Reception Intake

[Jo jo]

I just really want to get everyones views and opinion as to when nursery children should join a Reception class. This is because in my setting it is getting earlier and earlier and I am worried we are not meeting the youngest children's needs.

 

Previously older nursery children joined Reception in September, younger children in January. This changed last year with all nursery children joining Reception in September with younger children only attending the morning for the first term.

 

This year all the nursery children will be joining Reception in September and staying for the whole day I do not think this is right we hear all the time that starting fromal education at young age is not good and it seems to be getting earlier and earlier, not only are we pushing younger children to be involved in phonics etc they will also have to cope with lunchtimes and other routines. I am sure the curriculum will adapt and Reception education is based on play as part of the foundation stage but it is still very different to nursery with much more time spent sitting and listening to adults. I am also sad that there will no longer be older children in the nursery to be role models and teach the younger children as we all know that children learn not just from adults but also more experienced peers!

 

Please post your views on this, what happens in your settings?

[Guest Stalbans]

Hi,

At our school the intake is split 3 ways with the oldest children starting reception full time in sept, they are usually the ones with birthdays between sept and christmas. the children whose birthdays are between jan and easter go for mornings only from sept and then the children whose birthdays are between easter and august go for afternoons only from sept. They all then start full time after Jan. This works really well both for the younger children as the afternoon session is only 2hrs 10mins long and the class size is smaller for 12 weeks with usual about 20 children in each session to get the children used to the school structure. During December we usually invite the part time children to stay all day for a few days each week to prepare them for the Jan term and also so they can be involved in the Christmas play. It works really well. Like you said they is much discussion on the children starting full time education too early but play is very much the fore front of our teaching in Reception and the children still have 2 role play areas in the room and free choice of activities all day.

[Marion]

We have had a single entry reception intake in my LA for over 10 years now and this was part of the reason for my schools decision to combine nursery and reception into a FSU. It allows those children who just aren't mature enough the freedom they may not have had in the past.

[Susan]

In my school, the intake is split into 2 depending on the numbers coming in and the birth dates of those involved. This varies from year to year but because our rooms are unequal in size, the groups also tend to be unequal and the smaller and younger group start after Christmas. The older group are mornings only for a term, the younger ones mornings only for half a term.

In a previous school (different LEA), all children started in September and we had only a few days (up to a week) of part time provision as there was parental pressure to get the children in asap.

 

Of the 2 arrangements I much prefer the latter. I would have preferred the children to be part time for a little longer as it was hard for some to cope with lunchtime routines so quickly after starting school but we made the provision appropriate and within our classrooms the children settled quickly and well.

 

In my present school, the disparity of provision continues into year 1 as the younger children struggle to meet the demands of the curriculum more than their peers who had longer in reception.

[Shiny]

OUr school has 1 intake. Youngest children (born between 1 May - 31 Aug) stay mornings only until christmas. It has been like this for at least 9 years.

[Guest]

our Reception and Nursery classes are very close together and from now to end of term the Nursery children spend time in reception.They all go together in September but for the first 2 terms Reception have their dinner with their Key dinner nannies,who they are being introduced to this half term .They then have dinner playtime in our shared Nursery Reception play area .Only after Easter will they go into a shared playground with the older children,We find this works really well-Reception dont go to assemblies in main school until we feel they are ready -could vary each year depending on the children.We are going to operate more as a unit next year -we hope still in the early stages.

[Guest heleng]

Well, I have three intakes over the year.

Children who will be five in the autumn term start full time in September. Children who will be five in the spring term start full time in January and the children who will be five in the summer term start at Easter. So the summer born children only have 1 term in Recpetion before starting in Year 1.

Although this is difficult for the summer born children, we are very fortunate and our Reception and Nursery share the same class space with our own dedicated quiet areas. This means the children who are due into Reception can start 'coming over' to share my carpet sessions and the Reception children who aren't ready can access the continuous provision and nursery adult input while the rest are on the carpet.

In an ideal word I would rather have 2 intakes or all in September with some part time but we have to work within what we are told will be happening.

[Guest]

I have to say I like having all mine come in September. We have a week of home visits, 2 weeks of part time and then offer full time. we haven't had anyone turn down the full time offer, apart from one child who we insisted only came part time. My LEA recently sent round a letter saying that their guidelines were to have them all in full time before the end of the 1st half term. As its what we've always done it doesn't make much difference.

[mundia]

We have been all full time from September for as many years as I can remember in my LA. I dont like it, its too rushed for some children, but I've not had any choice if I wanted a job!

[catma]

My LA is 2 points of entry with three for nursery. One school (Church so can do this) is all in sept.

 

I think that provision and expectations need to flow with the child's needs here (reinforced through EYFS I would say) and not a one size fits all expectation that "by such and such all children will be ready for x or y"

 

Cx