'full time' education

[carbcraver]

My 4yr old will turn 5 before she starts school this year, and I do not think she requires the 6 weeks of 'settling in' days that the school run.

People have mentioned that the school 'have' to take her full time from 5 (if I request this), does anyone have a link to anything official that states this that I can firstly read to confirm speculations! and secondly, show the school when I make such a brazen request!

thanks all :)

Choose a different school. Not all schools do this. I'm sorry but unless you want your child to sit in the construction area playing alone there is no way to do this. They will say no.

So she is starting in September in reception? I thought the schools offer the settling before the end of summer term in july, this will vary from school to school. Ds1 school had 3 afternoons, then 2 full days over a few weeks. Are they offering 6 full weeks of settling or 6 weeks split into sessions?

I think you are best speaking to the school and saying why you don't think she need it and comes to an agreement. Bare in mind all the new things she needs to learn....register, where toilets are, where to be at play time, where to eat lunch, rules of the class, teachers names etc

But if that's their settling in process, do you want her alone for periods of every day? She will become unsettled seeing every other child getting collected!

Children must be in full-time education from the term after the term in which they turn five, which for your daughter will be after Christmas- presuming her birthday is at the beginning of September.
The autumn term begins on 1st September even though schools may not actually start until a few days later due to Inset days.

Crab - can I ask what you have against her "settling in"? I am certain that your child is perfectly capable of going full days starting the first day of school, but it is only half a term, and frankly, her/his last half term before routinely having full days. If you work full time and the half term settling in would be problematic/expensive in terms of childcare, fair enough. Otherwise, it really is not that big a deal.

I suggest you quote the school admissions code at them, this does have the force of law, though it gains this through the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
Paragraph 2.16 of the school admissions code says.

Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. The authority must make it clear in their arrangements that, where they have offered a child a place at a school
A) that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday.

How would school accommodate this? If all the other kids are on a specific schedule, which children will OP's child sit with when the others aren't there? Yr1s? Sounds like social confidence disaster to me.

Full time education does not mean full time childcare and i am pretty sure the school will have discretion over how they manage children starting school for the first time. I very much doubt you will find links to any legal documents. But I am happy to stand corrected.

Agree. The school has no obligation.

Why would you want your child to sit in a school when all her classmates have gone for the day?

I can totally see why this is a ridiculous faff for dc who have been used to going to Nursery FT from when they were little.
I remember back when dc2 and then dc3 started, (dc1 had started at a different school with much better arrangements) they were completely thrown by the starting and stopping that went on - they were expecting to go all day, every day as they had at Nursery, and at CMs before that, instead of a mish mash of starting and stopping and finishing early and different people trying to collect them to help us out.
When I taught in Reception, I'd rather they started sooner rather than later - staggered, yes, but all in FT before the end of Sept.

In my school we have them all in from the first day, full time. Can't stand all this starting/stopping nonsense!

I agree with Sugar . Our (single form entry) school just starts everyone full time from day 1. If you think it is too much then you can take them out for the odd afternoon. I see no reason to have more than 1 week of 'settling in' max, even with a 4 form entry school

Why on earth would you want to leave your child there when all others are collected? Also not exactly a great way to start you relationship with the reception teacher

Why on earth would you want to leave your child there when all others are collected? Also not exactly a great way to start you relationship with the reception teacher.

Probably because trying to finish work early, or start late, for SIX weeks is nigh on impossible for most people? And six weeks of faffing around is overkill for the vast majority of children.

I worked in a school too so couldn't accommodate the school's request for a long settling in period.

The older children were in full time by the 3rd week, the younger children (including DS) not till the 4th, so I asked that he go full time with the older ones.

Honestly it sounds like a recipe for trouble - leaving one child seeing all their friends going home while they stay at school doesn't sound great.
I don't imagine she'll be learning once they are all home - probably in the play area in her classroom or given some colouring etc work to do in another class while her teacher preps things around the school.

Do you know any other parents? Maybe if you can get a group of you that need to skip settling in then your DD will have some friends to play with at school.

I get your feelings on this one but for the avoidance of being that parent, before your child has even started school, I'd just go along with it and grin and bear it.

My kids have both done nursery. They found school very different and much more tiring.
The settling in is a nightmare for working parents. It helps staff establish routines and the class to gel together. (The staff/student ratios are not the same as nursery and more is expected of children eg changing for PE.)

I don't get all this stop start business either. Dd's just does ft from the start. Unless of course a parent requests pt at first. Or the odd time they've had dc when there's reason to believe they'll struggle, they'll let them start a week or so later when staff can dedicate a bit more time to them.

I'd just ask op, could be school would prefer it but assume most parents prefer this way, and wouldn't object at all to your dd skipping all the dragged out start stuff.

6 weeks is ludicrous.

Paragraph 58 of The Office of the School Adjudicator Annual Report 14-15 states:

The Code at paragraph 2.16 makes clear that it is for the parents to decide whether their child attends school prior to reaching compulsory school age and if so, whether attendance is full or part-time. Schools must make full-time provision available from the beginning of the autumn term of the school year in which the child reaches compulsory school age, the September following the child’s fourth birthday. Some schools provide an induction period such that it appears schools dictate the sessions for which children can and cannot attend school, including setting requirements that contravene a parent’s right to full or part-time or deferred schooling contrary to the requirements of the Code.

So yes, the school must allow your child to start full time from the beginning of the Autumn term.

For many children, the alternative- an unfamiliar childcare provider- is far more unsettling and disruptive than starting school full time from day one.

Surely consistency is good for them, a week or two of shorter days until they adjust maybe but not 6 weeks!