How Do They Take Your Reception Child Into School

[FiveHoursSleep]

Our school is a 4 form entry this year and we gather outside the front door of the school and they call the children in one by one, class by class.
When their name is called, they walk up to their teacher and are passed through the door to stand in line with the rest of their class. We don't get to see inside the classroom.
If they become upset, they are taken off the parent and passed inside and the parent(s) is/are asked to wait in the meeting room for a bit until the child has calmed down.
At pick up time, the parents wait outside the door and the children are passed out one by one. If the teacher has concerns, the parents are asked to wait behind.
Is this standard or do most reception parents get to take their kids to the classroom?

Not in UK, but thought I'd comment on our set up.

Year 0/1 - age 5.
Bring to classroom in morning, watch them sort out their things, have a look around, chat to the teacher/other parents, leave by 2nd bell. I'd say about 3/4 of the parents do this (they can be left any time between 8:30 and 8:50 - some days I hang around, others I drop & run). The rest of the children are dropped at the gate or the playground and make their own way into the classroom. It's all very casual.

V different from our last experience in Belgium where only 3-5 year olds could be accompanied in to school grounds, and then only as far as the classroom door. Primary age students had to be left at the gate.

I'm finding it a bit of a culture shock tbh!

Ours stand in their form lines in the playground and then the teacher comes out and leads the form in.

We were allowed into the classroom on day1 but not afterwards. (I was also able to have a nosey in the classroom on the induction evening)

At home time they are handed over one by one.

Ours has a very low key, no parents in the classroom rule from day 1 - it makes settling quicker as the child doesn't get used to one rule for the first week or so and then it changes. The classroom door opens directly into the playground (reception is a separate building). When the bell rings the children line up near the classroom door then the teacher and TA come out to welcome them into the classroom.

Ours all go into the playground for a run around. Parents wait outside the gate, but don't have to as a teacher mans the gate, so no escaping :)
Bell rings, kids all run to their spot for lining up. For the first few weeks an older child holds up a board with class 1, class2 etc on it. They line up in front of them. Teachers come out, kids take distance, say good morning to the head, then their teacher leads them in, one class after the other.
It's the same right up to P7, only without the boards.

Ours is as hulababy describes. The cloakroom area is so small though that one feels obliged to exit even if one's child is still disorganised, or risk being squashed by oncoming mothers.

I take all mine in :)
Year 1 and Year 2 go in the same way . Mine put their coats on a peg we have a hug they go into their own classess.
Then I walked youngest (2) to the nursery part of the school and do the same with her although her peg is right outside her class. :)

However next year I will not be able to go in with eldest who be then in Y3 as its a different part of the school again and I will just walk her round to the playground she enters in .

Wait outside main gate until 8.50 when the Headmaster appears, all children from YR - Y2 walk up main path alone. YR go through their own door to Reception playground & classrooms, Y1&2 go through main entrance to their own classrooms. Headmaster stands just inside main gate and welcomes all children, there are at least 2 TAs further along the path keeping an eye out.

YR go unaccompanied (unless necessary) as the school has a nursery class in the same building. They wait outside the nursery door, on the main path, with parents until their door opens and enter separately. After May half term, Nursery children are encouraged to walk up the path to their door by themselves if they wish to do so, so going in alone in Reception is not a big deal.

Afternoon collection is from nursery/reception class door, Y1&2 from own playground.

We leave ours at the gates into the playground where they are met by TAs, they go into "their" bit of the playground and then line up and into the classroom. We don't go past the gates apart from the first day.

Mine are in juniors now but the procedure is still the same

Day one you take them into classroom.

Day two onwards they line up in the pkayground and teacher and TA lead them in. Any upset child is dealt with ( probably far more easily than if fussing parents were allowed in)

There is always plenty of opportunity to speak to the teacher before or after. The playground is supervised from 8.30am but they don't go inside until 8.45am.

St home time they are let out from the door one by one.

3 class entry here.

Doors open at 8:50 so you can go in with DC and get them settled/sorted, parents can't leave until 9:00 as school won't be responsible for children before then, all children must be in and all parents out by 9:10. I had no idea this was so unusual as it seems to work really well, people who want to hang about can get there early, drop and runners later.

Today was first day and only a half day so I'm not sure how release works at the end of the day normally, today we all went in and got DC.

Personally I would be a hanger around but DS scarpered out into the garden the second we got there today, I think he's planning to be a drop and run child!

3 form entry, they all line up at their class marker in the reception playground and are then taken inside through an external classroom door by the teacher and TA. Parents stay outside but can walk to the door with the children if the children are upset. Children are released into reception playground at the end of the day and so far teacher has always come out too if people want to chat to her.

I think it works well. Much less hectic than having all the parents inside and helps the children settle into the school routine more quickly.

The reception classes started a week later than the other children (don't know if thst's standard practice) We were invited in for a 20min one-to-one with the teacher during that week so we have been shown the classroom etc.

We're not in the UK but here you pull up outside the school (within school grounds), a TA opens the car door, the child gets out and walks straight into their classroom. No fuss, no problems!

The primary school the DCs went to did it like the OP described.
All classes stood outside in line (oldest classes tended to mill around a bit but they had a separate door), and younger classes' teachers went outside for a few minutes before the bell to chat with the children, and say hi to the parents, if there were any.
The children all trooped into the school in an orderly fashion, class by class.
No parents went into the school; everyone was supposed to manage coats and jackets, etc., by themselves.
All children had a locker, with age 4 and 5 having a cubby and hook; the locker was the first port of call for everyone, then into the classroom.
In the afternoon children poured out and either walked or got picked up. Youngest classes (4 and 5 yos) were dismissed to their caregiver/parent and not allowed to leave the building unless the designated caregiver was accompanying them.
Children still waiting for someone to come and pick them up after 15 minutes got taken to sit in the office while someone was contacted from the contact list.

On rainy or really cold days they let them line up in the lunch room.
Nobody got to wander around in the corridors before the bell and nobody loitered in the school after the end of the day.

Amazingly, everyone managed fine without parents helping and everyone was in 'school' mode once they passed the threshold. The no parents in the building rule was observed from the first say. I think it had the effect of settling children in faster.

There was also a pair of teachers and TAs doing lollipop person duty because of two busy intersections right at the school morning and afternoon.

Teachers were all contactable by phone or email with a response guaranteed within 24 hours, so no-one bothered them with detailed problems while they were supposed to be supervising the children at the school door.

I am a mum of a child who has just started Reception, and i also teach Reception in an 'outstanding' school with a very highly regarded Foundation Stage, and we have been told that 'good practice' is to allow children entering Reception the opportunity to transition according to their own needs and not according to a whole class 'this is how we do it in Reception' policy. So I allow the parents into the classroom to settle the child, say goodbye etc, if the child and/or parent wants that. Plenty of children are happy not to have their parents come in, but some really need it. I get quite depressed thinking about how keen many schools are to treat children as one part of a massive school machine. Of course there is a need for routines and procedures in schools, but there is an even greater need for flexibility and understanding of individual children's needs.

My dc's school is like eviekingston's and I thank the lordy.

I also dislike the 'one size fits all' approach to things and think it's perfectly reasonable that parents or carers get to spend a couple of minutes in the classroom settling their 4 year old and getting a sense of the people who will be looking after them 6 hours a day.

What's the difference between settling the child and giving a hug, kiss, saying goodbye outside and settling the child, etc., in the room?

I think it's some of the parents who need to hover more than children needing to be accompanied.

How do children feel if they are the ones whose parent can't go into the room for whatever reason -- children brought to school by CMs or older siblings? Is there any concern for those feeling left out by seeing parents fussing over their children while they are expected to get on with it on their own?

Another way of characterising 'part of a massive school machine' is 'belonging to a larger group', or to a group other than the family -- I think children like a sense of belonging, or an esprit de corps. It can be an important part of their emotional growth to transition into membership of the larger group.

Yes, I agree, though believe that this transition will take a different amount of time for each child and is exactly that - a transition - not a sudden change from something child-centred to being part of an institution.

I said parent or carer - of course a CM/nanny/older sibling can do the same as parents re settling child in (some do in my dd's class).

"How do children feel if they are the ones whose parent can't go into the room for whatever reason -- children brought to school by CMs or older siblings? Is there any concern for those feeling left out by seeing parents fussing over their children while they are expected to get on with it on their own?"

I think that's a valid point, but on the other hand (IME) parents who come into the classroom tend to know quite a few of the children anyway. This means they are another familiar adult to their DC's friends, and can help them with their bags etc if they need help or reassurance.

I think this can be helpful, as long as there's a cutoff point for parents to leave (if that's what the teacher wants), eg 9am bell or something.

I'm don't agree that it is a valid point, tbh, given the undertones that it somehow 'inferior' to be brought into school by a CM or older sibling. Maybe the child concerned doesn't mind (my dd's friend loves breakfast club, for example, and actively asks her own mum NOT to take her to school)? Maybe the parents are being helpful, not 'fussing'. If the child minds, then I don't believe that a minute in the classroom will make a difference to their experience in addition to doing the whole bit before school with a CM or whatever.

Agree with regard to it's actually being quite useful to have extra adults in the classroom, especially during the winter term with coats, scarves, hats etc when most of the children are still 4.

If children (even 4 year olds) have to manage their coats. mittens, hats and bags for themselves they generally do just fine. My DCs went to elementary school in a place with a winter climate that required snow boots for several months and a footwear change for indoors, plus an outerwear 'uniform' that included by necessity heavy jackets, snow pants, gloves or mitts and hats for all, yet getting out of all that, putting the hats and mitts in the sleeves of the jackets and hanging it all up, putting the dripping boots in a plastic box, soon became second nature. In the afternoon they were expected to get themselves into it all again and zipped up properly by themselves before they left.

Having a parent doing things for children that age just makes the process of learning how to do it themselves that much slower. Surely basic self care is a really important developmental step that should be fostered by a school even in the face of hovering parents who are not ready for their next important developmental step -- letting their children grow up a bit and become more independent?

I didn't mean to imply that being brought to school by a CM or older sibling was inferior, but then again I don't know how individual children see it. I think if there are children who can't have a parent or CM or older sibling in the classroom then nobody's adult caregiver should be allowed. Fair enough to stay outside the building saying goodbye or giving a hug of course, and presumably the children who are dropped off and left on their own have had the goodbye routine already, but I think going all the way into the classroom is an intrusion into the teacher's sphere and also more of an interference in the process of transitioning and settling down for the day than a help.

Nobody said anything about 'doing things for children' - it was helpful in my dd's classroom for adults to assist, usually verbally, with the whole starting the day off. Supporting children with the bits they find difficult is what leads to 'basic self-care'.

I'm happy to disagree with you on this one, maths. 'Transition' means exactly that - a gradual move between things, not an abrupt change. Good practice in early years includes supporting children with transitions (being individuals, they will of course need different types and levels of support) and building up partnerships with parents or carers. Can't think of a better way than a minute in the classroom each morning myself.

P1 we were allowed into the classroom for the first week and into the playground to collect them. On the second week we could take them into the playground to line up and the teachers brought the dc's out to the front gate at home time, After that they were to be dropped at the front gate in the morning and let out of the classroom when the bell rang in the afternoon. The onus is on the parents to ensure someone's there to collect them.

We take them into the classroom. The TA registers them (in a sort of lurky way in the background, and sometimes with a sad one on her knee) while the teacher greets the children and speaks to any parents that need to have a word. I've never stayed longer than about 1 minute because both mine have gone in easily. It's relaxed and informal.

We are a 3 form entry school. It's an old fashioned Victorian London triple decker for Years 2 - 6 and Reception and Year 1 are in the old Infants building to one side. Year 1 line up in the playground and file in with their teacher.