Do parents normally stay for reception birthday parties?

[Brightoncheery]

Just wondering what to expect!

I started dropping my DD off about halfway reception. She was almost 5 by then. My experience is that almost everyone stays at 4 and almost everyone drops at 6. At 5 it varies according to child and type of party.

Thanks for all of the replies! My DC is only 4 and a bit shy, so I think we'll just see what everyone else at the party is doing, as it seems to vary.

Varied with my children too
DC1 all stayed in term one, then only one mum stayed (as her child didn't like to be dropped)
DC2 all stayed all through reception and most still stay in year 1.

I'd much rather drop - squirty wirty for two hours is not my idea of a pleasant way to spend my weekend.

I sometimes stay with DD 9 at parties!!!
Not because she's pfb or anything but a few of us stay and drink coffee and gossip but if I couldn't stay it would be fine as well

I have DS 1 in year1 and DS2 in year R. For both most but not all parents are staying at parties in both year groups. Most hosts seem happy enough if you want to leave them, but actually most parents seem to stay and have a natter.

This is an interesting question.

So at a house party, what happens in the case of loo accidents, or worse, injuries from fights or similar? Or a child escaping the garden and going awol? Is the host supposed to take full responsibility for a dozen children? Is there a public liability issue? No, seriously...

At DSS's school there seemed to be an unspoken rule that adults would stay in reception but stop the instant y1 started!

I think there is the unspoken expectation that the party hosts will ensure there are enough adults to cope with the number of children.

When I had a Reception house party I explicitly asked a couple of other parents to stay for this reason. Other people rope in grandparents.

Never had injuries from fights at a birthday party

But yes, I would expect the host to rope in help. TBH even with 4yos, the last thing you want with a dozen kids in the house is their dozen parents.

Agree LyndaCarter - my DH was always at footie on a Sat so tbh with 3 DC I didn't have a lot of choice.

In my experience yes and tbh, in year 1 now they still stay. But they are a particularly gossipy lot so we like to have a coffee and a matter while the party is going on :)

Always stayed!... until Year 2 when DS asked me to go. Also always asked the host parents about their suggestion. Best to have a group of parents supporting the supervision of large groups of children of any age.

We all stay at use it as an opportunity to catch up with other parents. It is definitely expected in our class. I think it tails off at the end of y1/y2.

DS is in Y1 and in his class parents still stay unless it's a party in someone's home. There's normally some food for the parents too.