Staggered Starts - Reception

[TheCoolFawn]

We have been provisionally told that the primary school our son will be attending from September does a 2 week staggered start but they are not in a position to share what this looks like yet. Does anyone have an example of what this looked like for their school? Just trying to work out how much annual leave I am likely to need to take. TIA!

I think there is no one answer, as each school has different plans.

You can refuse to accept. I didn’t want to take so much annual leave, especially as my child had been in nursery 4 days a week since they were 10 months old. I felt going part time was a step backwards for her. The school is paid for your child to be there full time, so they are obligated to keep them there. I didn’t the first 2 days until lunch time and then after that she stayed the full day. There were about 3 other children who did the same thing, so she wasn’t sat at lunch on her own.

It will probably be half days some of the time and depending on how they do it, your child may not be in at all on some days. You basically need to book 2 weeks off work.

It is good that you have been thinking about planning ahead for this. Each school has their own approach designed for the smoothest transition for the children.
As a PP has said I’d plan 2 weeks leave/ flexible working or some child care.
Some start mornings before staying for lunch as a trial and some schools might stagger starts across the week for example.
I’m sure they will let you know once plans are in place.

I'm glad more people are challenging this. Staggered starts are useful if they're a day or 2, but there's no justification for weeks of random half days and playing the bloody hokey cokey. If often means a child is more unsettled when starting school, as very few parents can take weeks off. So the reality for most children is a confusing start, where they're in school one day then home again the next or with granny, a neighbour or even back at nursery again. Any school that claims a prolonged staggered start helps a child settle is talking nonsense.

@WhingeMy eldest is 16 now so it’s a long time ago that I pushed back. They were more stubborn with my youngest (now 13), and I only worked 3 days a week then so I was willing to work with them a little more, but still for those 3 days she went all day. They make out that it’s long days for them, but both my girls had been in nurseries from 7:30 to 6pm, so a school day was more than manageable.

Dont get me wrong, for those children who have never been in this kind of setting before I can imagine it’s overwhelming. But they ought to be more flexible for those who are used to it. It wasn’t at all easy for them to agree to keeping her there all day, in fact I think I just left her there after arguing with them. It was only after that I realised she wasn’t the only one there all day.

When DS started we just had one class in on the first day (Tuesday) and the other class Wednesday then everyone in from Thursday. It meant the children got used to the environment in a slightly less chaotic way.

In the end there was an issue and the school didn’t reopen until the Wednesday so one class missed their transition day. But it never did them any harm!!

Our school don’t do this thankfully. They do full days from the start.
parents can request early finishes on a case by case

Our school does first week 08.40-11.40, second week 08.40 - 12.40 and third week 08.40 - 15.15. It was an absolute ballache with my daughter and I pushed back and said she needed to be there all day but they said no. Dreading it with my son in September!

Every school is different and school policies change over the years. Same school, two week staggered start meant DS didn’t attend till the last day as they introduced 2/3 children per day by age and he was youngest so started on the final Friday. I do think this was bonkers.

Three years later mornings only for a week. Less bonkers but a lot of these children has been in attached school nursery for 9-3 anyway so we’re very used to routine and classroom as lots of integration between nursery/ p1 class (Scotland)

Two years later covid times but now it’s straight in full time.

My daughter is in year 1 - when she started reception she did a couple of days just in for the morning, then a couple of days staying for lunch and then onto whole days after that.

I think a 2-week staggered start is over the top, particularly as most kids have been in some sort of childcare setting before school.

However, I wouldn't underestimate how exhausted they will be - school is very different to nursery. My DD went from a fairly small private nursery class to a classroom full of 29 other children (not to mention an even busier lunch hall). She was absolutely wiped out for most of the first term - she loved it though!

I think schools are very good at implying you are the only one with an issue. It’s often very helpful to chat to other parents to see if they might be feeling the same way.

Ours was basically two weeks of stop/start - two hours here, half a day there. I think they were all in full time on the second Thursday. Completely ridiculous when most children have been in nursery/pre-school for full days before they start school. I felt a couple of half days to settle them in would have been best. My son found it unsettling to 'start' school and then have two days off 🙄

Ours did teacher visits in the first week so there was no-one in the Reception classroom.

They do get tired but that can easily be mitigated by early bedtimes and quiet weekends. Mine didn't actually get sleepy tired, his behaviour just went a bit difficult for a few weeks.

Our DC are now in their 20s, and mercifully, the version of the 'staggered start' employed by their primary school was for groups of pupils to start on specific days over the first couple of weeks of term, but on full days and with the willingness to negotiate (which we did, successfully, for an earlier start date, with both DS1 and DD - all three of our DC had been in full-day day nursery for three or four days a week from the age of a few months and two had also attended a local preschool). However, the most desirable school locally employed the 'random half days, on random days of the week, for the first month' version - and may do still, for all I know; because it's the most desirable, people tend to take the view that whatever School X does, that's the right way to do it.

In between, you had our actual catchment school and at least one other, where the pupils were only in for the morning for the first term (at least marginally easier to sort out with a childminder, but ).

My school has the youngest half of the year group going in for mornings and the eldest in the year group going in the afternoons for the first two weeks. None of them have lunch at school until week 2 where the AM kids will stay for lunch, then go home and the PM kids will come in at lunchtime and go home at the end of the day.

Thank you all so much for your advice and examples. It’s really helpful and I completely agree with some form of transition, especially if children haven’t been in any formal setting before but some of these do feel a little excessive. I’ll provisionally go for the 2 weeks. Thanks again!

I refused and my child started full time with a few others straight away. No issues it was actually beneficial for my child to meet the others slowly.

Our was similar at the start of this term. First week: small groups on Mon, Tues, Weds (so they were in 0.5 day/3), then 0.5 whole class, then everyone in until 2pm. The next week, it was everyone in full time.

Ours was quite short compared to a lot of local schools but worked well. DD was more comfortable when she had an idea what the rules were, and where the loos were.

Even though she had been at nursery/preschool 4 days week (8-5) the sessions were still tiring, and we had a lot.of big emotions, so it was good to have more downtime that week.

My dd's school did half days for the first 4 days. They all stayed for the afternoon for half a day on one of those days in smaller groups to have some 121 time with their teachers and placement tests. This worked fine as it wasn't too tiring or confusing. It did mean I had to take some annual leave that week but it worked fine and seemed to be genuinely in the interest of the kids. 2 weeks I think is a bit ridiculous. A couple of days to get their bearings and manage the fatigue but then they need to get going really so there's no confusion around the expectations.

Us too, the transition sessions were in June and July.

Given the DfE guidance on attendance, which includes very clear parameters around part time timetables, the LA maintained schools locally no longer have staggered starts.
P25
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf

I remember thinking childcare would get easier when they started school - how silly of me! Reception year was by far the hardest in terms of juggling - the 3 week settling in phase is just the start. all wrap around care was waitlisted in my area even though they had advertised school based wraparound when applying, multiple weeks lost to sickness (even though we had used nursery), and endless number of school events only communicated last minute.

Our school used to be really bad for lengthy, staggered entry. DC didn’t start Reception until mid September (first week was for the staff to do home visits) and had four weeks of half days alternating between morning and afternoon. The first week of full days was just before half term! We spent £100s on childcare just so we could get to work. Luckily they have now dropped this. Complaints to the school at the time fell on deaf ears.

Every school is different. We always do 2 days part time (older ones am, younger ones pm), then into full time. We understand it can be a pain for parents, but it's so beneficial for the children to go in in a smaller groups for a couple of days. It's less overwhelming and gives the teacher and TA some real quality time to sit and play with everyone and build those early relationships. If they're all in together from the off, it's much harder to get round everyone and check in with every single child (especially if you have some unsettled children who naturally take up more of your time).

I'm sure many children would be fine going straight in to full days with the whole class, but even those who are use to full days at nursery can feel overwhelmed in a new environment with different people. I guess it depends on the school/cohort. For a small village school where all the children have come from the pre-school next door and already know each other, they'd probably be fine doing full days from the off. For children in a 2 form entry Reception unit who take from 10+ different settings, some quieter getting to know you time is really beneficial.

I agree more than a week is too long and messes parents around too much, but for the benefit of the children I would always recommend at least 2 or 3 settling in sessions before starting full time.

I'm sure the school will let you know the arrangements as soon as they've worked it out. Is there any information you can find on their website from previous years to suggest how long it could be? Or do you know any parents with children already at the school who you could ask to get an idea? Most schools have a information evening sometime after May half term (usually June) to let parents know such arrangements, among other things.

It varies by school. when DS started it was a week of half days finishing before lunch, a week of staying for lunch then finishing and then full days (fortunately I was still on maternity as otherwise I would've had to take that time off work). For DD (different school as we'd moved) it was a two or three days (I think) of each child visiting individually for half an hour (normally would've been home visits but this was 2020), summer born children started after that for mornings only, then the rest a couple of days after that with two morning then full time. DD who'd done 4 days at nursery was very annoyed she didn't get to start when her brother went back, but I found that easier to manage than I would've the weeks of half days half days as she just stayed in nursery until her start time.

Just let them know your child will be starting full time on the first day. Legally they are entitled to that.