Blimey, this all sounds very "touchy feely"!
We (private school, SW London) get an afternoon's induction in the summer term, then everyone starting all at the same time (18 in class) doing at least 5 mornings and 3 afternoons with effect from beginning of September, with a view to doing five afternoons by January. No home visits, staggered intake etc
HOWEVER, more than half of the children come up through the nursery class, and so were already doing 5 mornings and 3 afternoons anyway.
Interestingly although it sounds a bit brutal looking at other people's experiences I'm not aware that anyone found it really hard doing it this way. It is quite a small, relatively relaxed school, with a single intake per year.