From Nursery to School – Preparing for the Next Step

on 14 August 2023 / by Harry Mills

Preparing your child for their transition from nursery to school can be a stressful and daunting time for both you and your child. It is a huge milestone in their young life and change can be scary, but we are here to help and support you to make the transition as smooth as possible.

How to emotionally support and prepare your child for school:

Help your child becoming familiar with the changes
This is something you and your child can do together. Take the opportunity to arrange a visit to your child’s new school to explore and get used to the surroundings. Then, when your child begins school in September they will already recognise the building and it will make them considerably more comfortable.
Teacher home visits
Most schools will offer you the opportunity for the teacher to know your child a little, telling you a bit more about the school set-up – and giving you an opportunity to speak confidentially about your child’s needs and development
Get excited
Your child will pick up on your feelings and emotions when you are talking about or engaging in a particular activity with each other. When talking about school and preparing for school, make sure you use an excitable tone of voice and lots of happy and excited facial expressions. This will encourage your child to begin to feel positive and excited about school
Empathy
Encourage your child to empathise with other children, asking them if they’re okay, helping them when they need it and making them laugh and smile.
Conversations
Keep conversations going with your child about their feelings, as they will be missing their friends and old teachers during this transition. Allow your child to feel this way, but make sure to support them and ensure they will meet new friends and build a relationship with their new teacher. Remember, it is healthy for children to express their emotions, no matter what emotions they are feeling

How to social support and prepare your child for school:

Playdates
Organise playdates with other children who will be attending the same school as your child. This will allow your child to begin to make friendships and build relationships, which will make it easier for them to do so once they begin attending school
Turn taking and sharing
Encourage your child to share items with other individuals and emphasise the importance of this. Try drawing a big picture together using the same pack of crayons, ask them to borrow different colours and praise them when they share with you

Preparing your child’s development for school:

Toilet Training
Encourage your child to be as independent with their wees and poos as possible at home so, hopefully, the transition to school-life is less overwhelming for them. Help them to feel confident wiping their bottom, flushing and washing their hands. If their school has them, double check that your little boy knows what urinals are and how to use them. Remember, even for children who have been dry during the day for a long time and are confident using toilets, accidents at school still happen. Sometimes, your child will just forget to go!
Getting dressed
Your child will be taking part in PE at school, which requires them to change in and out of their PE kit. This is something in which they may have not experienced previously. Encourage them to get dressed and undressed themselves, by breaking the task down into smaller steps and using loose clothing to make this easier for your little one

Preparing your child for learning at school:

Reading
Your child does not need to be able to read books independently before starting school but should have plenty of opportunities to enjoy and share books with you, listening to them being read and joining in with familiar patterns of text. If you don’t already, try to make this part of your daily routine, perhaps before they go to bed
Writing
Teach and encourage your child to write their name or at least some letters within their name. This is a great way to allow your child to start to recognise some letters before school starts
Counting
Simple counting is a great skill for your child to have before starting school. If your child can count to ten, they will be less likely to struggle with numeracy activities when taking part in school maths activities

Preparing yourself:

It is important to have time to prepare yourself for the transition, not just your child. Here are some things you can do for yourself that might help with the transition to school.

Label everything
Buying uniforms, lunchboxes, water bottles and other resources for your child’s start at school can become rather expensive, especially in today’s cost of living crisis. Make sure you label everything with your child’s name, so if anything goes missing you have a better chance of the item being returned and less chance of having to purchase a replacement.
Change in Routine
There will more than likely be a slight change in your routine, so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to evaluate and change any bits you need to. It may also be good idea to have a few practice runs of your new routine so you are more than prepared when the big day comes
Allowing yourself to experience all the emotions
It will more than likely be an extremely emotional time accepting that your child is growing up and things are going to change. You may miss them when they’re at school and feel pride, sadness, apprehension, happiness and maybe even guilt. However, experiencing these emotions are completely normal and part of the process.
Information and open evenings
If your child’s new school is offering information and open evenings to new parents, take this opportunity to visit and gather as much information as you can to make you feel better and prepared.
Consistency
An important one for you and your child, make sure you have a consistent sleeping schedule, as your school run mornings are about to become a little different. Along with this, maintain healthy eating habits for you and your child