Can a school insist on full-time attendance for a September starter?

[Tootiredtocare82]

My dd is due to start school in September. She is a July baby so could go the following year. But I would like her to go this year with her friends from the nursery.
The problem is she currently only does 2 days in nursery and 1 at a more relaxed childminder setting and I know she won't cope with 5 days a week in school as she barely copes now.
I also have a 9 year old at the school already and honestly the school is crap. It's in a highly deprived area and the teachers spend most of their time dealing with the challenging kids, so I am in no rush to send my little one there more than I have to as most of her Education will happen at home anyway. I can't use a different school as there aren't any close enough for travel arrangements.
If I defer for a year (I would love to) the nursery won't take her and the childminder doesn't have space, so I'm left with a childcare headache while I work.
I asked the school to consider part time hours until Christmas and then review it. They have said they will do a maximum of 6 weeks and then they would have to consider legal options if I don't send her for the full 5 days.
They have stated that although I don't legally have to send her until the following year, if I send her this year then I have to send her full time.
Just wondering if anyone knows what they can actually do if I don't send her full time after the 6 weeks?

Why will the nursery not take her?

The nursery have said that there won't be space for her to stay there. Which honestly is rubbish because both the school and nursery are undersubscribed. But the nursery is part of the school, so I think its just a way to try and push the kids through.

Just send her in for the 5 days come September. She’ll be knackered for the first few weeks, but she’ll soon get into the rhythm of it.

I understand your concerns but if she does start most Reception classes have a staggered start anyway e.g. a week of mornings, a week of afternoons then in full time.
I know that this can be tough for working parents and it can be difficult to arrange childcare.
You don’t seem to have much faith in the school or staff, which is a shame. There may be others who are unsettled and if DD was going home every day at lunch time this might upset others.
Hope you can find a solution.
Can you not increase her time at Nursery to see how she manages as part of transition?

My daughter is starting in September but summer born so I could keep her at home until next year. In the school pack that arrived from her school it has given me the option to not send her for each of the 3 terms (so I could delay start until January for example) or to go part time although it doesnt specify what part time looks like. According to the paperwork though I could not send her until January and then send her part time for the rest of the school year.

Honestly it's quite rare for a child to not manage 5 days at 4. I think you're setting yourself a self fulfilling prophecy here if you go into it thinking she won't cope.

By September most children want to hit the ground running and the sooner they know the routine the easier it is. Chopping and changing and bringing her home when her friends get to stay will in all likelihood make it harder for her.

Defer and find another childminder!
I deferred my July born (nursery kept him on though) and in Y2 the teacher told me I had definitely done the best choice.

I can imagine it would be a massive issue as she will be missing big chunks of learning each week and constantly playing catch up. You'd be better off defferring her than doing this. My DD is in reception and a June baby, she has learned so much already. I had similar worries about DD starting pre school but actually I found that when she wasn't at pre school she was confused to see her friends going in but not joining them.

The school is wrong. Point them in the direction of the Admissions Code. If it is what you want to do, you can choose to send DD part time until she is CSA, which would be September 2027.

It will be harder for your child to settle and integrate into the class if she is not there all the time. Being part-time is not something to do lightly. It’s a last resort for extreme situations.

If you don’t trust the school and there are no other options in your area, then you move. That is what people do when the school just doesn’t work for their child. It is expensive and disruptive, but sometimes it is necessary.

I appreciate your answers thank you. This is my third child and I know she won't cope with 5 days in school, she is a very bright little button and ready for the school environment but definitely not ready for full time. Maybe she will be by October but I need to know what i can do if she isn't.

The school doesn't offer half days or deferred term starts. So its either a full year delay or a maximum 6 weeks part time and I'm just trying to figure out my best option.
Sadly I have no faith in the school. 6 children have left my daughters class this year to find other schools, with parents travelling many miles or even moving house because of how bad it is

I believe the school is wrong about her not being able to go part time - this is from a council near me but I assume it’s not a council specific policy area https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/school-admissions/school-starting-age

In my opinion though, I think trying to sort childcare so that you can defer would be a better option than going part time. Part time would be my least preferred option, because she’ll miss a lot that the other children will do. If you defer, she’ll do it all next year along with her classmates.

she is a very bright little button and ready for the school environment but definitely not ready for full time.

In what way do you think she isn't ready? She's never had the chance to try full time and if she's bright and eager she should be fine?

If you don't want to try the 6 weeks then I think your only real option is to find another school. It doesn't sound like you think highly of it anyway so that's probably clouding your opinion.

Legally I think she can go PT until 5 which is compulsory school age but as a parent of a summer born I think either they’re ready and they can manage stuff like independent toileting and 10 mins concentrating on the carpet at which point they can manage that 5 full days a week or they’re not and they should be deferred. Part time is the worst of the worst as they’ll miss out on valuable teaching they won’t get back- if you defer she will still get the whole of her hugely important reception year whereas if you go down the PT route she’ll have to go into Y1, which is a massive jump, still one of the youngest in the class but hugely disadvantaged because she’ll only have done half of reception.

Yes

My child is July born, only done 2.5 days at nursery from 3. Prior to that was cared for by us or 1 day a week with a grandparent.
she was tired after her 2.5 days at nursery (she was end of week).
when she went to school in September she loved it but she took until December until she wasn’t tired by the end of the week (tbh she’s in year 2 now and by Thursday night she’s ready for the weekend).

If she’s bright as button and not struggling development wise at nursery I wouldn’t keep her behind.
You also sound so defeated about the school……are there really no other options?
The school will still be the same whether she goes in a few months later.

2.17c of the School Admission Code says:

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.

You are legally entitled to part time attendance while your dd is under CSA. The school cannot refuse.

I was planning on only sending DS 4 days a week when he started. Then the teacher pointed out he’d be missing out on 20% of the phonics, maths etc and, whilst she appreciated my concerns that he was summer born and already struggling, missing out on so much learning wasn’t going to help him progress. So we compromised and he did 3 full days and 5 mornings so he did all of the phonics & maths. But, by coincidence, one of the afternoons he missed was forest school and he loved that so he started doing that day as a full day too. And then he was always upset on the day he came home at lunchtime and tearful when I went to collect him so we abandoned that plan and he did full time from early October. He was exhausted and, towards the end of the week, it was basically school, home, snack, TV, tea, bath bed by 5:45/6:00 but he went to school happily and did build up his stamina. After Christmas, we were able to do the occasional play date and he started doing an after school club once a week too.

As a teacher, sometimes under subscribed schools like to get as many kids in as possible regardless if they are ready to go, it's to do with budgets and staffing so they need kids. If she is not ready don't do it.... can you look into another school that has nursery that is better

Hi OP. You know your child best. I have 3 DCs and I knew my 2nd wasn’t ready for FT school in reception year, at not the first term. He was summer born too so I insisted that he do mornings only for the first term. That worked well as he didn’t miss any phonics input and importantly, he was able to carry on with his 2 hour afternoon naps.

Then after Christmas he went up to full days and managed ok, but often used to take himself straight off to bed for a nap as soon as he got home at 3.45, woke up in time for dinner then to bed at 7.30 as normal!

He is now 12 and doing brilliantly across the board, doing mornings only in reception for the first term did him no harm.

You are legally entitled to part time attendance or even to miss the a term or two and keep her place. I also have a summer born starting school in September and will be sending him this year rather than deferring (which I strongly considered). I don’t plan to sent my LO part time but I will take him out for a day if I feel like he’s overwhelmed (which he struggles with at present mostly due to recurrent tonsillitis). You know her best so do what ever you think will work for her.

They don't have to agree with it but there's no legal action they can take if she's pre-CSA. Attendance rules don't apply.

Part time is definitely the worst option. At my school, we do phonics and writing in the morning, followed by free play. Maths then free play in the afternoons. Going home at lunchtime would mean a child misses out on maths teaching and will fall further behind. They may also miss out on fun stuff which happens to take place in the afternoon - external visitors, extra PE and art lessons once a week. Basically you might be able to legally insist on part time, but I would question if it actually the right thing in terms of DC's academic progress and social, missing out on playing time too).

I don't agree that deferring summer borns is generally necessary, but it is definitely better for their learning than part time or only starting after Christmas.

As others have said, the school is wrong and they cannot do anything if you choose to send her part time for the full year as she will not be compulsory school age. They can say they don’t agree and it’s not their policy etc etc but at the end of the day you can just inform them that she’ll be doing 3 days or 5 mornings or whatever you feel is best and there is legally nothing they can do about it.

I’m not sure, but I wonder what would happen if you collected her after afternoon registration every day so she just did mornings and lunch. She’d be down as attending full time technically.