After many years at nursery where the children grew comfortable and confident, it is natural for both parents and children to have some nerves about starting big school where everything is new! We frequently discuss this with parents, so we thought we’d take the time to share our advice! Here’s how to prepare for big school!
Read Books About Starting School
Reading with your children is always a good idea but reading books specifically about going to school, such as ‘I am Absolutely Too Small for School’ by Charlie and Lola shows your child that you understand and empathise with their feelings, that it’s perfectly normal and okay to be nervous, and overcome those feelings. Books and stories that show school to be a fun and positive place are encouraging and help with the excitement.
Maintain a Consistent Routine
It’s helpful to get used to the big school routine before getting to big school. Create a bedtime routine and ensure your child is getting a good amount of sleep. This is especially important if they have a nap.
Provide Responsibility
Big school is a big responsibility. Whilst our teachers will certainly help organise the children whilst at nursery, it’s a good idea to encourage them to know where their belongings are and get them used to packing things up in their book bag. It’s also worth encouraging them to tidy up their room as they will be expected to tidy at school.
Toilet Confidence
Encourage your child’s confidence at toilet time by talking with them about how to ask to go to the toilet and ensuring they’re comfortable with going to the toilet in time and wiping and washing hands after.
Independence
It’s likely you’ve already been encouraging independent play but it will help separation anxiety to foster your child’s independence on the run up to school.
Rest assured, your children have developed social skills, emotional skills, independence, and a desire to learn from nursery so, with the right encouragement, they’ll be perfectly fine at big school – and we will be sad to see them go but excited to see them flourish!
For more information on our Bright Little Stars home learning support, phonics and literacy, please visit our learning programme.
Click on a link to learn more about Bright Little Stars Nursery in Barnet, Stanmore, Harrow, Mill Hill, Stratford or Watford .
