Starting in reception - will yours be going in for half days initally and how will you manage it if you work?

[spokette]

My DTS start reception next week (boo-hoo) and they will be going in for half days for the first week. Fortunately, I am able to log into work from home so I will be using a mix of homeworking, leave and DH plans to take a couple of days off too.

One of my colleagues also has twins starting school and they will be on half days for 3 weeks. She and her partner both work and they are really struggling with how they are going to manage, especially as they cannot work from home. I feel lucky that we only have one week to manage this.

Was wondering if this was an issue for others? Another colleague told me about her local school where the reception children are on half days until half term! How do they expect working parents to manage this?

[Slubberdegullion]

dd1 starts next week and we have a system where by I will be in status agitatus until october.

2 days of afternoons (next thurs and fri) followed by
1 week of afternoons
followed by
1 week of mornings
followed by
monday and tues off
followed by
wed, thurs, friday full time
followed by full time.

The other half of the class do the opposite iyswim.

Thank the good Lord I am a sahm. Women who work must have raised blood pressure with such a carry on.

[islandofsodor]

We have the option of half days for the first week but when dd started no-one took up that option.

So ds will start full days straight away. Most children will have been to full time nursery anyway.

[MarsLady]

Spokette.. our DTs are starting school at the same time. Sigh...

They go in at 11am on the first day and then straight into full days. How happy am I!

[spokette]

Marslady, do you feel that you have made it to the other side fully intact with the twins? I do(lol)!

[Oliveoil]

I remember last year when dd1 started doing mornings/afternoons for 2 weeks

dd2 was at afternoon playgroup from 1pm

so one week I did

9am drop off dd1, come home with dd2
12 noon, collect dd1, come home with both
1pm drop dd2 off at playgroup, come home with dd1
3pm collect dd2, come home with both

[hellywobs]

We had 3 weeks of half days. The first week was mornings only and my husband took the week off.

The second week was afternoons only (nonsensical - they're tired before they even get to school) and my mum came for the week.

The third week was mornings with lunch so his childminder took him to school each morning, I worked each morning and got to school by 1pm to collect him.

I was very glad when he went full-time!

[serenity]

DD starts on the 3rd, but she's one of the few that does....

They do 9 until 12 until the end of September, then 3 days where they have lunch and finish at 2, and then they're all full time from the 3/10. However, the children don't all start at the same time - they 'feed' them in 6 at a time, every couple of days. I'm very lucky that DD is starting the first day, because she would have been very upset if the DSs had gone back to school and she hadn't! Some of her friends (from the nursery) aren't starting until near the end of the month.

The parents I know who work still have systems in place from Nursery, I have no idea how the new ones will cope tbh.