Big free flow entry reception?

[CrapColdCoffee]

Can anyone tell me their (hopefully positive!) experiences of such?
My PFB is due to start in a 3FE school with such setup: three large rooms with sliding doors between them, only closed for phonics etc. They're also all joined with large outdoor area to use in all weathers.
We visited during the open days, with few people in, I'm feeling quite antsy she won't settle with so much noise and activity. She's neither particularly shy nor outgoing.
She was due to start in a smaller school but our housing situation has changed and this school is the nearest... I can't really cope with a big school run and this school is a short walk away.
Thanks!

@ancientgran Oh I see! I guess at least she'll only have to survive the noise for one year- at least indoors. Playground gets noisy too!

My DD prefers a quiet environment and did found free flow reception a bit much at times. But the teachers helped her out and supported her and she soon managed it fine. There’s a big change going into year 1 where it’s all much more controlled and calmer so even if you need to support her for that first year it soon changes!

Being able to walk to school is such a boon. I don’t envy the parents I see searching for parking every morning.

Yes that is lucky, my son had it for 3 years and as I said it was the ones in the middle who had the worst experience although I should say the year 1 teacher was the weaker of the 3 teachers so that might have been a factor. I suppose to be fair I should also consider that maybe she appeared the weakest due to the circumstances.

The carpets made a big difference although not always ideal when little ones doing messy activities. The reception teacher told me she was so happy not to have to listen to 90 chairs being moved around. Poor woman, she was a wonderful teacher but coming up to retirement and by July she looked totally exhausted.

The rooms are setup in a way that each room has specific stations, ie middle room has phonics, front room has maths. I don't even think they have 90 chairs there, I mean I didn't count but it didn't look like that!
There are 'stations' for different activities, I think some of them they're meant to be stood up? Is that an unusual setup?
They seem to have a good variety of activities, especially comparing to a 1FE school I visited! They also have one teacher and one teaching assistant per class.
Well too late now we've got a space, we'll have to try it!
I'm sure we'll stretch the 12 min walk to 20 too 🙄

@CrapColdCoffee
My DD1 was in a “hen and chickens” classroom for YR. This was a while ago snd there were 66 children. There was a main large classroom and two smaller ones set up for numeracy and literacy. Around 15/20 children in each at a time. So quite like your arrangement.

I know we were lucky with exceptional teachers but it was never chaotic and each child had a wonderful array of learning opportunities in the main classroom where they did the messier work. There was a mix of carpets and vinyl tiles but the tiles were where there was water!

I will be honest and say this group of DC were mostly ready for school and turned out to be pretty high achieving in terms of who got to grammar schools. I didn’t know a single parent who complained and no one left. It was the best school around and many DC gained so much by the school giving them confidence and supporting their development. I didn’t feel anyone was ignored or left behind. This school was better than some private schools and many DC really did well there.All activities were carefully planned and learning was excellent.

Therefore I would not worry unless there are too many not ready for school. My DD and most of the others loved YR. The mix of more formal learning and learning through “play” (planned activities) worked brilliantly.

@TizerorFizz I'm not quite sure how 'ready' for school other children would be! Should I be worried? The school is ofsted 'good' but pretty average area, not very affluent I suppose. I know they quickly start 'streaming' them so it shouldn't be a problem if some children need some more support? My DC is definitely ready for school as she's autumn born so should be ok. Lots of positive opinions from parents, teachers keep in touch well and are communicative.

@CrapColdCoffee
I was a governor of a school with a very disadvantaged intake and the proportion not ready for school was far greater than where I lived. Unfortunately a few were not potty trained, couldn’t use a pencil, or turn the pages of a book, could not articulate what they need, could not sit down and listen or follow simple instructions, and they ran around noisily and certainly struggled to play appropriately etc. Some will have SEN.

However a skilful teacher will differentiate learning and your DD should benefit from this. DD1 was August born and sailed through! Some older DC struggled for a bit so it’s not always the young ones. These days some summer born DC might defer anyway.

No. You won’t know about other DC in advance and we all know Covid has seriously held back child development. Do you know DC from nursery who have chosen this school? What about local DC? It’s difficult to pre judge what the DC will be like but I’m afraid right now some might struggle. Hopefully the school will be adept at teaching them as well as the settled DCs with better scores in early years milestones . If DD doesn’t tell you about naughty DC, it’s all under control!