Transition to Nursery/Reception

Getting ready for the school

As a parent / carer of a child, starting school can be an exciting and equally worrying time. You may have been on a long journey so far in learning about your child’s needs and working to support them. Taking the next big step along that journey may understandably feel worrying. Equally, you may feel happy and confident with the choice of school and want to get started to support your child through the transition from home to school.

Either way, starting school is an important step in your child’s lifelong development and you will not be alone in having many questions, thoughts and worries about starting school:

What is school readiness and what does it mean for my child?
Why is getting ready for school important?
Who do I talk to if I have concerns?
Who will help / support my child at school?

Importance of Transition

Moving to school - the importance of getting ready for school

Preparing for, or getting ready for school requires helping your child with their social interaction skills, ability to separate from you and ability to develop their independence skills ~ at their developmental level.
Getting ready for school is important to ensure a smooth transition to school. This will help your child experience the change as a positive one and enable them to settle in so that they can continue their learning journey with minimal disruption.
Getting ready for the transition to school will be about supporting you, your child and the school. It can be helpful to think about getting ready for and transition to school as a process rather than a single event. This process is part of your child’s lifelong development ~ smooth transitions in the early years can greatly help future lifelong transitions.

Paving the way for a smooth transition to school

The key factors to a smooth transition can include:

Communicating with and sharing information with the school in advance of your child starting with them.
Agreeing with the school any transition support that may be required for your child.
Supporting your child with learning any new skills that might help them to settle in.
Carrying out activities with your child to help them handle the changes to their routines / setting into a new environment.

Preparing your child for school will involve consideration of what the school will need to know and your thoughts and feelings

You: Preparing yourself for the changes ahead: Your role in getting ready for school is a crucial one, not only in preparing your child but also being key to sharing valuable knowledge of your child with the school.

Knowing that you can help your child may help you to feel more reassured about the transition to school.

It will be important to be alert to how your child is managing the transition as well as to try and maintain a positive outlook so that your child does not pick up on any anxieties you may have.

Your child: Preparing and supporting your child: Preparing and supporting your child.

This may involve consideration of your child’s level of understanding, how they manage changes to routines, how long they take to settle with unfamiliar people / situations and / or past experiences of transitions etc.

Supporting your child may also involve working on skills to take them to their next step in their development ~ remember that your child’s readiness for school will be unique to them.

School: Sharing information with school: A smooth and successful transition is likely to involve communication with the school before your child starts ~ this might be a telephone / video call or possibly socially distanced meeting.

Preparing your child for the setting

The journey to getting ready for school may take you through a process of talking to your school, doing activities to support your child as well as them through the first term and beyond.

1. Planning, deciding on skills to work on at home.

Think about your child and what you would like to work on with your child so that they are ready for the move to school.
Planning - talking to school.
Sharing information with the school so they are ready for your child in a timely manner.

2. Preparing, working on skills (one to two months before). Working on skills you would like your child to learn before they start school e.g. dressing / feeding / waiting / toileting etc. pick one or two each week.

3. Preparing, talking to / showing your child pictures, about school (two to three weeks before).

Talking / showing your child about school using resources that will help them understand.
Doing activities to teach them about school.

4. The night before & the first day. Being ready for the first day.

5. During the first term and beyond. Be alert to anything that your child is finding difficult - talk to the Class Teacher at the earliest point to prevent any issues from arising or getting worse.

Planning - deciding on skills to work on at home

The first place to start will be to think about your child. The three areas of development below may help you to consider your child’s needs and key priorities to work on as well as a framework of what to share with the school.

*From the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Personal, Social, Emotional Development

Managing feelings: Things that might cause anxiety / fears or unwanted behaviours / your child’s dislikes / understanding of emotions / ability to self-regulate.

Self-Awareness and self-confidence: Separation from you / settling in new environments / ability to follow routines / coping with transitions / pretend play skills.

Making relationship: How your child interacts with others e.g. solitary play / turn taking / interest in other children.

Communication and Language

Listening and attention: Eye contact / attention skills for self- chosen activities / adult led tasks.

Understanding: Level of understanding (simple words/ phrases or any other languages)

Speaking: How do your children communicate (single word, small phrases, and other languages?)

Physical Development

Moving and Handling:

Gross motor skills e.g. running / stairs / coordination / awareness of space.
Fine motor skills e.g. threading / pencil control. Sensory needs e.g. sounds / movement

Health and Self-care: Independence skills e.g. un/dressing; feeding; toileting & handwashing. Awareness of danger. Dietary needs. Medical needs which may require a medical health care plan.

Talking to School

Talking to your child’s school before they start can be a very useful way to support your child’s transition.

Useful Questions to ask the Class Teacher:

1. Will my child be able to have a transition object or photo book of familiar people / toys that they can take with them to school to help them settle?

2. What happens if my child does not settle?

3. Will someone contact me if there is a problem?

4. What would you advise as useful areas to work on before school?

5. What visuals would be useful to start to introduce to my child?

6. Do you have any pictures we can use at home to support transition?

A useful checklist of things to share / discuss with the school:

✓ Your child’s strengths, likes & what they can do.

✓ Your child may find it difficult.

✓ Strategies that your child responds to well.

✓ Any resources that your child is familiar with and are successful e.g. sand timers / fidget toys.

✓ Any behaviour management strategies or resources that your child responds well to (if appropriate).

✓ Strategies that help your child to calm if they become upset ~ what works, what does not.

✓ Play preferences ~ do they have particularly motivating toys that they enjoy exploring / playing with that can be used as motivators?

✓ Your child’s / family’s COVID-19 lockdown experience as this will help school staff to provide the support your child needs.

✓ Any support your child accessed whilst at their previous setting / targets they may have been working toward.

Preparing: Working on Skills

✓ Work out your priorities and things you think will most help your child to transition to school.

✓ If you have planned targets from when your child attended their early years setting, you could look to these to see if these are useful to work on.

✓ Try to work on one or two skills at a time ~ it will help you and your child be more successful in learning new skills.

There are a range of Information Sheets that you can refer to if there are specific areas of your child’s development that you would like to work on. These are all available on the Hounslow Local Offer:

Independence skills such as undressing / dressing / feeding / toileting.

Personal, Social and Emotional skills such as managing feelings & behaviour / being able to separate from you / turn taking / waiting.

Preparing: Talking to / Showing your Child

There are some things that you can do to support your child with getting ready for school.

Resources and toys that your child is likely to see at school e.g. small whiteboard / pens / puzzles etc.

If your child responds well to other ways of communication or any other languages, please let the school know about this.

Activities to teach your child about school

Leaving the previous setting: If your child has attended a setting previously they may need support to understand that they have now left and will be starting at their new school.

Talk about school with / show pictures to your child:

✓Start by talking about or showing your child pictures of school

✓ Show your child a photo of their key member/s of staff (if available) and talk about their names and how they can help your child.

✓ Look at the school website and if the school has one watch the video tour of the school.

✓ Be positive and calm when talking about school / looking at school pictures.

✓ Talk / show things like class name & new words that your child will hear e.g. ‘assembly’, ‘P.E’ or ‘lining up’ and show them pictures of these you could practice lining up at home.

✓ Show pictures / talk to your child about what will happen when they arrive at school (e.g. will they need to line up with their class, find their class / name label).

✓ Show pictures / talk to your child about what is going to be the same for your child (e.g. a friend that is also going to the school).

✓ Look at pictures / read stories about starting school, see the list at the end of this information sheet for suggestions or make your own social story book.

✓ Show or talk to your child about what will happen when they arrive at school , wait, line up, coat peg, carpet etc.

COVID-19

Due to COVID-19 things in schools are different so you may want to:

✓ Practice with your child washing hands for 20 seconds.

✓ Model coughing into your elbow, covering your mouth and putting the tissue in the bin etc.

✓ Social distancing - you may wish to teach the skill of ‘waiting’ and showing your child tape to practice standing behind.

✓ You could have face masks and gloves available to introduce these to your child (this may be because staff may wear PPE e.g. if your child needs support with toileting or needs to go to the Welfare Room). You may wish to check with the school about their policy on the use of PPE.

Activities about moving to school

✓ If you have not already, now would be a good time to introduce timetables

✓ Practice leaving the house at the time you would for school i.e. get up, dressed and out of the house for a walk to the school (This will be especially important if your child has had intermittent attendance at their setting during the COVID-19 pandemic).

✓ Have a consistent bedtime routine so that your child is not tired for school. Over the Summer, try to wake them at the time they will need to wake for school.

✓ Practice learning new skills you would like to work on, refer to relevant information sheets (Independence skills / Toileting / Personal, Social and Emotional skills).

✓ Let your child look at and play with their new school uniform, PE Kit, school bag etc. Name the items as your child puts them on (e.g. school jumper, PE kit).

✓ Put up photos of the school (& teachers if possible) around the house to help your child become familiar with the school / look at websites of the school (many now have video clips).

✓ Take photos or cut out pictures of different items of uniform and play a posting / matching game with each item and take turns with your child, saying the name of each item as you match or post the pictures.

The Night Before / The First Day

The first day ~ it may feel daunting the night before the first day at school. Try to be reassured that your hard work in preparing your child will help them with their transition to school.

The night before

✓ Keep to the routine that you have worked on ~ avoid any changes to the bedtime routine.

✓ Talk to your child about what will happen in the morning as part of their routine.

On the first day

✓ Try to have the transition object with you in case your child becomes distressed on the way to school.

✓ Make sure you know exactly where you need to take your child and at what time and also that you know where to collect your child and at what time at the end of the day.

✓ Say goodbye in a calm manner - say ‘school first’, ‘then home’ and leave calmly - do not make it a long goodbye.

✓ Smile and be positive (even if you feel upset).

✓ Try to relax and feel reassured that your transition preparation will have helped your child and the Class Teacher on the first day.

✓ At the end of the school day, keep to any evening routines that your child is familiar with.

✓ Just as you did at the beginning of the day, avoid spending too long at the school - collect your child and take them home without too much delay.

The First Term & Beyond

The first term - Your child has started school and depending on how they are adjusting to the new environment and routines, your role continues to be crucial in maintaining routines and sharing information with the school about how the transition is going.

✓ It may take your child a little while to settle in, keep the routine as simple as possible and limit any changes to your routine to keep some continuity for your child.

✓ Try to discuss any issues as soon as they arise rather than waiting.

✓ Be prepared that your child may have phases of being settled and may also have periods of time where they may be a little unsettled ~ remember that their transition to school is a process which can feel a little up and down. Keep to your routines with consistency as this can be reassuring to your child.

✓ You may notice changes to your child’s behaviour as they adjust to school e.g. trouble sleeping / being upset more easily / irritable / withdrawn / changes to bowel and bladder habits / clingy behaviour etc. Be reassured that these can be usual responses to a period of change. Continue to provide reassurance, consistency, routine and visual support to help your child on their transition journey.

Books about starting school to look at / read with your child

There are a great many books which you might like to use to support your child in becoming familiar with school.

Try to pick books where the language is clear and simple.

You might use the book to look at pictures and name items or play games to find pictures of items on the page. Some of these books are also available on YouTube if your child might find it easier to watch the story online.

Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School by Ian Whybrow
Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill
Peppa Pig Busy Day at School by Candlewick press
The Colour Monster goes to School by Anna Llena

Independent Skills

Helping your child with their independence skills will give you reassurance that you are supporting your child to be able to manage aspects of their day such as P.E, putting on their coats for break times and being able to manage lunchtimes. . The aim of your support will be to help them get to their next steps at your child’s developmental pace. Skills that may be useful to work on in preparation for school include:

Get undressed.
Getting dressed.
Managing lunch times.

Before thinking about skills to teach, it can be helpful to find out the school’s routines for P.E and lunchtimes. Some useful questions to ask are on the next page - it can also be useful to share with the school relevant information particularly in relation to your child’s feeding needs.

You may also have questions or things to share with the school about support your child may need with un / dressing. This information will help you plan which independence skills to practice at home with your child before they start school. Here are some ideas for questions you may wish to ask your child’s Class Teacher.

Will my child need to change for P.E. and if so will there be support to help them?

Will there be support available for my child to get changed into their P.E. kit?

How to support your child to become more independent with getting undressed to be ready for school

Undressing is the best place to start, taking clothing off is easier than putting it on. Begin by tackling one step at a time, give help where needed, practice the steps and have fun.

Hand over hand support is where you place your hand over your child’s hand and gently show them what to do, this will help your child feel the movement and he may try on his own next time.
Fine and Gross Motor Skills - Encourage your child to take part in fine and gross motor activities at home. Children need fine and gross motor strength and coordination to get undressed themselves. Gross motor skills are large movements e.g. Pull their legs out of a pair of trousers and fine motor skills are smaller movements with their hands and fingers e.g. pull down a zip on a coat.
Backward chaining is where you help with all the steps apart from the last one e.g. You take off your child’s shoes and pull the sock down over the heel – your child’s first task will be to pull his socks off the rest of the way. As he masters each step you can ask them to complete an additional step.
Model a simple action on yourself to show your child what you want them to do e.g. Take your own shoe and sock off , use language to name clothing, body parts and actions as you go “Shoe off , pull, sock off, pull, I can see my foot, now your turn”

Top tips for independent undressing:

Choose a time to practice when you are both relaxed and have plenty of time. Undressing naturally happens at the beginning and end of the day but there are opportunities to practice at toileting times, when going out, or during pretend play.
Practice with loose, comfortable clothing before moving on to school uniform.
Try to take a step back and let your child have a go but be ready to step in if they begin to get frustrated. Children need challenges but also need to feel success to finish a task.
Tackle undressing one step at a time, you may need to practice that step many times before moving on.
Have fun and give lots of praise, make up silly songs, use a timer on your phone to have a race and use the mirror to laugh at mistakes together.

How to support your child to become more independent with getting dressed in their school uniform to be ready for school

Dressing is a complex activity and success is important. Begin by tackling one step at a time, give help where needed, practice the steps and make it fun.

Hand over hand support is where you place your hand over your child’s hand and gently show them what to do, this will help your child feel the movement and he may try on his own next time.
Fine and Gross Motor Skills - Encourage your child to take part in fine and gross motor activities at home. Children need fine and gross motor strength and coordination to get dressed themselves. Gross motor skills are large movements e.g. to be able to lift their leg into a pair of trousers and fine motor skills are smaller elements with their hands and fingers e.g. pull up a zip on a coat.
Forward Chaining is where your child completes the first step (e.g. places the T shirt over his head) and then you help them with the following steps to complete the task. When he has mastered that step add another until he can do it all by themselves with a little help.

Learning to get dressed involves a number of movements that need to be broken down into small.

Pictures or photos will help your child to understand which piece of clothing goes on first and maintain attention to finish the task.

Always teach dressing the same way each time so a predictable sequence is repeated making it easier for your child to remember the routine e.g. T Shirt is put over the head first then the arms are put through the sleeves.

Top tips for independent dressing:

To make things easy choose front fastening dresses / elasticated waists / Velcro, shoes / a coat with a contrasting lining and loosen tight shoes and tops.
To help remember the front and back of clothing choose underpants and tops with a picture on the front and sew a coloured thread in the back of the garment, if you have taken labels out so they can find the back of clothing easily.
To help with a firm grip prompt your child to be aware of their thumb, you could say ‘Where is magic Thumb?’ and get them to give you a thumbs up prior to dressing. Roll up socks and tops to give your child more to grip on to. Choose socks with coloured heels and toes to help to put them on the right way.
To practice movements for dressing make small circles from soft materials such a toweling or a hair scrunchy for your child to place over their foot or for larger circles to step into to put round their waist. These circles enable them to practice the movements of dressing but without the confusion of lots of material – will require supervision.
To help with learning the order of putting on clothing, lay the uniform flat on the floor, in the order it is to be put on. Place the end which is to be put on first nearest to your child. Put socks on before trousers as it makes it easier to slip the foot in the leg.