FabSwingers.com forum: Schools..

By *issHottieBottie OP Woman
over a year ago

Kent

Tomorrow is the day parents all over the country find out if their little 4 year old babies have got into the primary school they chose..

I'm a wreck. I'm more nervous about this than I was giving birth!!!! And they don't sent the emails out till 4pm here so tomorrow I will be even worse!!!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Awww I remember the day well. Everything worked out fine. It was strange to see my son looking so grown up on his first day of school a few months later...quite emotional. Now he's doing his GCSEs and it seems like yesterday

Hope it all works out well for you both

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

What would make you nervous?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

fingers are crossed for you.. i remember this time last year very well and i too was a wreck!

Still a year on and the difference in my munchkin is just remarkable.. picked up a few bad habbits that i'm trying to smooth out but the majority of change within her is amazing.

Cried more on her last day of nursery than i did on her first day of school though.

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By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

East Sussex

"Tomorrow is the day parents all over the country find out if their little 4 year old babies have got into the primary school they chose..

I'm a wreck. I'm more nervous about this than I was giving birth!!!! And they don't sent the emails out till 4pm here so tomorrow I will be even worse!!!

it'll be fine

Are you hoping for a particular school or will you be happy with whichever one you get?

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By *issHottieBottie OP Woman
over a year ago

Kent

I'm nervous because the one I want is the best in the area, Its the only one that is within walking distance to allow for me to get to and from work with enough tone to collect him. If not I'm gonna have to buy a pushbike to be able to get the one that's in the opposite direction. And I really wasn't keen on the other 2 at all. The headmaster at this one gets praised by everyone including various childminders and nursery teachers as being the one with the most care and attention to his school and it's just recieved outstanding in all it's ofsted reports.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I'm nervous because the one I want is the best in the area, Its the only one that is within walking distance to allow for me to get to and from work with enough tone to collect him. If not I'm gonna have to buy a pushbike to be able to get the one that's in the opposite direction. And I really wasn't keen on the other 2 at all. The headmaster at this one gets praised by everyone including various childminders and nursery teachers as being the one with the most care and attention to his school and it's just recieved outstanding in all it's ofsted reports. "

If it is your nearest then I rhink you are likely to get your first choice. If you are within the main catchment area it is never a problem in our area, but I have no idea what it is like in yours.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I never experienced any off this with my 3 kids as we were abroad with the army for first 2 and on a uk army camp with 3rd.

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By *overs14Couple
over a year ago

norwich

I find out if my little girl got in to the one I want tomorrow. I'm hoping it will be fine as my 6 year old already goes there.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I do remember the relief at knowing it would be just a short walk. It would have been a 3 mile drive to the next nearest.

There aren't many bad schools these days, you'll most likely be fine whatever. Good luck

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

They start school at 4? Full time school starts at 3 years old here.

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By *issHottieBottie OP Woman
over a year ago

Kent

"They start school at 4? Full time school starts at 3 years old here. "

OMG really? That's crazy. Here they don't have to start till the term after their 5th birthday by law but they normally go the September after turning 4.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Never believe OFSTED reports.

I used to teach at one school where they did all sorts of tricks to get a good OFSTED.

As a newly qualified teacher Ofsted asked to speak to me. I wasn't doing very well at the school and they weren't particularly supportive. Before I went in, the head teacher pulled me to one side and said in quite a threatening manner "Think VERY carefully about what you are going to say."

Any child who would have been excluded for a day was instead excluded for the entire week of Ofsted.

And normally any child who misbehaved badly was sat in the back of a different lesson or dealt with in class - but for Ofsted week the usual suspects were sent to hide in the nurses office.

All a good ofsted report does is shows how well the school "plays the ofsted game".

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Four year olds go into the EYFS/reception. Year 1 is 5 year olds which is the first year of compulsory education.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"They start school at 4? Full time school starts at 3 years old here.

OMG really? That's crazy. Here they don't have to start till the term after their 5th birthday by law but they normally go the September after turning 4. "

Here if your child is off the potty they can start the meithrin (nursery) at age 2 which is 6 months mornings 9-12 then 6 months afternoon 12-3 then when they're 3 they start full days.

My daughter is only 5 now but already has been in school 3 years but she goes to a welsh school, they won't start reading or speaking English until they are 6 years old and have English lessons, all her reading and writing and speaking is welsh at the moment.

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By *overs14Couple
over a year ago

norwich

"They start school at 4? Full time school starts at 3 years old here.

OMG really? That's crazy. Here they don't have to start till the term after their 5th birthday by law but they normally go the September after turning 4. "

And I felt sorry for my little girl going full time a week after her 4th birthday. I think 3 is too young for full time school.

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By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

East Sussex

I hope you get the one you want, it can be had when its difficult to get to and from school. If you don't get the one you want don't worry too much from the teaching point of view, its the individual teacher rather than the head that makes the difference to a child in our experience. Hope you get the news you want

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"They start school at 4? Full time school starts at 3 years old here.

OMG really? That's crazy. Here they don't have to start till the term after their 5th birthday by law but they normally go the September after turning 4.

And I felt sorry for my little girl going full time a week after her 4th birthday. I think 3 is too young for full time school."

Didn't do me any harm. My daughter loves school, is only 5 but has been full time for 2 years now, is fluent in two languages welsh and English, can read and write. Can do basic maths including fractions, even knows about halogens, noble gases and the chemical elements of the periodic table.

Their brains are sponges when they're young I don't see why 3 is too young for full time school.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Because at the youngest ages family is even more important than school. Sadly our society makes this a diminishing option.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Well it's all I've ever known, everyone in this area has started school age 3.

Everyone will have different opinions on what they think is best for their child, some may think keeping them home till they're 5 would be better, if that was the policy in Wales I'd have no choice but as the option was there to put my child in full time school from age 3, I took it.

I can't do the comparison to see which option would have been better.

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By *rsIdiotWoman
over a year ago

Bedworth

If it is your nearest then I rhink you are likely to get your first choice. If you are within the main catchment area it is never a problem in our area, but I have no idea what it is like in yours.

If only it really did work like this. My friend has three children in primary school and all three go to different schools. Despite appeals to get them all schooled together, she is forced to take them to different schools and have two of her children arrive late every day.

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

3 is very young, nursery yes but full time school

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

That is really stupid isn't it, but it isn't the first time I have heard of siblings going to different schools

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"3 is very young, nursery yes but full time school

By full time school I mean she started going to school 9am till 3:15pm at 3 years old.

What hours are nursery?

Like I said I started school age 3 back in 1986 same as all my friends, never given it much thought or realised that it wasn't the norm until reading people's thoughts on here.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"They start school at 4? Full time school starts at 3 years old here.

OMG really? That's crazy. Here they don't have to start till the term after their 5th birthday by law but they normally go the September after turning 4.

And I felt sorry for my little girl going full time a week after her 4th birthday. I think 3 is too young for full time school."

I think it depends on the child, my daughter was 3 in dec, I would love for her to start school this sept, shes very sociable, and smart, knows most of what they are taught in reception already, she cries in the holidays as she wants to be at nursery, already does 2 and aa half days a week and has done since she turned 2.

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

"3 is very young, nursery yes but full time school

By full time school I mean she started going to school 9am till 3:15pm at 3 years old.

What hours are nursery?

Like I said I started school age 3 back in 1986 same as all my friends, never given it much thought or realised that it wasn't the norm until reading people's thoughts on here. "

Nursery hours are normally mornings or afternoons, unless it is a private nursery and then you pick how many hours and pay for it.

When mine were little and probably just after you started school, there wasn't many nurseries attached to schools so not many went, they went straight to school the year they were five.

I think an introduction is good for little ones, ie Nursery for a year or so if they like it, but I still don't think that is compulsory at the moment.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I started school at 3 too and I was in a class above, not in a nursery. I'm not criticising people that send their kids to school early, most people have little choice now as there's so much pressure for both parents to work.

Ask any reception teacher about the difference between the kids that get lots of attention at home from those that don't. That will answer the importance of family in the early years - as a society we don't value it enough and yet it causes massive problems.

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

I feel old now,talking about members who started school the same time as my kids

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

3 is scarily young. I had my kids in Wales for a while and deliberately held them back a bit.

Some kids cope with it ok but a lot don't. It's not about shoving as much academic knowledge in their heads as young as possible, it's about whether they are emotionally and socially ready.

All kids develop at different rates.

And most kids, dare I say all kids, shouldn't be stuck sitting down in a classroom, forced to sit during circle time (at my kids playgroup they used to force kids, kicking and screaming to sit during circle time as they were expected to sit still and quiet - certainly by age 3).

Kids learn best by doing. They are healthier and have higher self esteem and learn more by being physically active all day long.

They put so much emphasis on reading and writing early, and some kids just genetically aren't destined to learn to read or write until they are older.

And they see their classmates doing much better and their self esteem plummets and they refuse to do any of it. If kids weren't taught formally until later on, you'd have far less problems.

Plus kids are only just learning to parallel play at 3. Before this, kids have no ability to engage in meaningful play with their peers.

They need to learn speech and social interaction from adults - one to one attention. And they don't get that in a nursery or school at a young age.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I started school at 3 too and I was in a class above, not in a nursery. I'm not criticising people that send their kids to school early, most people have little choice now as there's so much pressure for both parents to work.

Yes but there would be a difference at any age between a child that gets attention at home to a child that doesn't.

If anything my daughter has had more attention at home because she started school at 3. If I had not gone back to work and kept her with me for another 2 years financially I would have suffered so I wouldn't be able to treat her, she probably would have been bored and shouted at a lot had we been in the house all day 6 days a week (she stays with her grandparents Saturday to Sunday afternoon) The last couple of years she's gone to school been picked up by me, home to a tidy house, have dinner together and supper she has various after school classes, swimming, piano lessons, ballet, tap, gymnastics and goes to Rainbows.

I don't think keeping your child at home with you till they're 5 means you love your child more than someone who send their child to school aged 3.

It works for me so that's all that matters, what people do with their children is entirely up to them.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I said nothing of love, I referenced the well researched impacts on the earliest developments of a child - which do have significantly more impact than the later years.

The current system is based on that same evidence, except that it assumes a school is a better environment than the family home.

I disagree, as do the systems in many other countries.

Your mention of the need for you to work is the very point I was making.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Amber started Nursery at 2 and a half and loved it.. she went from 9am til 5pm 3 days a week

long days but that included a nap if she required one. I think it benefited her hugely to be away from me for those days as she grew and developed her own social circles. She became less needy and more independent.

Education was not forced on her and she was encouraged to play/be creative. At home i've always had learning materials but she had never shown a interest up until she started primary school and now she thrives

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I remember these days

the secondary school just as daunting.

I punched the air when both mine got in a top ten school in Essex.

Her

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