Transition in to school article

[finleysmaid]

Ive just read this and wondered how other people felt about it?

 

https://www.tes.com/news/eyfs-do-we-still-need-staggered-start-year

[louby loo]

Well obviously the writer see's all us preschool people as 'childcare's' rather than educators!

Not sure the answer really, I can sort of see their point. I remember a few years ago we as a preschool could claim funding for the first 3 weeks to help aid the transition process- but that stopped. 

Very difficult for working parents though, especially if the child is used to being in childcare for 6+ hours a day, and possibly more of a disruption to the child's routine of being away from parents for full days?  Maybe schools just need more staff for the first few weeks.

[Mouseketeer]

I do get that chn would get more individual attention if staggered for a while but most chn attend full days a week already as we’ve built them up to that and to be ‘school ready’,  you’d also hope they’ve had a positive transition period before hand, though I’m coming from an on school site view where the chn already feel at home through visits to the reception class over the last term, being invited in for different events/performances and being able to use the school grounds which isn’t always the case.

It would be difficult for parents (and I think the chn) who are used to full days, some for a long time, I’m sure if schools were only given proportionate money to hours attended hours like us they’d have a different view.

I thought the government introduced something along the lines of ‘every child has a right to full time education from the age of 4’ a few years back, that’s when our main school went from part time to full time, ours do get offered part time for half a term but rarely does any one take it up and if they do it’s only for a couple of weeks as they feel their child is getting left behind and the child doesn’t want to go home either when all their class are staying.

[Stargrower]

We have been given a letter from the LA to pass on to parents this year, telling them they are entitled to a full time place from the beginning of term.  One school across the border in our neighbouring county started reception children on 27th September last year!  We had lots of children staying at nursery for those first few weeks as parents couldn't possibly take all that time off work.

[sunnyday]

I am in two minds about this

I can appreciate that this causes problem for working parents - however, I firmly believe that the children's comfort should be the priority here

My youngest granddaughter starts school this year, she turned 4 in June so is still very young, she hasn't been used to full time pre-school provision, she has attended 15 hours each week - I think that she would really struggle if it were not for the staggered start

What do you think fm?

[finleysmaid]

We need to remember that we are here for learning and nurture, not childcare. 

I was cross about this comment! schools need to change their attitude to childcare ...they DO offer childcare whether they like it or not. Most are now expected to offer breakfast and after school clubs..is this not childcare then?? The obverse of this if course is that it suggests we are ONLY around for childcare and not for learning...isn't nurture care??

And when the children are in, we use the part-time timetable to ensure we have lower numbers in class so that we can offer a bespoke experience in those first few days, with a high ratio of adults enabling us to fully meet their needs.  

Im assuming by this the writer is suggesting that they have a staggered start for 'groups of children' . I do think this is a bit fraught with danger. Are they with their friends/are their expectations of school being met/who gets more hours and why?

Ultimately, if we don’t get things right in the first few days, it is very difficult to recover and rebuild the experience as a positive one or to regain a parent’s trust.  

This would be the case for every child whether starting part time or full time. More attention paid to attachment theory in the first place should help with this. I actually don't like the idea of home visits because I think it causes stress for the parents and what you see at home can be completely different to what you see in school...but this seems to be a requirement for schools now

In general I do think that parents need the childcare and that schools should be able to offer that. They are paid for the children's hours for the year, they don't offer a refund! BUT this could easily be done on a needs basis as part of the offer. Our 30 hour children NEED to be in school parents have just had to pay for 6 weeks childcare ...they can't afford another two weeks part time places. Could they not offer parents who want it the hours and the others a slower start...would this not then give them time to sort out their assessment etc??