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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Reception settling in arrangements - what are yours as ds's school seems to have ridiculous arrangements

90 replies

Iamnotanuglyhag · 18/08/2009 20:42

Ds starts reception in September. For the first FIVE weeks they go only 8.50 til 11.35!!
That's only ten minutes more than he did at preschool. Now for a week or two that would be fine but five weeks!!
They then have a week of an extra hour and then go full time the week before half term.

From a personal point of view this creates havoc with my work but generally I find it ridiculous. Surely 95% of reception starters have been to some sort of nursery or preschool? I'm sure a week or two of mornings only (and hey proper mornings would be nice not 2hrs 45) would suffice for settling in.

What is the teacher going to do every afternoon from 11.35 for five weeks?

Would the council have a minimum expectation of hours after the first week or two (albeit I know there is no legal obligation for them to be in school at this age) given they are providing the funding?

Rant over but am I the only one with school settling in arrangements for their dc like this?

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norfolklass · 20/08/2009 11:03

I know the settling in arrangements must be an absolute nightmare for a lot of parents but I really wish the school my DS is starting actually had some form of gradual starting because I think it would really help him.

He goes from 8.50-3.00pm from the very first day...which is going to be a huge shock for him!

Wish all schools could be the same everywhere...Im sure it would make it much easier for everyone!

OrmIrian · 20/08/2009 11:06

They are all more or less ridiculous. Very difficult IME if you work. But it's over very soon really. By October you'll be into a normal routine.

Butkin · 20/08/2009 11:25

DD did full time (8.50 to 3.15) from day one and never felt tired (but she had been used to doing nursery beforehand).

Not sure about her classmates but I think these shortened days are not particularly helpful to kids or their parents.

TheProfiteroleThief · 20/08/2009 11:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Builde · 20/08/2009 11:40

The reception settling in periods are awful...it is as if the schools think there is only one family member...the four year old!

And since you are expecting your child to be at school, you have abandoned all the fun activities that you used to do and find you have hours on your hands!

Our school wasn't too bad; just three weeks of confusion. This was because parents had requested a reduction in length.

However, all the other local schools have gone in the other direction and extended their settling in periods til half term. (apparently, Ofsted like long settling in periods)

How people with proper jobs cope, I don't know. (We are self employed). A lot of children go back into their old nurseries after a morning of school...to me this seems more unsettling than doing a whole day at school

Anyway, the first day my dd did a full day at school I was so relieved that I forgot to pick my youngest up from nursery at lunchtime!

Have I said enough?!

Phoenix4725 · 21/08/2009 04:19

9-12 first week
9-1 second week

then there in all day which think going to be har on my ds he was only 4 few weeks ago and has global delay so really only 2.6

DaisymooSteiner · 21/08/2009 04:58

Like choosyfloosy our school lets parents choose how much or little the children do until the term following fifth birthday. Their only requirements is that you only change the sessions they attend at the beginning of each half term.

Works very well and I can't understand why all schools don't do the same.

iceagethree · 21/08/2009 05:50

I'mnot, I think you're really lucky. Would have loved that. For mine it's always been all day from day one and high sniffiness if they don't go. It was awful.

Runoutofideas · 21/08/2009 08:16

I thought ours was complicated, but it looks pretty straightforward compared to some of these....

Wk 1 - inset days thurs and fri
Wk 2 - Home vists from teachers and teaching assistants (big school 90 intake)
Wk 3 - Start school afternoons 1-3 ish
Wk 4 - afternoons again
Wk 5 - Mornings 8.50-12
Wk 6 - Day 1 Morning plus lunch, day 2 onwards full time
I think that pretty much takes us to half term. This is for my March born dd1 who is considered to be in the younger half of the year. Older ones start mornings then go full time 2 weeks earlier.

ABetaDad · 21/08/2009 08:26

That is just a silly idea of having a shortened day like that.

Our DSs did 8.30 - 3.30 from Day 1. Then after the first week they did 8.30 - 5.00 every day with after school care. They loved it. They had been full time at nursery 8.15 - 5.30 every day since 18 months old so school was just like nursery as far as they were concerned.

I do not get why schools do these special short days. Better to get to a routine straight away. Problem is the underlying assumption there is a SAHM who can just drop everyting and do allthe running around which of course in many cases there isn't.

OK maybe for the first few days have a short day but for five weeks!

dilemma456 · 21/08/2009 09:34

Message withdrawn

Runoutofideas · 21/08/2009 11:58

Our school's argument for the short sessions is that it allows them to get to know the children 15 at a time, rather than all 30 at once. On the other hand the children get a bit of a shock in week 3, having spent 2 weeks in their nice cosy class of 15, when the two halves join up. Luckily I am a SAHM at the moment, but even for me it will prove tricky fitting drop offs and collections in around dd2's preschool times as well. I know of working parents who have had to take their entire annual leave just to get their child started in school. It's ridiculous.

gallery · 21/08/2009 15:12

I live in a little village and my little one starts and goes straight to full days. I am so pleased as they used to do mornings for first week and afternoons second week which would have been really hard on child care arrangements. It is only because it is a small class and they all know each other from pre school.

ThingOne · 21/08/2009 15:29

My DS1 had a slow start last September and I thought it was a really good idea. It was flagged up way in advance so parents had a chance to arrange childcare. They didn't go full time until the week before half term.

The crucial difference between school and nursery is numbers. At nursery there is one member of staff for four children. At school it is one to ten if you are lucky but can be one to thirty. It is far harder work for the children.

And it's such a short time.

mrz · 22/08/2009 09:25

Our nursery is 1-13 ans school is 1-30

BonsoirAnna · 22/08/2009 09:51

I really think that this English thing of staggered starts for reception children is madness.

Here in France it just doesn't happen. DD's first ever day of pre-school lasted for one hour and ten minutes; thereafter she did normal mornings 9 am to 11.50 am five days a week. She was 2.10 when she started.

At 3.10 she did all day 9 am to 4.15 pm. Sure she was tired to begin with, but it didn't matter.

SoupDragon · 22/08/2009 09:59

At DSs school they split them into 3 groups according to birthdays. The eldest start first and do mornings, leaving before lunch then a few days later the middle group start, also doing mornings, leaving before lunch and the youngest start doing afternoons. In the second week, they stagger the older 2 groups into staying for lunch and then full time at which point the youngest group switch to mornings, then lunch then full days.

It takes around 2-3 weeks but they tailor it to how your child is settling in. It seems to work perfectly well.

PacificDogwood · 22/08/2009 10:02

DS2 (5 1/12) has just completed his first week in P1 in Scotland: they do 9 til 12.35 for 4 weeks, then 9 to 3.
As DS1 goes to same school as well it means 3 trips to school and back everyday which would not be so bad if it did not interfere terribly with DS3's nap schedule. When I am working poor CM has to do all the traipsing around.
I cannot wait for Sept. 15 when they go full time!

A lot of your schedules sound v confusing and go on for a v long time, my sympathies!

zipzap · 23/08/2009 00:16

We have a week of home visits, then the next couple of weeks of half days and then into full time - apparently they had had a longer break in session but had so many complaints from the parents they cut it back so that everybody was full time after three weeks.

The half days they are doing half the class in the morning, half in the afternoon, so the teacher is at least teaching all day!
And they are being quite flexible - they have just split it by surname so that the A-M's are in the morning and N-Z are in the afternoon, and you can swap if it makes life easier for your childcare just by asking.

They are also slightly different in that they stagger starting of the three age groups so that the first group that goes in is the youngest group (ie the summer term babies) on the basis that they are the youngest and it will give them a bit of extra confidence if they are there first in a smaller group. Not sure if this is for the half days or full days - will have to check this out!

The next day the middle term birthdays go in as well and the third day the autumn term babies are added too.

I think I like this better than the youngest having to go in and be integrated into existing classes, especially a term or two down the line when the older kids are already well settled and have had a couple of terms of teaching.

Apparently there has been a good chunk of research done that has shown that delaying the entrance to school of those born in the spring - and even more so to those born in the summer term - can make a difference all the way through school, even can make a significant difference to UCCA points (or whatever they are now called!) If you think about it - it is not like the younger kids get to take their exams a couple of terms later, they just miss out on two thirds of the teaching in those early days when it is setting important things like learning to read and write underway. Not to mention going in and being the new ones in an established class and social effects.

Agree it must be a complete nightmare for some of the systems on here that you need a spreadsheet to keep track of times or where you have a term or two of messing around with half days - does anyone ever say how your child is going to get back the two terms of education they miss if this is what happens to you? I can see justification for doing some sort of staggering or part days for the first week - beyond that I think that it is definitely a bad thing. And absolutely nothing wrong with starting full time straight away, but with a nice teacher using common sense if any child is particularly struggling with tiredness etc.

Maybe this could be a new MN campaign...

colditz · 23/08/2009 00:21

Oh God that's absurd. They just go straight to school here. Straight in, 8.50am until 3.15 pm.

preciouslillywhite · 23/08/2009 00:35

God, I know it's difficult when you're working, but as a sahm I wish my kids' school had done a staggered period like this. Ours was bang! straight off in at 9, out at 3.30, no parents hanging around. Wasn't too bad for my dds, but my son sobbed constantly till the first half term. I wasn't too clever either

katiestar · 23/08/2009 17:38

Ours all start 9-3.30 from day 1 .Mind you there are only 10 of them.

Olihan · 23/08/2009 18:02

Ours has the older ones in the mornings then the younger ones in the afternoons for the first week, then they swap for the second week. They all go full time on the third week.

FabBakerGirlIsBack · 23/08/2009 18:06

I can't remember if I have posted in this thread already or not. Mine is doing 8.55-11.45 until he finishes for Christmas.

How ever long the first week back is he will do 8.55 to 1pm

The next week he will do 8.55-3.15pm.

I will have to go to school 3 times a day for weeks.

It suited DD but not DS1.

dizzyday07 · 25/08/2009 00:37

We have just been given a time for DD to turn up to give her a personal welcome before her going into class.

As I haven't been told any different I assume she is doing full days from the start

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