DD was exhausted at the beginning of reception. What will the jump to Y1 be like?

[Hardtoknow]

I was quite confident that DD was take starting school in her stride. She was used to being at nursery from 8-6 three days a week, was an autumn baby so old for her year, already knew some basic phonics etc. I was wrong. Very wrong. She was exhausted and very temperamental for the whole of the autumn term (at home at least, at school she was delightful). For the spring and summer term she has been her usual self most of the time with the exception being a couple of days leading into the Easter holiday and the current run into the summer holidays.
What is the transition to Y1 like? I know DD's school made it quite a gradual transition during the whole of the autumn term but DD had a taster day in her Y1 class yesterday and kept talking about the "tasks" they had to do each day. Will she be exhausted again?
We have just been sent sign up sheets for after school clubs. This year, she has done nothing as few clubs are offered for reception children and those that are didn't interest her. She couldn't do any external clubs after school due to logistics. There are two Y1 clubs that I think she would really enjoy, one of which is sports based. Both last 40 minutes. If she is like she is now, they will be fine. If she is back to how she was last autumn, I imagine she will either fall asleep during them or burst into tears as soon as she is picked up.
Any advice?

If she was used to long days at nursery, it seems odd she was so tired at school. I have to say that my children, both summer born, were never tired and did dancing after school, singing, swimming and Rainbows. I think there is a jump from some reception classes to year 1, but in our school it was seemless. My DDs were both enthused about it. I would have a good rest over the summer. She will develop more maturity in front of your eyes. Sometimes children do get over-tired when there is a lot going on and adjustments to make. I have seen very few children who do not thrive in Y1 but you may want to leave the clubs until after Christmas so you can see how it is going. Have a great summer.

DD -despite 4 full days at nursery - found Reception difficult at first. I think it was the fact to deal with 60 children in two interconnecting classrooms and just 4 adults. Also, they were expected to be a lot more independent compared to her nursery. So long days do not necessarily equal no problems at school.

Interestingly some other parents, summer and autumn born children at a different nursery, mentioned the same.

DD found Y1 demanding in the way that more independence was expected. The teacher and TA wouldn't go through the book bags, the children had to bring letters and diaries to them. There was more teacher-led learning, children were required to finish tasks, do them when required and not when they wanted like in YR. There was more homework in a classic way, Reception was more about colouring, drawing, dot-to-dot pictures etc.

DD did two after school activities in Y1 but we only started her after Easter.

My DS is just coming to the end of Year 1, he found it was a big leap from Reception to Year 1 as they had to do 'proper' work & he was tired at first. However since Spring he's started Beavers & an after school club & he's fine.

There's a move to more formal learning in Year 1, so instead of playing outside on the trikes they are inside doing maths which some children can find strange at first, but they get used to it :)

I find that my DS is more tired this time of year, when the school year is drawing to a close & he's tired & hot & bothered, it seems to have affected him more in the last few weeks than it did back in the autumn term.

Thanks. It sounds as though it can vary from child to child and there is little way of predicting it - much like starting reception! I'll sign her up for one club and see how that goes.

I agree with midnite that it's quite a leap from reception to Y1. Reception was very much like nursery ie, lots of play and downtime. Whereas Y1 is much more like 'proper' school work - writing, reading, spelling etc every day. No sand play, junk modelling and all the fun stuff
Mine had also been used to 5 full days at nursery but are struggling at this time of year

Mine was fine in reception but tired in year one but soon adapted. School started ur 1 as they meant to go on so no gentle transition.

Hm. DS has been very very tired pretty much all through reception; in the last few weeks he has perked up. It feels like he's about ready to start school now (and if he had been born 10 days later, that's exactly what he would be doing).

His tiredness is definitely not related to any 'academic' side of things, but rather to socially and emotionally dealing with the jungle that is 29 other children.

Seeing how much he has perked up recently, I have been considering starting him on an after school/out of school activity or two. But this thread makes me hesitate again.

Would it be reasonable to think that as it was the social/emotional stuff that was so very challenging and tired him out, the leap to Y1 should NOT bring back the exhaustion? As the leap is mainly an 'academic' leap (which is fine for him) and the social/emotional side should stay mostly the same, if not become easier (more structured time as opposed to unstructured-deal-with-the-other-kids-yourself time). Thoughts? TIA.

DS1 struggled with the transition to Y1, he found it hard to have to focus on his work with 29 other children around, and to be honest he still struggles now sometimes even at the end of Y2 even though he is very bright (3s nearly across the board in his SATS). He is a late summer baby, he's not 7 yet which I think is a big contributing factor for him.

My advice is to be prepared for them to find it hard, and then if they are fine then that's great :)

First term in Y1 was very hard, dd was shattered until Christmas and fine ever since.

I think it all depends on the child. Dd1 and ds have been tired and missed/will miss the free play aspect. Dd2 in the middle wasn't tired and found it more enjoyable when she had more directed time.

As for clubs in some ways you could think about what you would be doing if it was a subsequent child. Ds has been trailing around all year ferrying siblings to activities. It is hard to tell a yr4 that they can't go to a club which they have attended for years because their brother might be tired. He does swimming at the moment and will probably start Beavers and football in yr 1.

For the clubs I'd pick the sports based one, they are probably mentally tired, but do have physical energy to burn, having been cooped up all day.