Half days for ages!

[SunnySideDeepDown]

My child starts school in September and their school has sent an emailing outlining the first few weeks schedule, which includes a two week build up to full days. The first half week is until 11.30. Then a week or so of staying until after lunch and then a few days until 2pm.

I find it really tone deaf of the school to expect parents to be able to juggle this (we both work full time busy jobs and have 2 other, older children at the same school). Our annual leave is already stretched.

Are there any teachers here with insight on why the school would offer this?

My child is used to full time preschool and has older siblings in the school. They’re more than ready to jump straight into school life.

Our LA has told us they’re entitled to full time from day 1 on the offer email, shall I raise this with the school? I don’t want to be a trouble maker but I just can’t see the rationale. Isn’t it easier for kids to have a schedule and get used to it, rather than changing it every few days?

If building relationships and setting ground rules/school expectations and learning the ropes is important, why only offer half days to do this?

Because it's easier and more effective to do it in smaller groups for half a day, rather than the whole class all day. Offering them all day stops the ability to build relationships so quickly as there are more children to get round, and some children are sadly more likely to go under the radar in the first few days while more dominant/needy characters take all that attention. A smaller group makes it much easier to get around everyone in terms of equal attention. Far from being 'lazy' on the school's part for starting them in smaller groups for a few days, as someone suggested, it's actually because Reception teachers value the importance of that early relationship building and want to offer the children the best experience possible.

However, not all schools are the same and I appreciate in your circumstances it can seem particularly frustrating or confusing as to why they're doing it. For a one form entry school where nearly all the children come from the setting's own nursery and already know each other, I really don't think it's necessary. I'm coming from it from my own setting's point of view. We take 60 children from multiple settings, some of whom have never even been to nursery, with very few who already know each other. We need to do an awful lot of relationship building in the first few days. A few part time days is pretty essential for us to get off to the best start as a class.

A lot of my original replies were to someone else. If you notice, in my original reply to you I stated how any more than a few days is overkill. I said I think you should be contacting the school about how they can help you, as having her part time for so long just isn't possible in your circumstances.

I'm pleased to hear you can see the purpose of a few part time days in schools like my own. I totally don't think it's necessary to make it a long drawn-out process, especially in schools like your own. A lot of my subsequent replies have been justifying the practice to those who don't think it's necessary at all, or even illegal. They weren't all necessarily about your circumstances. Sorry for any confusion.

A lot of my subsequent replies have been justifying the practice to those who don't think it's necessary at all, or even illegal

Just to be clear, it is definitely illegal for a school to insist on this. They can request it, but they cannot insist.

Yes I'm very clear on that thank you. They're doing nothing wrong by planning a staggered start, the practice of planning a staggered start is not illegal. I've always maintained schools need to offer an alternative to support those who need it.

Did you miss where OP said it was her third child ?

It is not being a "dick" to politely remind the school of their obligations under the Admissions Code.

The full time from day one should be the norm as per the Admissions Code and a staggered start for those children whose parents feel they would benefit from it.

No problem and I’m sorry if I was replying to messages that weren’t to me 🙂

It totally depends how you interpret it. You're talking as if it is illegal for any school to plan a general staggered start for their pupils. It is not!

2.17 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;
b) the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the
school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at
which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the
beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was
made; and
c) where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in
the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach
compulsory school age.

It does not specify full time from the very first day of term. If parents state they require full time from their first day, they are entitled to it. The school can arrange plans for the whole cohort to start part time if this is how they choose to organise it. They are doing nothing wrong by planning it. What they can't do is insist on it if it doesn't work for someone.

You are interpreting point c as schools can only offer part time if parents want it. It's simply that parents can request part time if the school do not do stagger starts, or request part time beyond the proposed staggered start should they want it. That's a right of the parent to request. It does not say schools can ONLY stagger the start if parents want it.

Ultimately, schools can set out the dates/times for their Reception children to start, but parents can request (or more accurately insist on) a longer period of part-time, or no part time at all, depending on their needs. That is the right of the parent, as outlined in the code. It does not say schools should not plan a staggered start at all. If it did, schools would not do it. Do you really think thousands of schools get away with an illegal practice each year by planning a staggered start, despite it being against the admissions code? If they genuinely couldn't do it, they wouldn't. As long as they follow the code as it's written (rather than your interpretation) they're doing nothing wrong.

I feel we're going round in circles now.

You have about 3 months to sort out childcare if needed. Schools don’t do this for fun they are planning and have things to do when the new reception starters are in part time and it’s usually only 1 or 2 weeks at most

You've said a few times that you're given 3 months notice. I've been told that at the end of July, I will receive the dates/half days/staggered start for September. Please explain to me how that is at least 3 months :)

Where do you get the childcare from - they have left nursery (and their place filled). A staggered start can be unsettling for some children which is why we opted for full time from day one - as did many others in the school (almost 100% with two full time working parents).

She might have 3 months but it doesn’t make it any less annoying. The OP has two older children and knows the drill but most likely her annual leave has already been stretched for holidays, inset days, random assemblies at 10.30am etc. I’d love to know who finds it easy to magic up an extra 2 weeks of leave because I certainly didn’t find it that easy and found my whole annual leave year was affected due to the slow start for my second and needing to take time.

I'm so excited to learn, thanks to some amazing mums on this thread, that there are holiday clubs that accept 4 year olds for the first two weeks of September. Solves all my issues for those half days 😂

@Blueberry911 didn’t you know there was one on every corner!

I normally have a pretty good choice of holiday provision but my term starts a bit later this year. I have not found a single club within a 30 mile radius open on the 3rd September.

I knew about the staggered school start (although DC school didn't have one) but was rather blindsided by the two week October half term and that the local holiday clubs started at age 5. Supercamps starts at 4 though.

What I thought was really unfair about the staggered starts (a friend went through this with twins in 2016) was they didn't tell the parents until AFTER the deadline for giving notice at nursery. Or they could have kept them there for September possibly.

I requested f/t from day 1 for both dc. Schools preference was a 2 week intro but many parents said that a staggered start wouldn’t work for them and the children started f/t.

3 class entry in city school.

Our Local Authority have made it very clear that children need to be in full time from day one. We did anyway but some schools did as you describe.

And I would challenge under the attendance guidance as well as the legal right to a full time education. Since 2024 schools should also be setting good patterns of attendance.
For some children (those of compulsory school age) a staggered start could be considered a part time timetable which comes with clear expectations around parental agreement.
I would be challenging the board/trustees as to how they are meeting the government requirements in this document as well as the need for a part time agreed timetable ( if CSA).

P25
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf

I would try to agree some sort of compromise with the school, such as 3-5 short days and then f/t.

Children and teachers benefit from short days to get to know each other and being a third child doesn’t change the fact that school is a big transition for them.

Leading a unit of 120 children, we had a huge transition plan. Small groups coming into school (with or without parents) visits to and from day nurseries, time in school at lunchtime, all as appropriate to the child, but this was completed by the end of the summer term.

We added small groups of visiting children to the class, used the time where current reception children were in their Y1 class, Y1 in Y2 (Y6’s taking SATS, transition days to their new secondary, a sports event with the secondaries etc).

Really smooth start, day 1 in September, full time for all children. At parents meetings prior to starting, we made it clear that parents could request part time if they felt their child required it and we planned individually with them.

The early school days included time to rest and plenty of outdoor time. It also meant we met the requirements to teach phonics right from the start.
The Reading Framework is clear that phonics instruction begins as soon as children enter Reception (the first year of primary school in England):

• “Daily phonics sessions should begin as soon as children start their Reception year”
• It even mentions that phonics lessons might be only ten minutes long in the first few days, building up to about an hour per day by the end of Reception

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/664f600c05e5fe28788fc437/The_reading_framework_.pdf

As I said, all schools are different. We do offer a transition programme with visits over the summer but sadly, in a very deprived and multicultural area, not everybody engaged with it or understands the importance of it.

When I worked in a school with a feeder pre-school right next door, where nearly all our children came from, it was much easier as a member of staff would bring them over regularly in small groups throughout the summer term and I'd regularly pop over. Where I am now, we take from over 20 settings each year (or no setting at all) so it's much more of a logistical nightmare.

We do starts phonics (in a fun playful way, Phase 1 listening games) from day one. I haven't said that we don't? All I said is that the learning may not be as formal as some are picturing on day one. Our scheme starts in week 3 after baseline, so as not to influence. They're still accessing phonics from day one. It's just a different way of doing it.

Our school did four bloody weeks of all over the place settling in sessions and it was a nightmare. Cost us literally thousands in unpaid leave that we had no choice but to take. I wish lots of parents would start taking up the legally required full time place from
day one or after a week or so, but unfortunately no one has done so I wasn't going to do that for my child only and make the school hate me from day one.

It’s ridiculous and not in the interests of the children. Half days for a week and then full time is more than adequate. My child didn’t know if they were coming or going.

Thankfully my DC’s school didn’t do this. All mine were in FT nursery from a young age, so hardly think they’d have needed a staggered start to get used to school hours. I’d push back if you can OP.

School hours are shorter than nursery so not a problem. DT’s did breakfast and after school clubs as well and were fine. They were excited to start school - I wasnt going to do anything to make it complicated