5 year old, catch him first and carry him through classroom door

[Amees1]

Hi all. I'm sure I'm not alone, but it feels like it when all the other children go into school so nicely or maybe with a few tears.
We've just started year 1. Day 1 was great, then it went downhill. A mixture of starting as soon as he wakes saying he doesn't want to go, walking to school ok or moaning all the way - it's 20 minutes. To playing nicely in the playground but then refusing to go in. I lost him once as he ran off, thankfully only for a few minutes. Most mornings now consist of me trying to find a way of getting hold of him, picking him up somehow and carrying him into the classroom. I think he feels it's all a bit of a game now, and I'm hoping it's just that it's still early days and soon enough he'll realise this isn't up for debate, so get on with it. I ask him why and all he says is I don't want to, or the classroom is too small. He says no-one plays with him and they don't do anything all day, which of course isn't true. I'm running out of 'tricks'. Any advice please? Thanks.

My DD had a difficult start to yr1 after having loved reception. I had to peel her off me, sobbing, and pretty much shove her through the door to one of the staff. She was absolutely fine once in, and enjoyed school so that'd be the first thing I'd check with your son. Is something going on at school that's putting him off?
Assuming all is OK, all you can do is keep doing it, it will get better eventually. It took us until christmas to turn the corner, then my DD blossomed.

There have been a couple in tears in DS's class at the beginning of Year 1. It's a big change for them! So may just be a case of getting used to the new routines and being back at school after the summer break.

That said I think my approach would be
a) chat to child to check what's bothering him.
b) chat to teacher to see if they've noticed anything bothering him.
c) warn child that if he can't be trusted to go into the classroom when it's time, you will have to hold his hand and not let him go off to play in the playground before school.

They're still little and if there are friendship issues I think the staff will still be keen to support them, just like in reception.

Talk to the teacher and see if you can put strategies in place. Could the teacher give him a task that he needs to do before school starts that he would enjoy - feeding the class pet, putting down the chairs, etc so that he is keen to go in to the rom in the morning?

My ds was like this - it actually started during his Reception year (on and off) and got much worse when he moved into Y1. I think overall he found it very hard to adjust to going to school every day and also struggled with the reduction in playing time in Y1 compared to YR His teacher was lovely but baffled by it as most of the time he was perfectly happy once in the classroom, was coping well with the work and didn't seem to have any friendship issues. I used to dread taking him to school and hated seeing him so upset, so I really feel for you OP. His teacher introduced a system where he was given a house point if he managed to walk into the classroom with a smile on his face and this did help a bit. Interestingly, it all stopped when he moved into Y2 - it was as if he just didn't 'get' school until that point. In hindsight I wish I'd considered

Oops, sorry.
...I wish I'd considered home schooling for a while until he was more ready (probably a controversial solution!) but a) it didn't occur to me at the time and b) would have been a struggle for me, with a pre-schooler at home and dc4 on the way .
He's 7 now, just moved into Y3 and is really settled.
Sorry not to have more advice OP but I do know what you're going through and hope you can find a solution that works for your ds.

I am the 'owner' of one of the ones that goes straight in smiling. For the first 2 weeks I had a very unhappy little girl at home as she adjusted. They react in different ways, but the changes are unsettling for all of them I think. They are so little. ...

not really advice though sorry, I was just chatting to one of the mums having difficulty the other day and she seemed slightly reassured by this.