Are you school ready?

Are you school ready?

Rachel Manley, Headteacher at Yattendon Church of England Primary School in West Berkshire, offers her advice to parents preparing children for starting primary school this September.

If the wait to hear about your primary school place wasn’t bad enough, your energies will now be focusing on preparing your child to start ‘BIG’ school. The move to primary school is an exciting and key milestone in your child’s journey. It is important to tell yourself that this is a very natural next step, and a continuation towards the final stage of Early Years development (0-60 months) – which began when your child was born! If your child attends a pre-school, staff will already be preparing him/her for the change through stories and talk.

If this is your first child, you may be feeling particularly out of your comfort zone. Rest assured that schools do this every year and are very experienced in helping children to adjust and settle into their new setting, whatever their needs may be.

Hopefully you will have already been to visit the school as part of your decision making. If not, schools are generally very open to visits all through the school year.

You will find that schools have a clear programme of transition to support the change, opportunities for parents to ask questions and to become familiar with the setting. At Yattendon Church of England Primary School, we hold ‘stay and play’ sessions where parents join their child, a ‘taster’ morning in school without parents and parents’ information sessions. Our staff visit your child in their current pre-school and some schools offer home visits.

Once the new school year begins, schools will offer further parent workshops, for example, on phonics and how you can support reading at home. Other opportunities to come into school are offered. Our parents enjoy joining us for ‘Forest Friday’ and some come in to hear children read or to help us cook. This journey is very much about working with you and your child.

Many schools also use an on-line assessment system – we use Tapestry – which you can access and contribute to. If this system has been used in your child’s pre-school, it will simply be continued at primary school.

It takes every child a different amount of time to settle – for some it is an easy adjustment, for others it can take the first term. Generally, your child will be settled, comfortable with routines and coming into school independently by October half term.

My final piece of advice would be to try to hide your own anxieties from your child. Tissues are available for both children and parents on the first day! You are simply placing them into the care of trusted professionals who are passionate about their development and well-being. Everyone will benefit if we can do this together and we will support you through the joys and challenges of your child’s development.

To prepare your child over the next few months, you could:

• Talk positively about starting school

• Read and share books with your child

• Notice print – letters and numbers in the environment

• Share nursery and number rhymes

• Count with your child

• Help them to recognise their own name

• Label all of their clothes

Top tips!

A vital area that will really help your child to manage practically is self-care:

• Being able to dress and undress themselves

• Use the toilet independently • Wash hands independently

• Blow own nose

• Use a knife and fork (all infant children are currently able to access a hot school dinner for free so they use cutlery every day)

• Peel an orange/banana or open a packet

I know it is easier and quicker to do it for them, but you will help them to manage better if they are encouraged to be more independent. Spend time packing and unpacking their bag with your child. Buy uniform and practise putting it on and changing for PE. Choose shoes they can put on by themselves.