Changing From 2 Intakes To 1

[Guest nickyw]

I'm teaching in leicestershire and we change from having 2 intakes to 1 in Sept. I was just wondering if anybody could help with advice/experiences of how they phase their part-time induction etc.

 

Nicky

[Guest]

We do one intake. We have youngest in the morning eldest in the afternoon for week 1. Week 2 we have them all together till 1:30. Week 3 altogther till 3:15

[Lorna]

We are a one intake.

We currently have 8 or so children on the first day and then each following day bring in another little group of 4 or 5 children until we have all the children in school usually within the first week to week and a half. All the children are initally part time.

The Older children those born in and before march... do 2 week till 12, one week staying to lunch and are then full time.

The younger ones stay till 12 until the week before half term, when they stay for lunch so till 1.00 and then after half term they are full time.

 

L

[Susan]

In my previous school, we had children in for the first week in the session that they had attended nursery, and in the second week they were all full time. We also went out home visiting in the first few days of term before any children started.

[Marion]

All our children are full time from the first week.

[Inge]

Always a tricky one ...induction... Just have to put in some of the feedback we get on this one!!

 

Seeing many parents go through this they often feel frustrated and irritated if their child starts on less hours than already attending at previous settings... other problems they voice is the sometimes afternoons sometimes mornings, sometimes lunch different each week for up to 6 weeks in some cases.

 

They say the children themselves get confused as there is no set routine, and if they work it can be a nightmare.

 

While part time can be seen as a positive for some of the children parents feedback to us is that they would be happy with a set routine not chopping and changing every week which seems to be the case around here. no matter how often it is voiced by them the same thing happens every year and we keep getting the same comments made to us about induction.

 

Children keep saying "when do I go to school?" or "why cannot I go to school?" especially if a sibling already attends, "why can they go and not me?" questions get asked. Parents with children who may find it difficult to settle a child find the lack of routine irritating, and frustrating. i get lots of other comments these are just a few.

 

it needs some planning and thinking about from a parents and child's view as well as that of the school.

 

Inge

[Magenta]

We have aways had all Reception full time from day one. Since we have been a FSU we have had no children distressed at all, we now have to plan focus activities etc. from the first day. Before the FSU some children were initially distressed, but generally all were settled by the end of the first week (the majority of our children do attend our Nursery though). I wouldn't be happy with a phased start now.

It was a real pain for us this September when our youngest did same time as Nursery for first 2 weeks, the next week Wed and Thur 'til 1 o'clock then full time following week, my husband had to have time off work to collect him, then he spent the afternoons at our school!

[Guest tinkerbell]

We have an induction afternoon in the next to last week of the summer term and I visit them in their nurseries then they all 15 start on the first day of Autumn term.It has worked for the 17 years I have been here.

Tinkerbellx

[Guest]

Currently in East Sussex children only attend part-time until the (old) term of their 5th birthday although that will probably be changing next year. Anyway, I teach in a one-form intake village children and we usually have between 25 - 30 children. I have a long staggered intake that takes about a month. I start with the youngest 4/5 children and they come, part-time, for 3 days. I then add the next 4/5 youngest and so on. This means that those very young children (who are only just 4) have time to get settled in and get used to the routines and just being in school. If, as was the case this year, I have older children with quite severe special needs then they 'jump the queue' and attend these early sessions too although they are only part-time until the time they should be full-time, if that makes sense! The 'free' (hah!) afternoon sessions are used to carry out on-entry assessments.

 

Good luck!