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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Primary school start dates

24 replies

super125 · 29/05/2013 18:28

My son turns 4 in july and is due to start school in sept....i thought they just started full time hours but have been informed by some other mums that when their children began school they did part time hours......we both work full time so im not sure how we will manage this......the school is fircroft,sw17.... Any advice gratefully received. Thanks, jo

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allinatizz · 29/05/2013 18:30

Most schools do this. You will need to speak to the school itself to find out what they actually do as they are all different.

Unfortunately they don't seem to care if you work full time. It can be a real bind.

CaptainSweatPants · 29/05/2013 18:30

We managed by taking annual leave, using grandparents & existing childcare - for example the nursery still let them attend in the morning when it was a week of afternoons only

allinatizz · 29/05/2013 18:30

Also, you have given quite a lot of identifiable details in your post. Are you sure you are happy with that on an open forum?

alienbanana · 29/05/2013 18:33

Presumably you already have some sort of childcare already? Personally we just kept DS at nursery for the 2 weeks that they did half days, and they did wraparound care. Is something like that an option?

LIZS · 29/05/2013 18:33

It will vary from one school to another, with older ones going FT first, but you should get an info pack and induction session soon to clarify . CMs may be able to bridge the gap for you or if just a week or two maybe taking annual leave/grandparents/friends could help

mrz · 29/05/2013 18:48

You need to check with the school as said already it does vary, all our reception children start full time on the first day of term (unless parents decide otherwise)

noramum · 29/05/2013 19:24

Only the school can confirm this.

But you will need to think about childcare in general. How do you plan to deal with before/after school? inset days, holidays etc?

DD goes to a childminder and she was happy to have her the extra hours each day. I had the first week off and did 1/2 days in the second week so could pick up a bit early but we also wanted DD to learn the childminder's routine as she was previously at a nursery.

I think the school's after school club opened early for the Reception children as well.

PastSellByDate · 30/05/2013 05:42

Hi super125

Since it sounds like you and your DP both work fulltime - then odds our your DS is in a nursery at the moment.

We approached our nursery about providing childcare for us on days DDs didn't have school until they went full-time later in September and there was no problem.

I wish schools would forewarn parents about this a bit more because certainly year after year MN and friends around us here get caught out on this and have a few weeks of worrying what to arrange for childcare cover. If this was clear from the prospectus/ school visits - parents could be deciding on which schools 'settling in pattern' suits as well, not just proximity, results, reputation, etc....

Anyway - as I said approach your nursery - odds are they will be able to help during this part-time phase and usually work is fairly understanding - (i.e. I was allowed to have a longer lunch break to collect DD at school & drop her to nursery and made up time by working slightly later).

It's always a juggle - but it does work out.

HTH

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 30/05/2013 09:11

I believe you are legally entitled to start full time from day 1. But as others have said, if it's just a few half days, you may prefer to work something out with relatives or your existing childcare.

Pseudonym99 · 31/05/2013 05:06

Or keep your child in their current nursery until they can start school full time. The school has to keep the place open for you until you start.

noramum · 31/05/2013 06:50

Pseudo: can you imagine how odd this will be for a child? When DD left nursery they had a small party for the leavers, most of the children showed around their uniform and shoes and your's would be the only one actually still there while all the others are gone?

And, even with going full day most parents don't work full time between 9.30 and 3 and not next to the school so you still need some sort of childcare.

We sorted out childcare the day the admission letter came. We knew we were going to get into two schools and contacted all the clubs and childminders and spoke to them. By the time the letter came we also had a after school place.

Yes, 3 extra hours to pay for 2 weeks isn't fun but still cheaper than a day nursery.

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 31/05/2013 07:56

It wasn't odd for my DS at all - he started two weeks later than the start of school term and just stayed on happily at daycare.

Pseudonym99 · 31/05/2013 22:14

Nora - sorry, I didn't mean to cause a fight. I can understand it might be confusing for some children, but for others, with a bit of explaining, it will be fine. Our child had a leaving party at nursery, but still went for a few weeks afterwards, as school didn't start till September. Obviously they had to hold the party in July as some children would be leaving nursery before the holidays.

I would have thought it would also be confusing for a child to do a staggered start for school - mornings, then afternoons. Especially if they're already used to full time nursery.

noramum · 02/06/2013 11:16

Pseudo, DD attended nursery full time but I felt she needed the half days to get used to school. Her school did 3 weeks and she was ok after two and wanted to stay longer. The year after the school then shortened the introduction time to two weeks.

I think it really depends on the child but for me it would feel throwing a child into a class two weeks later would be more confusing for her than arranging childcare for these extra hours.

Pyrrah · 03/06/2013 16:06

Legally your child is entitled to full-time education from the beginning of term, so just tell the school that you will be doing that. Simple.

alienbanana · 03/06/2013 16:17

Doesn't always work like that though Pyrrah - I wanted to do that with DS, and they just looked at me like I was mad and pointed out that DS would be on his own after all his classmates left at lunchtime.

Pyrrah · 03/06/2013 16:50

But then it is up to them to provide supervision or perhaps use the nursery or another class.

If more parents use their entitlement (that they are paying through the nose for via taxation) then the schools will need to start making proper provision.

alienbanana · 03/06/2013 18:24

Well I'm sure they would have done if I'd insisted... But I didn't want my DS to have to sit in a classroom on his own. There isn't a nursery attached to the school either.
Not sure it would have been a great start for him!

Its only a short period of time and it helps them settle in.

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 03/06/2013 18:24

Alien, I suspect some other parents would have got their DCs to join you...

alienbanana · 03/06/2013 18:42

Haha, no.. very very high proportion of SAHMs at our school - none of them even questioned it.

alienbanana · 03/06/2013 18:46

I suppose I'm just pointing out that it's all well and good to say that you're entitled to full time from day 1, and of course you are.. and if I'd put my foot down it probably would have happened.. somehow.

But in reality it was clearly a request that they'd not had before, were a bit baffled by, and nobody else was going to ask them about it. It helped that everybody else knew that it was going to be half days for two weeks (- somehow I'd been missed off the list for that ), so the few who needed to were able to arrange wraparound care.

I think it's fine.. as long as the school gives adequate notice.

Pyrrah · 04/06/2013 16:50

Just rang DD's new school to check if they intended to do staggered starts. They sounded a bit worried and said that if I felt she wasn't ready they'd try and sort something out so she could have half-days for a week or so!

They couldn't understand why schools didn't want them all there on the first day full-time - this is a 60 intake school in Central London.

V relieved that don't have to be 'that parent' from day one...

olibeansmummy · 04/06/2013 17:57

Ds will do half days for 2 1/2 weeks. I'd rather he just went full time tbh as it will confuse him when he's used to doing 9-3 at nursery.

donedreaming · 09/06/2013 21:56

HI I know Fircroft. They should be having an introduction meeting early in July I think to cover everything about starting, which class your child will be in etc. There is a very good breakfast and after school club as well but that might be a bit much for the first week or so. I think they only take a week to stagger the entry so hopefully not too much of a problem for you. I'm sure you could talk to them about it if it was going to be very tricky for you. The head of Early Years is very understanding. Good luck - it's really nice warm school

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