do it too!

In Edinburgh they start half days for 4-5 weeks and then go full time. They go full time at the September weekend.