Is anyone else's child doing 6 weeks of mornings only in Reception?

[stephla]

Sorry this is a bit of a rant.. We have 6 weeks of school 9am-12 noon then a week's holiday. This is nearly a whole year's holiday allowance.

Is this some sinister plot to only recruit perfect little children blessed with SAHM?

I have begged every favour of every relative. I have taken days and days of holiday. I have worked just the mornings from home.

I have conference calls to the background of Bob The Builder. I plan projects with my left hand and playdoh models with my right.

The boy has been doing 3 days a week full time daycare since he was 1. Ten days in and it is driving us both round the bend.

What I want to know is:

1. What justification is there for this apart from it makes the teacher's job so much easier?

2. And what's everyone else doing about this? Should I just have employed a temp nanny? Everyone else I speak to is SAHM or very flexble jobs.

exactly elibean - it's about muddling through. I am a working mum too and yes DS' slow start to school was most inconvenient and hard to work round but we did just muddle through. It's only for a matter of weeks. Basically no child will suffer through a slow start (though some parents will, clearly) but full time starts for all are certainly not the way to go because for some who aren't ready, they could well suffer.

I guess the answer is for parents who find it too inconvenient/and/or their child is well ready, to approach the school and ask for flexibility.

Don'tcallmebaby, we have very similar.
And I wrote it down slightly wrong

Dd2 will go full time form Jan.

It is very different to preschool, and i think it will ease her in.

She is only just 4.

As far as I am concerned this is not about making the teacher's job easier, it's done for the benefit of the children.

For some Reception aged children this is their first experience of being away from home/family.

Yes, you should have employed a temp nanny if you knew the time table in advance.

Some of dd's friends from pre-school are at private schools that start pretty much f/t from the beginning. They are all exhausted, but some are exhausted and coping, some are in floods of tears and seem sort of traumatized every single afternoon - honestly am glad dd is not f/t, in case she turned out to be one of the latter.

Plus, AFAIK, the Brits are in a minority sending kids to school this young anyway - p/t starts and lots of play time in Reception make up for that a bit.

6 weeks! You are lucky. Try 11 weeks of afternoons only

Sorry. Am very sympathetic really. But the wound runs deep

My DS has just started reception, the children with Autumn Birthdays started Monday the 8th mornings only, the Spring Birthdays started on Wed 10th and Summer Birthdays started Monday just gone.

Are you keeping up?

Autumn birthdays did one week of part-time and from Monday just gone are full time, Spring Birthdays start full time the 24th , and the summer birthdays full time 1st October.

Apparently this helps them to settle in better.

Ds is an Autumn Birthday so started full time this week...he loves it but ] has got more tired the more the week has gone on.

Six weeks of part time sounds like a nightmare

Our after-school club offers wraparound care for the half-day only children (you pay for 12-3pm, but it's no dearer than a nursery). Maybe a plus side of a 'big' primary school.

DS is on half days until January and it's almost too much for him, I'm glad he's not f/t.

I said that in a previous thread. My son started half days, next week it will be at least with lunch and the week after that full time. I work as flexible as my employer can allow me to and have booked ds into his old nursery for afternoons and on some days have a bit of help from grandma (who has to come a long way). All of my son's old friends from the nursery are there in the afternoons too. So what would really be the difference if the school would provide this kind of play setting in the afternoon and would save parents and families having to take to the roads at lunch time. I really don't get it. Can't we at least be given an option.

11 weeks! That is brutal. My heart goes out to you all.

And I am consoled by the fact that at least I am not paying for the inconvenience as some of my private school friends are.

I wonder what teachers do when their kids start school? I am going to grit my teeth and give it one more week before I sign away the family holiday to the nanny agency,

my DS2 has just started as has my best friends DD4. Mornings only 2 1/2hrs under the week of the 13th October - when they'll stay for lunch - we'll pick up at 1.15, Then the following week they go full time.

My DS2 could probably quite easily cope with full days now - however her DD (who went to nursery with DS2 last year) has been totally drained by it (despite only being in school the same amount of time as she was at nursery for). This afternoon she fell asleep at 12.30 after she got home (this is unheard of for her DD) and was still asleep when my BF came to pick her older DD up at school at 3.15!!!

I suppose school is, unlike Nursery, not meant to be actual childcare but is education....
could your son not continoue wiht Nursery anyway? Most seem to take Kids until 5...don't they? Or is your son 5 already?

gawd, thought we were badly off til i read this thread

DS2 was 5 last mon and did not want to do half-days whatsoever.... but it isn't his choice obv!! he has done a week and a half of 9-11:30, this week they've been going 9-1:15 so they have lunch and playtime then come home, next week it's proper hours 9-3.30.
Two days of half-day attendance would have been plenty for him, but like the others say i can see how the young end of the year with summer birthdays need the time to build it up. why not make different arrangements for the three term-groups of birthdays - i'll never know.
I have done major juggling with work and taken a week of leave last week, plus some half days this week. It truly is a PITA, and more so because the child himself wants to be in full time school like his brother!

giggle - because

a) you'll get some of the older children (like my DS1) who still struggle with just the half days to start with, and some of the younger ones who find it a breeze

b) you'd have complaints from all the parents of summer babies about why they have to take extra time off work when the parents of Autumn/Winter babies don't

ok faq. Let's face it, the schools just can't get it right no matter what they do...
(ps - wanna swap dses for a week or two?)

they can't can they

(which DS do you want to swap - I have 3 )

swap whichever one isn't being arsey over doing half days and telling you off for picking him up before/after lunch
You can have my ds2 who is doing all of the above. My ds1 however would gladly change places with him tho

My DDs school is doing well I think.

Winter borns 2 half days and then full time.
Spring borns 2.5 weeks of 9-1 (including lunch) then full time.
Summer borns 4 weeks part time and then full time.